Today we’d like to introduce you to Mercedes Douglas.
Hi Mercedes, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
As long as I’ve known myself I’ve always been a creative person. My first love is writing, poetry and short stories, that’s my heart, but one day another part of my creative side was awakened– painting. It was in the summer of 2017, when I first picked up a paintbrush, that I knew I could paint. I’ve always wanted to draw (pencil or markers) but was never successful at it; somehow painting was different. I was fortunate to get training from Stephanie Williams [A Very Fairy Affair] and she taught me the basic fundamentals of face painting. The most important lesson was to practice. My husband, Stefan, realized my enthusiasm wasn’t fading, face painting was all I talked about. Stefan was so supportive of my interests that he bought me my first face painting kit as a gift and then I was off. I began volunteering at various events to try to get my practice and work on my craft. In 2018, I thought I was ready to begin painting and get paid for it. My first paid gig was for a St. Patrick’s Day event where most designs would only require the color green, I solicited the help of my good friend Marian, to collect money and help with customers. The day of the event when we got to the venue I had a folding table, my face painting kit, a tablecloth, design samples and a handwritten poster board sign that read, “Face Painting.” I didn’t have any chairs, so I had to borrow a couple. Everything was set and ready to go, we just had to wait for the event to officially begin and customers to start rolling in. All of a sudden the sky grew dark and a gush of rain came pouring down. We didn’t have a tent so the rain fell down on everything, the sign, kit, table, just everything. Marian and I hurried to gather things together to protect them from being damaged. In that moment, I was fortunate the rain hid my tears. The downpour lasted for a short time and then the sun was out. We dried up what we could and prepared the space again for customers. By the end of the event, there were many more painted shamrocks and rainbows walking around. We were even invited to come back the following year. The customers were happy and so were we.
I got serious about painting and filed for a business license, that’s when Giggles and Smiles Face Painting, later changed to simply Giggles and Smiles Paint, first got started. I began booking more festivals, community events and birthday parties and they were a blast. I was on a roll booking clients and then March 2020, the pandemic, face painting came to a complete stop. During the remainder of 2020 I continued to work on improving my skill set by practicing, practicing and practicing. Meanwhile, I pivoted to start artistically painting residential glass doors, my first one was a rainbow with a GA peach. The plan was to build from residential doors to commercial storefronts. January 2021, Stefan passed away suddenly. It felt like the bottom fell beneath me; my whole world changed in an instant. 2021 we would have celebrated our twentieth wedding anniversary. The healing would take time but I knew I needed to stay busy. In late July, I booked my first face painting gig since the pandemic began and steadily picked up more bookings up to the fall. The end of the year my focus is strictly painting commercial storefronts.
I thoroughly enjoy what I do and it’s rewarding with unexpected benefits. Being a female small business owner is not always easy and there are many more bumps and potholes in the road to watch out for, but nothing beats the flexibility and freedom of expression that I experience working for myself. I LOVE the creative! I am thankful for the talent God has blessed me with.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Some of the struggles would be managing the various aspects of being a business owner, but I’m fortunate to have the resources and outside support to help me through those times. Being a business owner is not for the faint of heart. I lean on my faith in God and trust Him to help me overcome the challenging times.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As an artist, I specialize in painting faces, bodies and buildings. I’m most proud of my work speaking for itself, so much so that I’m sought-after for future bookings from work I did in the past.
What sets me apart from others I would say is my personal connection with customers. I’m hired to do work based on trust and previous experience. The trust the customer has in me is to create works of art, before they see the end result. When I face paint I always enjoy the “Mirror Moments.” Eyes light up in amazement and the biggest smile appears.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I like the people in the city
I dislike the heavy traffic all around the city.
Contact Info:
- Email: gigglesandsmilespaint@gmail.com
- Instagram: gigglesandsmilespaint
- Facebook: gigglesandsmilespaint
Image Credits:
Genesis Mariah Photography, @gigglesandsmilespaint
