ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Joanne Culbreth

The Artisan Group is proud to announce this week’s Artist Spotlight Feature is Joanne Culbreth of Happy Moose Garden Art!

• Tell us a little bit about your shoppe. I actually have shops (on both ArtFire and Etsy), but focus on my Etsy shop as that seems to be where the sales are. I opened this shop in the summer of 2009 with a few items and a full-time corporate job as a systems analyst. I decided to simply paint a worn out pot one day and brought it in to my office with a plant for my desk. The response was overwhelming, and since I enjoyed doing it so much I thought… ‘WHY NOT?’ Now the bulk of my business is wedding orders, wedding and baby showers, children’s parties, garden parties, teas, you name it! The majority of my orders are large (50-100 pieces) so I am basically working 24 hours a day :o) I also get several orders for the children’s personalized wall letters. The time is nearing (thankfully in part to The Artisan Group and the exposure from the {GBK} 2012 Oscars) that I plan to do this full-time!

• What is your favorite piece from your shoppe and why?  This is one of the designs that went into the celebrity swag bags at the (GBK) Oscars gifting event, and I love making them. They’ve become more and more popular, and it’s thrilling!

• When you’re not hand-painting your adorable garden art, what are your hobbies? Aside from painting, I love my elliptical machine and working out with music (I could not function without music… it is from God just as the gift of painting :o) I start my day each morning by sitting on my back porch listening to the ocean with a cup of coffee. The ocean is a full mile away, but I can hear it clearly very early in the morning… it’s wonderful. I love to read, but I seldom have the time these days. My husband and I have 4 grown children between us, and two grandchildren. They are unique, and wonderful as is my mother who lives with us. There’s nothing on Earth like a big crazy family.

• What do you like best about The Artisan Group?  Speaking of big crazy families, The Artisan Group is an AMAZING group of artists whom I am honored to be a part of. To be a part of a group who supports one another, with simple things like ‘likes’ on FB, following on blogs, you name it… is wonderful! Those simple things we do for one another help build us up, and the gifting opportunities provided by TAG are nothing short of amazing. If you haven’t signed up for one, I highly recommend it. There is nothing to build your confidence and your business like being able to say J.K. Simmons or Penny Marshall noticed my product (and now I have the photo’s to prove it!) It builds your business locally and forces you right out of those boxes we sometimes hide ourselves in. I am a TAGGIE (and proud of it!)

Joanne recently participated as a display participant in a luxury celebrity gift lounge on February 24-25, 2012 at The W Hotel in Hollywood, California, in honor of the The 2012 Academy Awards Nominees and Presenters.