Today we’d like to introduce you to Billie Claire.
Hi Billie Claire, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I grew up in New Mexico with a family where art was always part of what we did. My mom was an art teacher and potter, my grandfather was an oil painter, and my dad did Old English calligraphy as a hobby. My sister and I would experiment with a new craft every day of our childhood – paper maché, leather stamping, sculpture, card making, etc. If you asked me in high school what I wanted to do as an adult, I would simply reply: “I just want to craft all day.”
After some typography and design classes during my Music Industry Studies program at school in New Orleans, I began playing with hand lettering and graphic design. A few wedding invitation designs here, a few greeting cards for my mom there – and suddenly illustration became my evening creative outlet while I was a first grade teacher in Austin, Texas. In 2016 I quit my day job and launched Billie Claire Illustration – mostly selling at in-person markets like the Austin Flea and running my Etsy shop.
In 2019, in search of cooler weather and public transit, my husband and I did a year in Washington, DC. It was here that I started a residency at the historic Eastern Market, got into my first retail stores working on consignment, and painted my first shop windows (shout out to Shop Made in DC for welcoming me with such open arms!). In 2020, we relocated to Richmond, Virginia – where I’ve since grown Billie Claire to be in over 60 retail stores, booking regular painting gigs and lettering workshops, and still getting to show up once in a while for my favorite DC and Richmond markets.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Being an entrepreneur always has VAST array of pros and cons. Running my own schedule, being completely flexible, showing up when I want to and skipping off to the mountains when I don’t – I wouldn’t trade those ‘pros’ for anything! Self doubt, decision fatigue, a changing economy, and to be honest – crazy weather – are all parts of it that can be super hard to overcome sometimes. It has never really been a smooth road – more like a chaotic dust devil ripping through a beautiful landscape – where you spin along trying to make the best decisions you can all while doing your best to enjoy the view.
Some of the biggest challenges have included:
1 – Obviously this is a big one for a lot of people, but the pandemic was… difficult. My income solely relied on in-person markets and retail stores at that point, both of which were shut down completely for the first few weeks/months during the pandemic. My income was completely wiped out. I did just about anything I could to make it that year – taught virtual workshops, participated in virtual pop up markets, joined an education group to teach elementary ‘pods’ – it was a wild year!
2 – Weather! From 2019 – 2024, my income relied mostly on in-person markets. When they’re good, they can be GREAT. But they also depend heavily on weather and foot traffic. Winter freezing temps, summer storms RIPPING through the area so suddenly you barely have time to make it to your car, wind that can take down a tent. I had one festival where my tent got completely destroyed over night and all of my inventory was saved by one single shower curtain I had thankfully clamped over my wagon. Hurricanes have cancelled festivals that I was depending on for an entire month of income. There was one year that it rained for SEVENTEEN Saturdays in a row, and that was my one day that I vended at Eastern Market!
One of the biggest things I’ve done over the past year and half is reshape my business to be a little bit more insulated from these wild swings. I’ve taken a big step back from in-person markets and thrown my weight into custom design and painting gigs, all whilst building up my wholesale game. The goal is to find a balance between everything – if one part dips I can throw myself into another to make up for it; if I experience burnout on one aspect I have several other’s I can rely on to keep my creativity flowing. It feels like a constant guessing game sometimes!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an illustrator who specializes in hand lettering and flora and fauna illustrations – often with a sassy or irreverent kick. I sort of exist in three worlds – markets / consignment, custom work, and wholesale – and I feel like people know me in those areas for quite different things!
In the markets and consignment store world – I sell stationery and accessories (i.e. everything from stickers to tote bags). And I am known in this world for being rather sassy. I love to mix profanity and my dark sense of humor with elegant florals and illustrations of my favorite bugs and animals. This is the world where my personality truly shines – I get to nerd out on drawing turkey vultures (my favorite animal) while pairing it with something sassy, or designing a greeting card that captures my enthusiasm in big bold letters and an occasional curse word. Seeing people at markets pick up my designs and cackle is truly the most fulfilling moment, it’s the ultimate goal to identify with other people on things that make me giggle!
In the custom work world – I’m still building this part of my business, but I’m known for window painting, chalkboard work, interior murals, gallery wall installations, and event materials for small businesses and commercial spaces. I specialize in block print style designs, line work, and lettering of all shapes and sizes; and I especially love painting seasonal windows for storefronts. I’m really getting to explore what I love and what I’m best at in this category, and the best way to do that is just to say yes to a whole bunch of projects! In the past year this has included doing the ingredient boards for SweetGreen, painting Pride windows for Shop Made in DC, laser cutting event signage for the DC Maker Summit, illustrating a coloring book for Probably Smut, hanging / installing over 300 art pieces for a gallery show (I LOVED THAT), and getting to work with a store on building out their new space (adding window painting, a ceiling mural, a full hand lettered wall, and spaces for customers to engage with, etc.). I also reallllly loved that!
Lastly, in the wholesale world – I’m known for creating custom and regional designs for small businesses across the country. I like that I can involve lettering and my love for colloquial inside jokes here, and it’s been fun to be a resource for souvenirs for small stores across the states.
I am most proud of my ability to show up on site at a space and tackle projects as needed. I love creative problem solving and building things, and doing this for commercial spaces has been really fun. I am also most proud of my growing sassy animal collection – I am a nerd for nature and bugs and plants and finding a way to pair that with my silly sense of humor is the ultimate achievement!
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Honor and revere your customers, listen to your gut, and take care of yourself.
First – my customers are the backbone to my entire business – the people I’m meeting at markets, the customers purchasing my items at local retail stores, and the shop owners choosing to stock my products or hire me for gigs. Showing up for them, nurturing those relationships, and making sure they know how important they are to keeping small businesses like mine afloat – they deserve all the praise!!
Second – LISTEN TO YOUR GUT. It really does know the answer. It’s hard to hear sometimes over the noise of social expectations, need for income, and self doubt – but it’s always been worth listening to.
And third – find time to step away and slow down. Being an entrepreneur means you’re doing everything all at once and I personally don’t have an office to leave at the end of the day, it’s just my home studio (read: spare bedroom). I’m not great at this all of the time, but my creativity depends on me finding inspiration and having the brain space to play. If I don’t require myself to slow down and step away from it all, burnout creeps up very quickly.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.billieclaire.com
- Instagram: @billie.claire
