Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Elaine Peete.
Hi Jennifer Elaine, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
God revealed my passion and natural talent of painting in the summer of 2015 after my ankle was fractured in three places making me immobile for eight weeks. While I was healing, I decided to teach myself how to paint and develop my craft. It was like art therapy: comforting to the bones and soothing to the soul. I have always known how to draw and sketch, but it wasn’t until I picked up the paintbrush that I fell in love with creating masterpieces.
I posted my first painting on Instagram in September 2015, and she sold within 1 hour of posting her to a collector in the United Kingdom. After she sold, I applied for my EIN and a business license and started selling paintings all over the United States. At that point, I knew that I wanted to pursue a creative path as a professional fine artist.
So far, I have art collectors in 46 states and four different countries.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Although I established my business in September 2015, I didn’t open my gallery storefront a few months before the ongoing pandemic hit the United States with a vengeance. I had to close the doors to my gallery in March 2020 due to a mandatory COVID quarantine in Memphis and all around the world. I had to pivot to ensure that my gallery would still produce income.
Since people were stuck in the house, they started decorating or re-decorating their homes and bought an abundance of ART! I increased my social media and email marketing since the gallery doors had to be closed for a few months. Art was flying off the walls! At one point, we couldn’t produce art fast enough to meet the demand, so we literally had to produce masterpieces even faster.
I also created Paint Kits for people to do while in quarantine and to use as art therapy to escape from the pending uncertainty with the pandemic. I sold hundreds of paint kits and decided to permanently make them available on my website.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I create phenomenal paintings that display Black women in a positive light, embracing their natural kinks and curls graced with melanin-rich skin. My art is internally driven, like a gateway to the soul illustrating the beauty, power, dopeness, and resilience of Black women. I love big, natural Afrocentric hair and bright engaging colors, so most of my artwork displays Black women with kinky curly hair accompanied by a vibrant, colorful background.
Black art doesn’t receive as much exposure and publicity compared to other art genres. I plan to create several successful platforms to increase awareness for other Black artists and myself. In 2016, I created the Black Art Experience, a visual art showcase that has grown from 100 to 600+ attendees with 40 black artists and vendors. I also created the Art Social for a more intimate setting with artistic conversations amongst talented creatives and art lovers, along with educating patrons about the appreciation of art.
I opened my physical art gallery in Cordova, a suburb of Memphis, on November 23, 2019. I also feature and sell the artwork of 11 other talented Black artists in my gallery. I created a table so that we can all eat!
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
My advice for those just starting their business is to utilize social media to the fullest. It’s FREE marketing. In order to build their social media presence, they have to find what works best for their brand and learn the forever-changing algorithms. Engage with their audience via the comments and respond to DMs. Engage with other creatives and potential clients. And ALWAYS stay CONSISTENT.
Also, it’s important for artists to participate in different art showcases and events. I’ve participated and created several different art events. The events don’t necessarily have to be art-related, but if they are looking for vendors/artists, I would sign-up if I felt like my art would sell there. When I participated in Curl Fest Atlanta in 2019, I completely sold out and gained even more art collectors and followers. Curl Fest ATL was cohesive with my brand since my art illustrates Black women with natural hair embracing their kinks and curls.
Contact Info:
- Website: orijennalart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orijennal_art
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orijennalart
