Back in 2017, well, maybe it was way back before that, I had a dream of starting a creative business. I had always been selling my wares – that was part of my creative process. I always liked to make and share, make and share. It was fun to connect to people by offerings things that delighted or inspired. Every time I showed my work or set up a little table at a craft show I felt more and more certain that I wanted to create an actual business but I wasn’t exactly sure how. I had talked about this with John for hours on end until one day he said what we hear all the time, “Just start, Sarah!” I toyed with two or three creative ideas before turning to the process that I fell in love with and had always had a love affair with — cyanotypes. And that was it. With $600, some cyanotypes, a camera and Instagram, I started Atwater Designs and little did I know it was the road to totally changing my life.
I started with cards and as I went down the rabbit trail of the internet trying to find answers to the silliest of questions from editing photos to website building, I started to see that I was not alone. There were tons of women out there doing what I wanted to do and they were doing it well. They were doing it successfully. They were earning money with their art.
Photo by Becky Stavely during the Mastermind that Sarah Zero of Wellstruck and I hosted this past year (2019-2020)
During that first year I was exposed to women like Shanna Skidmore and Emily Jeffords, both women that I admire and have learned a ton from. I took a Pricing for Creatives class from Shanna via If I Made and just like that the internet did its thing and I was hooked. I was inspired.
They didn’t teach much about the business side of being an artist in school so learning a lot of this has been trial and error. It’s been late nights and early mornings and sometimes it has felt a bit lonely. Those first connections I made in my art business life (where I got to talk business and strategy) were so meaningful. They only continue to be. Once this became more clear, I started to seek out more community within my day — more education and opportunities to share. I watched the power of community take hold. It propelled my business forward in meaningful ways. These groups of creatives have, no doubt, changed the way my business has moved forward. I cannot wait to help a small group of creatives do the same!
Shop
Commissions
Learn
Free Resources
Wholesale
Blog
Connect
sarah@atwaterdesigns.com
instagram: @atwaterdesigns
© 2023 Atwater Designs LLC
FAQs / Shipping & Returns / Policy & Terms / Site Credits