RANGE | Art by Darcie Gray: Motivation, Murals, and Building a Creative Business

Today I’m chatting with artist and muralist Darcie Gray, the creative behind RANGE | Art by Darcie Gray.

Darcie’s work is immediately recognizable: natural landscapes, a limited palette of blue, green, black, and white, and this beautiful balance of calm and energy that feels so connected to nature.

In this conversation, we talk about what keeps her creating - how she stays motivated, builds momentum as an artist and business owner, and keeps the work feeling playful and alive even when it became her livelihood.

Darcie shares how her background in apparel design shaped the way she sees art in people’s everyday lives, why recognizability builds connection, and how saying yes to new creative ideas - like murals, hand-painted clothing, and public art - has helped her business grow in unexpected ways.

Favorite Quote

“You’ve gotta infuse fun in your work and do things just because you want to.”
- Darcie Gray

In this episode, we talk about:

• How Darcie’s limited color palette became part of her signature style
• Why her apparel design background influences the way she creates art today
• How artists can forget their work is still new and exciting to everyone else
• What helps Darcie stay motivated as a self-employed artist
• Why deadlines, calendars, and saying yes can create momentum
• How she protects joy, curiosity, and experimentation in her business
• The story behind her murals, hand-painted clothing, and public art

Connect with Darcie:
My website is: www.rangedesignstudio.com
Print Shop on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RangeDesignStudio
IG: @darciegray_art

Start Your Store on Shopify
The ecommerce platform I use and recommend for product-based businesses.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Connect with Julie | Moss Bags:
Website: https://mossbags.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/moss.bags

Photography by Lisa Aamot | https://www.merakiphotographynw.com

Transcript

Speaker 0:00

Today I'm chatting with Darcie Gray, an artist whose creative business is Range, art by Gray. And she is one of those artists whose work you recognize the second you see it. Darcie's work is full of natural landscapes, from deep forests to coastal ranges, brought to life through a limited palette of only four colors. There's this beautiful balance of calm and energy in her work that feels so connected to nature. But today, we're talking about more than the art itself. We're talking about what keeps her creating, how she stays motivated, builds momentum as an artist and a business owner. She keeps the work feeling playful and alive even when it became her livelihood. Darcie's story is such a beautiful reminder that motivation doesn't always come from having a perfect plan. Sometimes it comes from staying open, following curiosity, saying yes, and letting the next step reveal itself. Welcome to Hey Julie by Moss Bags. I'm Julie, founder of Moss Bags since 2013. And this podcast is a behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to build a small business that lasts. Each week we get to know the women behind the brands, their stories, their wins, the lessons they've learned the hard way, and the practical pieces that keep their business moving forward. Because building something with heart isn't just about strategy, it's about the human behind it too. Now, let's dive in. Darcie! Ah, welcome. I am so glad you're here today. Oh, thank you so much, Beuly. I'm so excited to be here. Hmm. Yay. Okay, we're just gonna, we're just gonna dive in because we've got things to talk about. Yes. Okay, to start. You know what I love is once someone sees your art, you can't unsee it. There is such a recognizable Darcie Gray style to it. One of the things that immediately stands out is your limited color palette. Just blue, green, black, and white. So how did that come about? And was that intentional from the beginning, or did you find your way there over time? Oh, that's such a great question. And thank you. Um yes. Yeah, so um the limited color palette actually just came about very organically and authentically. I have been painting my whole life, and when I was a kid, I painted with reds and yellows and super, I would paint like crazy red sunset skies. And then as I got older, I think I just sort of started to uh really take inspiration from our surrounding areas and the feelings that you get or the feelings that are evoked by our landscapes. It's sort of this calming and yet energizing experience that we have when we're in nature. And I think that that is what's inspired the color palette that I now paint with. I have dabbled in some Alpin Glow and it's beautiful and wonderful. I just don't paint with those colors that much anymore. I think for me it really comes down to just feeling a sense of embodiment in our landscapes and nature. Yes, so good. Do you feel like the limited palette has helped you create more freedom in your work? That's a great question. Yeah, I think that's I think in a way it allows me to dive in and play with the landscape. I just think about when I started Moss and just learning to sew, or even when I was painting, it's so easy to overdo for me. Over time became more minimalist with everything, and that's actually almost harder sometimes. Oh, just an interesting way of creating new opportunities in this like edited-defined way. Really liked how that worked. Can can work out and create space for other things. Because what's really interesting with you is that you have a background in apparel design. Again, it's so interesting because apparel is something that people live in and move through the world wearing. So, how have you shaped the way you think about art in that way? Yeah. So, what's really interesting with my background, and this actually goes back to your podcast on the the bestsellers. When I listened to that, I resonated so deeply with that podcast because I actually think of my art in a product-based platform, I guess, versus like a fine art piece that I sit down and spend hours creating this one thing. I think for me, I think about creating art as it relates on all these different platforms and like what you can put your art on. And the limited color palette really transcends those three landscapes beautifully. So it ties those landscapes together. So I always say like I'm very limited in my palette and my subject matter, but then I'll kind of paint on anything. Like you give me wood, a wall, clothes, hats, kingko gloves, earrings. Yeah, like I don't paint dog colors, but I print my work onto dog colors because I want there to just be a little something for everybody. And I think what's cool is it just gets the work out there. And I think from coming from apparel design, especially in more of a commercial apparel design world, one of the coolest things as an apparel designer is when you see somebody walking by wearing something that you designed. You're like, Yes. I can't believe it. It is such a powerful moment, isn't it? It is, and like the same thing happens to me now. I was actually just at the grocery store and I was walking in, and this woman was walking out, and I stopped her, and I was like, You're wearing my earring. Awesome. And I just love those moments. And then we stopped and chatted, and it was so cool. It's like you're able to have these connections with people. And I think back to your point, the limited color palette, and maybe even the limited subject matter lets me think about how to translate my art into more places versus staying so focused on the one painting or developing that subject matter further or deeper. It's like, oh, I can take these concepts further and get them out there to more people. That's a great way of showing how freedom has come about in your work. So did she recognize you or had she? No, she was like, oh, you're Darcie. That's so cool. That's so cool. It was awesome. That was really cool. Oh yeah, I love seeing our things in the wild. Yeah, it's really special. And especially as an artist, when so much of our work is wall art or fine art or reproductions that go onto walls. It's really cool to like actually see it out there. Well, I think there's something really powerful about work becoming familiar to people. Kind of like a favorite song or, you know, anything like that. Do you think repetition and recognizability help people build a deeper connection with your art? Yes, absolutely. And this is a good and your best sellers uh podcast. I think what's so cool about it is it's like creating a brand in apparel. You have something that's recognizable and that just builds familiarity. It helps people, it sort of like reminds people that you exist and you're out there. And so when your work does show up, they're like they they feel that familiarity, the same that we feel like with our friends, and it's a connection. And whether they've met me or not, it's like there's just something deeper. You're building connections, I guess, through that. And so I think that what's really interesting is when you look at art as a product or as a brand, you're able to create work for the people who are buying it or the people that are connecting with it. Like I love absolutely everything I do. I have art up in my studio, so I love sitting with my art, but ultimately at the end of the day, I really am thinking about the people who are possibly gonna buy the work when I'm painting it. Not so much, I'm not so much painting it for me personally. Much like an apparel designer. Yeah, right. Well, we gotta look at our roots and where we've come from, and we gain knowledge. There's silver linings in everything, whether you loved it or not, every job, every position, every person you've met brings us to this point and how we we work with people and you're out in the community connecting with people consistently. We learn from our past experiences and evolve with every interaction, and I think that's beautiful. Yeah. Um, and I think it's such a great reminder that we see our art every day. We're surrounded by it. Not to mention we think about it every single day. How can we do this, do something different? It's easy to forget that some people are seeing it for the first time. Yeah. And so, how do you stay fresh, remembering that, like, oh, I gotta talk about this? Like, it is new and fresh to somebody. Yep, it's been in my mind for years, but yeah, how do you keep it fresh? Yeah, that is uh that was actually a big learning for me early on when I was still doing the side hustle. I was a server at rock and rye as well as working on art. And I was like so grateful they let me put up my art for three whole months. It was like the longest show I had at the time. And oh wow, because I was also working in that space, it was the first time I was in this space with my art all the time, and I noticed every single detail of every painting. I probably weekly would go in and switch paintings around, switch things out. I was like, my god, I'm so tired of looking at the work. And this went on for three months, and I think that they thought I was crazy. They were like, you could just leave it for a little longer, you don't have to switch it out weekly. But it was the first time I had ever, yeah, put up a show and been in the same space as the work for an extended period of time. And uh following my work being up was my very good friend, Lindsay Kennery. Uh, she put her work up after mine, and I am absolutely obsessed with her art. I think she's one of my favorite artists. I love her work, so beautiful. And I was sitting with her work in the same way that I was with mine as a server, being there working and uh seeing it every day, and I loved it. Like if a piece sold, I was almost like sad to see it go because I was so I mean I was happy for her, absolutely, but I was so sad that that piece is no longer gonna be there for me to see every day. And that was the aha moment that I was like, wait a second, if I think about my art the same way that I think about seeing my favorite artist's art, I want to see it every day. And it really helped me figure out that that's how people see my work. They're not tired of it, they like my work because they like my work, and so you know, whether it's in their home or in a place, it's like they're not getting tired of it. And that really shifted my perspective. Uh, you said a few great, great things right there that are standing out. But one of them is you were working at the restaurant and you tapped into that. Yeah. The natural next step to get your art on those walls. That's a great way to approach it. Yeah. Right. And then you can learn from that. You can see what worked for you. You were seeing it every day. You can change because I'm thinking many artists are perfectionists and you know, it's that A B testing, what's better, what's different? And at a restaurant, some people are coming in every week. So I get why you would want to switch it up because sometimes we don't see it the first time, but we're gonna switch the eye and see what attracts. And did you hear like reactions from people? How was that? Was it almost scary or was it just exciting? It was so exciting. So this was pretty early on, too. I think I'm trying to think if I had done any markets. I had maybe done one or two markets before this. And I would say it was my most significant experience up to this point interacting with people who were interested in my work and watching somebody connect with a piece. And meanwhile, they didn't know that I was the artist, and also working there and watching them and made me actually their server. And yes, it was so cool because it it again just sort of makes you feel like wait, I'm doing something that people like and care about, and this is so much bigger than myself. This isn't about me making the art, this is about making art that people connect with. And then it was extra special because I am outgoing enough to tell people that I'm the artist. So instead of when I was their server, it was this beautiful uh moment to be like, I saw you connecting with the art, and that's so meaningful. And I know I'm also your server tonight, but I just wanted to let you know that it means a lot. And then getting to actually have conversations with people about the art and what they connected with was so cool. And I think that's also why I do in-person markets. They're incredible, they're an opportunity to, as an artist, to make direct sales, talk with people about what they see in the work, watch someone connect with something from across the room, and then walk over to look at it more closely. A lot of time as artists, we just put our work up and it's on walls somewhere, and then we never really get to interact with the people who are looking at it. Oh my gosh. And you mark it yourself, or it makes a deeper connection when you connect that dot for other people, and it adds a story to if they get that art, it adds the story to their connection with that piece, and they got to know you and they have this experience with you, and then they're reminded of that every time they see your art, and that's so that's so cool. Yeah. So that makes me think about creative identity because sometimes the thing that makes our work recognizable is also the thing that we have to trust before anyone else gets it, right? So, how how did you learn to trust your own artistic voice? Oh gosh, that is a great question. Like, did it just naturally come? Yeah, you know, this um goes back to something that I actually say a lot. I think it really comes from actually the validation that you get when somebody connects with what you're doing, and that builds that like internal confidence and maybe appreciation for what you're putting out there, or self-appreciation for what you're putting out there. I do joke about this a lot. My love language is definitely words of affirmation, and I have been lucky enough to find a career that sort of matches that, and so I think that just helps push me forward when people connect with my art, when they tell me they like it, all of those things, it just builds upon itself and gives me that momentum to keep making and keep trying. And so, one of the things that I think is the secret to success in a happy life is name your love language, find a career that gives you that, and you will probably be happy forever doing that thing. Ah, fill your own cup, right? We gotta start with ourselves. If we can't give ourselves what we need, we can't expect anyone else to. Oh, I love that. Yes. And that just goes back to small businesses showing up in person. We are making these things. This is your art. You made it with your own hands through your own storytelling. And showing up in person gives you the best opportunity to truly hear what people have to say. Find the right people that connect with what you do. You can't replace that online. That's what goes back to everything. I think online is such a powerful tool and it's a great one because we're all on there. But to make those proper connections with others, you can't replace a hug. Yeah, you can't replace face-to-face. I don't want to replace that. And I think that's something that's shed light within the last few years is we don't want to replace that. We we want more of that. Yeah, I love that. I love it. I think it's really important to know your love language. I was actually talking to my nine-year-old about it the other day. He's like, What? I'm like, Yeah, it's it's helped me see what you need versus what your brother needs versus what your dad needs. I can connect with you more. Yeah. I love that. I love that. I know. I'm just grateful for like art bringing so many people into my life because that's really what it is about. It's connecting with people, sharing an experience or an emotion around a painting and that feedback that you get from them. It's so cool. Yeah, yeah. Now, you build a business around creativity, nature, public art, all the things, which is all so beautiful, but I know it still takes discipline and intention behind the scenes that we just don't see. So, how do you keep yourself motivated while also keeping the work fun? Yeah, that's uh that right there is the secret ingredient. Um, and it's taken me a while to figure out. I fell into creating art as a business when I got ended up moving to Bellingham. So I was living in the Tetons uh and COVID hit, and I started like it's my total COVID baby, like a lot of other creative people. I, you know, had time at home. I started painting again, and then I found myself in a 14-day quarantine and put work out on Instagram and just of like a little flash sale, and everything sold in 24 hours. And so I really did it again. Were the buyers people that you didn't know? Or like was it just a personal account? Yeah, it was just my personal Instagram account, and um like this is so amazing and so meaningful at the time. It was something to like pour myself into when you're just sitting at home totally isolated. So I did that a couple times during this 14 days, and was like, wow, there's maybe something here, and so I kind of just kept it going. I'd do little mini collections and put them online, just on Instagram, or friends would reach out looking for pieces, and you know, I was not taking it totally seriously, but I was really starting to have fun again with art. And then I moved to Bellingham and didn't know what I was really gonna do here. I just started working as a barista and a server and making art and doing little backyard pop-ups and trying to, I don't know, just live and figure out like what's next. And then kind of everywhere I worked started giving me either the opportunity to share my work at the location, or I worked with somebody who then was procuring art for a wall in a business, and so all of these little connections just started coming together, and I just sort of went with the flow. I was like, this is great, I'm just gonna keep putting my art into these places, and it gave me this motivation to sort of I guess build it into something bigger. Each one was like, okay, this is the next step, and then at one point I got really busy. I was either I was either working a server drum or making art and not having a lot of time for life, and I I was like, okay, this is actually starting to get a little hard to manage, and I think that's when I decided that the goal really needed to be create this as a business and try to get to a place where I can not work as a server as well. And so I think that's when I was like started taking it a little more seriously, and I was like, what is gonna help me build this as a career? Like putting up shows is incredible, but it's so much work that I was like, okay, I don't know if that if I could just sustain that forever. And that's when I think I started really feeling the draw to get into the realm of public art. And I got to be part of the first Noisy Waters Mural Festival, which felt like a huge launching point for me in making connections and meeting the muralists that were competing. I think that was the biggest part for me. All of a sudden, I felt like I had this network of people who I could talk to and be inspired by, and I was one of their emerging artists that year. And what an amazing opportunity as somebody who I guess felt like I could do it, but didn't really know how. Had you done murals before? I had just done large commissions, and so I Oh my gosh, I don't even know how you get into that. I think it was just this uh growth process. So the funny thing, when I lived in the Tetons, my my business name was called the Mountain Mini Studio because I only painted six inch by six inch and smaller paintings and now I'm like oh look at you 320 square feet no big deal and so I laugh at myself it was just like that comfort that you like I don't it's a growth thing I guess it's like as you practice every day you just get more and more comfortable and once I started doing like five foot by five foot commissions I was like you know that doesn't seem so crazy anymore is 10 feet by 10 feet like I can see that work just scaling to that size and I just get bigger brushes to do bigger brush tricks. Oh yes and it's kind of a cool process to just like feel comfortable with scale increasing over time. It feels liberating just it feels overwhelming to me because I don't fully understand how you take something at this you know your your idea and make it so large. I I have a very hard time understanding how it goes from this little canvas to then this wall I have a hard time with that but I I love the feeling of standing in front of this large beautiful piece of artwork that just resonates with you. That is that's a feeling that it just kind of takes over because it's also that giving yourself permission be like well what if I went to 10 by 10? What if I went and you just try and you do and you figure it out and here you are doing that. Oh yeah that's so cool. Thanks. Yeah it's been really cool I think too every step you take it sort of forces you to grow your business or think a little more seriously about your business. Because I think you start seeing that you're growing and you're like okay this is turning into something like if I just take it a little more seriously or I go after a few more proposals or if I structure each season to be successful then here we are we've got a business and I think for me one of the biggest things when I started breaking into murals and larger commissions is I was still working as a server and it was fully supported like honestly I I couldn't have asked for a better family at Rock and Rally they literally supported my art career beyond measure and there was a point where I was like okay when I get my first like really big mural I think that's gonna be when when I feel ready to go full time and I was lucky enough to do a few smaller murals in this time frame and so 2024 so I had been I had started this just at my kitchen table in the winter of 2021 and 2024 is when I got my first massive mural so it was just under 300 square feet and it was on the drive thru of Industrial Credit Union uh their branch out at New Gen's corner and I was like well this is it I'm gonna have to take so much time off work to even complete this mural I think that this was the sign I was looking for and so I I was like okay we're doing this we're going art full time that was my like leap into it and from there I think it is the thing that everyone says is once you take that leap you're so focused on okay now I need to make this work that you're like okay I'm doing it and I'm I'm gonna find the opportunities and I'm gonna take this business seriously. And then I think for the next year, year and a half I took it too seriously. I like was like I need to be able to pay my bills I need like every opportunity that I do needs to be of a value I I kind of lost making art for fun which is something I feel like I had before when I had these different side hustles and I wasn't so stressed about the art itself. And so it was last summer when the Noisy Waters mural festival was coming up again Suzanne with the goats coat was hosting an upcycled runway show and I was chatting with her because I was like you know I really want to do this. I have this apparel design background I'm a muralist I feel like if there was an event that made sense for me to do for fun it would be the Upcycled Runway show. And she was like absolutely like yes you should do this and so I got this crazy idea to upcycle and thrift all of my looks and then paint them like a mural and it was this idea that I really had in my head and I was like I know I can do this. No one was asking me to do it. It was like the first time in a while that I was like I want to do this because this sounds fun and exciting and new and different and I just want to do it. And so I was very motivated to see this through I remember being on the lawn at my TV mercantile where my studio is with my spray paint and a dress form and all these clothes thinking okay now what like how I'll do all the clothes laid out and I was like yeah so I just paint this like a mural okay cool and so I just started painting and again it was like I I don't usually paint without a plan or some sort of inspiration and I just started painting and it felt so fun and liberating and that really taught me like you've got to infuse fun in your work and do things just because you want to and that has been my game changer for this last year. I do so much art just for fun. A lot of it is around painting clothes because I think that that is the thing that is just different and people get to connect and it gets your work out into people's lives even more directly so I've done like a little pop-up at Wise Buys which was so fun where we painted ferns on people's clothes. You did it in first person. It was like tattoo style but painting ferns on clothes. So the idea was like you could go through something there and then get it hand painted right away. And so it's just like yeah random fun things like that where you're like I don't know where this is going but I'm having so much fun doing it. And yeah that just kind of keeps the business part of it fun. Yeah I always wondered how that started for you because I I love the idea of functional art and during the holidays you and I were across from each other at an event and I could have just watched as people were trying things on falling in love and finding their pieces which is so cool especially because they're thrifted so it's not just the the art piece to it it's does this piece fit or not? And there's just this alignment moment when it all comes together and you're just like yes that's mine. That's for me. It's made for me yeah oh that's really cool. I didn't realize that was how it started okay so there are no bosses there are no meetings there's nobody else creating a schedule for you. How do you stay so motivated to get it all done it sounds like it was trying to find the balance like you're so motivated that you have to not forget to have the fun. Yeah I think the secret is also just to not be mad at yourself when you don't find the balance and so there yeah we're the only ones driving the train and if we stop the train stops all the people get off it's like a it's a very crazy process and so I think what it is is having goals is a very important part of the process. So setting goals making sure you have deadlines for shows like put everything on the calendar just say yes to things even if you have no idea how you're gonna get them done or what they're gonna look like I think the furthest out I've ever booked a show is two years and you're like yeah let's that sounds great. I'll put that on the calendar for two years from now. What was that for? Actually just at a brewery it's so cool to like half work up uh and just know it's coming. Well they're so they're so organized I I can't relate that much yeah but I think just say yes just say yes and then yeah on a daily basis you're sort of just checking in with your calendar with your deadlines with your upcoming shows figuring out what you need to do to make it all happen and that just keeps everything moving. What I find is I get really overloaded I don't know if that's the word but with the the daily production of inventory I mean it's crazy to create so much that it's almost hard to find time to meet in the marketing parts of it and let people know where you're gonna be and where your art's gonna be because that's a huge part of it too. And so I find myself sort of like taking a bunch of steps back and being like oh I've got all this work up now I need to remind people or tell people or find the time to you know talk about where it is so people can find it. And so I think it's just always finding a balance between kind of the daily to-dos, creating inventory, remembering to tell people about it and or even tell people a little bit about the behind the scenes or events that are coming up. And yeah you're just kind of constantly in this flow going back and forth between all of these things to keep it moving forward. But there are times where you're like you know I feel like taking a break this is all a lot and then you take a break for a week and you notice things start feeling a little quiet or like we have just only been in my studio painting for a week and I feel like it's time that I get myself back out in the public eye. I need to like remind people that this event or market is coming up and so you just sort of I don't know feed off of the energy your creativity what you're doing and find the balance between it all. But yeah the to-do list as you know will always be endless it only ever gets bigger you cross something off and add two things I don't it's terrible math so you're always like gonna be behind and I think the important thing is just reminding yourself too like you can't force creativity sometimes under pressure and deadlines it does come quicker which is nice but yeah yeah I'll get the job done I I really will if there's a dead if there's a deadline I will meet it. If there is not and someone says no rush I'm like great yeah and I stretch that but given a deadline I'll meet it and I used to be a graphic designer and when I was like I am so done I would get an assignment to you know be creative oh be creative right now and that was the expectation and I'm like it doesn't work like that. I can I can do what I need to do but if you really want creative and authentic I can't quite do that on a schedule. What I can do on a schedule that has held me is have intentions for each day of the week. So I'm trying to break it down to Monday through Friday and I know that today is a a creative make day or a marketing day or you know and it's that has helped calm my brain a little bit and go into the day with intention. And does it work perfectly every time no sometimes I I'm like I am feeling creative this day so I'm gonna do that and I'll adjust my week but that's how I've been trying to check the boxes off without feeling overwhelmed. And I was going to ask you are there any boundaries or rituals or little resets that help you keep the work feeling like yours? That's great. Well I also was just taking notes on what you were saying on how you treasure your weeks because that's great advice. I'll send you my thing I think if I am feeling stuck which can happen a lot or like if you have a commission and you're needing to paint mountains and you're just it's not coming what I'll do is I'll just sit down and start painting anything that I want and on a different canvas. But I think it's just getting into the flow and rhythm and sometimes I'm supposed to paint mountains all that comes out for a few days are trees that's okay it just it gets me in the process I'm in the studio I'm creating the creativity starts flowing a little easier. I think the hardest thing as a business owner for me is going back and forth between the business admin work and the creativity. And so kind of like what you were saying if you start your day at your computer it's so hard to get away from that and then immediately shift to be creative. So having those days that are more creative days versus computer days are really helpful. I also really love painting at night it's almost just like really peaceful for me. There's really no more distractions emails don't need to be sent so I have like no desire to pull out my computer and be working on other things. I can just like sit down after dinner and paint and that also feels really good. So I think finding those times of day that maybe aren't your classic workday hours but you just have immense creative flow feel really good. Oh that resonates because I am naturally a night owl and before my boys and I could have that freedom I I would stay up till 4 a.m easily painting. I used to paint a lot or making or whatever it was it was my time whether it was work related or not it was my time to fill my own cup because no one was expecting anything from me and I wasn't missing out on anything. It was just this it was like this freedom of time and I just felt liberating almost and there were no constraints with it. It just flowed much better in the evening I love that I also love when we have our own businesses and we choose to go all in that we don't go in with a plan B. Well we can quit if it doesn't work. I think telling ourselves that and I think giving ourselves that you know we'll give it a day or two a year or two whatever it is that that is almost like one foot in one foot out and you just stayed so open at the beginning like where is this gonna go say yes to things try the painting on clothes try paint earrings oh a mural okay just being open and seeing what aligns for you what makes you feel good what pays those bills too I think it's just staying open with what's working what works for you and you're gonna make it work. Yeah if you don't find joy in it that's different. That's something that maybe it was never meant to be but if you it is in your soul and in your gut I I just go in with out the plan B. It's no we're gonna adjust and pivot until it keeps landing right because that's life that's never gonna just be one road. Totally it's we like journeys. It's true it's such a sort of it's a fun and kind of exhilarating career in that no matter what no year no two things will ever be the same. And so you get to be incredibly flexible and if that works for you that's great. But because yeah you're just constantly pivoting even let's say a market one year could be great in the next year it could be thundering and lightning out and no one comes you just can't really bank on anything being the same and so I think what's amazing is you just get to pivot and flow with wow people are really resonating with this right now. I am gonna do more of that and then if that slows down a little bit maybe that's a great time to circle back on some of the other things you were working on that maybe you put on hold or you start seeing an interest in something else and can kind of go that direction. I know for me what's really interesting is even the subject matter that I paint, it sort of fluctuates throughout the years. So generally in the winter people are feeling really inspired by mountains. I mean we're always inspired by mountains but I think we have a special connection to them in the winter because we're maybe playing in them a little bit more getting up and going skiing and snowboarding and then in the summer it sort of shifts to maybe more of those views that you see when hiking where maybe you're like in the woods with a little mountain peak sticking out behind. And so it's really fun I think just kind of staying open and not feeling like there's any one thing I have to do and I'm more just like responding to what I'm seeing and the energy that I'm getting back from people who are supporting my work really helps. Well I was about to ask you as we kind of wrap up and close a little bit what advice would you give to somebody just starting out and I think you just said it you know just staying open but I just love your work. I love that it resonates so deeply it's so cool to see people just fall in love and just stare and and I see your work all over. I mean we're in the same town so I get to see it. And it's really cool and I I thank you for being here. Thanks for sharing and I can't wait to see what mural pops up next. Oh thank you the feeling is mutual I absolutely love your work I actually think I I was like two booths down from you in my very first market ever and I was just like man she's really got it figured out it was a maybe okay please thank you first off where was that because I was thinking that we were at a I was like I think I actually did an event with Darcie but I and I have this visual but I can't name where it was not but it was at Aslan's um holiday it was it back in it was so long ago that was my first that was your first brewery like there's no way it was mine. My first brewery market I was like my life looked way different than yours. I had like no seven paintings I love oh no okay I'm so glad you said that because I'm like I'm not totally delusional I remember and oh I love it well thank you thank you so great to chat yay you too I loved this conversation with Darcie because it was such a reminder that motivation doesn't always look like constant clarity or perfect balance. Sometimes it looks like putting something on the calendar saying yes before you know exactly how it's going to come together making room for fun or simply getting back into the studio and letting work lead. You can find Darcie's work at rangedesignstudio.com, shop her prints on Etsy and follow along on Instagram and I'll add all of the links in the show notes. Thank you for being here if you are building something or dreaming of starting hit follow so you don't miss what's next. And if this resonated I would love it if you shared it with another woman who's in it too. And I can't wait to keep building this community together. Until next time