09/01/2026
The one lesson I learned this year: my work isn’t for everyone.
If you don’t love color, bold vibrancy, and a female artist willing to take risks, I’m probably not your artist.
And I’ve learned to be okay with that.
I jumped into my art career in 2020 with very little saved. I sold my car. I stressed about how I was going to pay rent. I had absolutely no idea if this thing was going to work.
Turns out, when you make quality work that holds depth, and you keep showing up, the right people show up, too.
Today marks six years of owning this small business, and it’s wild to think about everything I’ve experienced in this industry. Quite honestly, this career has challenged me to my core.
And yet, I cannot shake the need to create.
I’m in this for the long haul, even if I lose my mind a few times a year 🤣 because there is nothing quite like divinely creating something in the studio and then walking into a client’s home and seeing it living there.
As I’ve grown in my career, I’ve also become more aware of how much of the fine art world is still shaped by old expectations. Commercial projects, galleries, and fine art spaces can still be heavily male-dominated. I’ve watched men confidently name their price while women are more often expected to accommodate, compromise, or make themselves smaller.
I don’t want to make myself smaller.
I want to make bold work.
I want to charge what that work is worth.
I want to take risks.
I want to build a career with longevity.
And I want other female creatives watching to know that they can do the same.
My commitment is to keep making work that holds value, breathes life into the spaces it enters, and feels unmistakably like mine.
Thank you to every person who has collected my work, shared it, encouraged me, commissioned something meaningful, or simply believed that there was room in this industry for what I wanted to create.
Six years in. Still here. Still creating. And definitely not for everyone.
Much love,
Kristine Cooper
