Meet Jennifer Sewell of A Grateful Artist

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Sewell.

Jennifer, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The first face I ever painted was my daughter’s first Halloween about 16 years ago. I painted little whiskers and a nose on her with these horrible little face painting crayons. I might even have a picture of her around here somewhere…. but you know everyone has to start somewhere. I had no idea that years later I would actually do this for a living. I would have laughed. In 2005, I saw something online that inspired me to try painting a face again only this time with the proper paints. I was HOOKED for LIFE! I started a business called Painted Style (SERVING N. Dallas and Collin County TEXAS) and began taking classes from some of the great artists in my field of work. The generosity of Nora Susko of A FRESH PERSPECTIVE face & body art was instrumental in teaching me techniques not only to paint but how to run a decent face & body art business. I am establishing a local community of happy customers year by year and it’s pretty fun to not only see MY little ones grow up but many of my clients as well.

BUT… I am a multimedia artist.

Back in 2011, I was inspired to create something new to keep me busy. My mother was sick with breast cancer and her long visits for treatment had me trying anything to keep my mind and hands busy. Creating little fascinators (mini top hats) was in a way therapy for me. My mother was my biggest fan and helped me start my second business. Although I initially made hats just for myself, I quickly found clients interested in buying them. Thus, Mini Hats By Jen was created. Years later, my husband inspired me to dabble in polymer clay and THAT led to another passion making unique jewelry. Having two business names was no longer working as I had widened my artistic work. I have now combined them under the name that best suites how I truly feel, I am A Grateful Artist.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I’m an artist yes, but I also balance several hats on top of that one. Business owner, mother of 3, wife, daughter etc.

Being an artist gives me a much needed creative outlet that soothes my soul. Being a business owner means putting my artistry aside and focusing on taking online business courses, scheduling, ad creation, answering client calls, emails, sending invoices, and making sure my team is on the ball for their events etc. Around all that I balance my family. The bumps usually come when you take focus off anyone of those hats for too long so learning to balance in business sooner than later is key if you want to keep up.

Finding a balance over the years with my family is still a struggle. My main business is Face Painting which takes place on or around the weekends. This made it difficult for me and often my kids to participate in weekend or holiday events. Each booking was an income source for my business to survive and help feed my family but possible future business as well. Turning down a booking when the season is slow wasn’t an option. Now that my girls who were 2 and 4 when I started are teens, they often stay home and play video games. You would think they’d want to hang with their Mom when I am able to bring them along but alas even MY kids don’t think I’m cool.

I’m still learning to balance my hats, but 11 years later, I’m now seasoned. The bumps I come across now are simply educating my clients.

Knowledge on what you are getting with a professional artist. You’re not just getting someone who comes and paints faces, you’re getting the amount experience, education, practice, tools, investments and creation of live art. A Good artist is a culmination of all those things and more and you’ll notice the difference between a hobbyist and professional.

A Grateful Artist – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
What is A Grateful Artist known for?

We provide face painting, henna, glitter tattoos, balloons and more for all types of events, birthday parties, family reunions, baby showers, corporate events, school fundraisers, and much more!

These days my painter’s and I focus on making Magic Happen…LOL no really!

WE can make the line MOVE! Ever seen a line for Face Painting at an event? Was it so long either you or someone else said maybe later?

That’s what I’m working to change. Painting a beautiful butterfly or an awesome superhero is great until you start to realize each face is taking 4-5 minutes. Then you start to think “that painter needs to do cheek art to get done faster!” That’s a misperception among many. You see at A Grateful Artist, we have been trained in a fast-paced painting environment for years. We know what faces we can paint at a speed that actually moved the line at 3 minutes or less per face and that includes tigers, butterflies, superheroes and more. That’s not to say we can’t create some even more amazing faces but we save those Super Wow faces usually for small events where speed isn’t an absolute need.

We also have something fairly new to entertain guests at pool parties!

We have water resistant face make-up. Applied to dry skin this make-up holds up through swimming but still washes off with mild soap and water.

We have something for pregnant mothers as well! Prenatal Belly Art is a unique way to celebrate the arrival of baby. Usually around the last two months of pregnancy, mother to be will work with an artist to create a work of art on mother’s belly. Families find this is a great way to include siblings in this special time.

A Grateful Artist is most proud of as a business to be a visible part of our communities. We inspire other young artists to chase their artistic passions and show them that you CAN be a working artist Not a starving artist.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success to me is a continuous journey of evolving my artistic passions. Learning, expanding and finding new things to be excited and inspired by. Those things that when I’m doing them I am in a total state of happiness. I have been perfecting those passions while also being an inspiration to other artists. ANY business you get in has to have an element of passion or it won’t become successful. Despite frustrations, bumps in the road it is the drive to get back up and find that passion that keeps you going. I have managed to create a business that is dynamic and creates an outlet for me to express myself while making others truly happy as well. Getting to do exactly what makes you happy while making a living doing it IS success. My success has always been measured by creating a wellbeing for those clients I create art for. Each event I paint at has that ONE child or adult that was having a bad day, week maybe even year, and I brought a smile out of them. That little success to me is worth more than reaching business goal targets. It fills and renews my energy no matter how long I’ve been painting.

Don’t get me wrong, having a business that has survived through an extremely bad economy, the passing of my mother and that has grown from only needing me to cover an event to now putting fellow artists to work to provide for their families is extremely pleasing. Successfully becoming known in my local town has taken years but I have to admit it feels good to be known as the local Go To Artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.AGratefulArtist.com
• Phone: 469-865-5032
• Email: AGratefulArtist@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aGratefulArtist
• Facebook: http://m.facebook.com/AGratefulArtist
• Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/a-grateful-artist-wylie
• Other: https://SquareUp.com/Store/a-Grateful-Artist

Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.