THE LET'S MAKE ART BLOG
THE STORY OF LET'S MAKE ArT
The year was 2017. The weather? A brisk fall day. The mood? Discouraged, flustered.
The fate of the art world? Doomed.
Okay, not really, but let’s be honest—the world of art can be pretty unattainable. Unless you have experience in art or know someone who’s an artist, walking into a craft supply store (especially online) feels incredibly daunting. Which paint palette is best—the oval one, the square one, or the one that looks like an egg carton? Do I need artist-grade or professional-grade paint? And how in the world do you pronounce gouache?
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Our co-founder, Al Doan, had the same experience when helping buy art supplies to give to his wife as a gift. No wonder why so many people think you’re either born an artist or not—shopping for art supplies is confusing!
After experiencing this momentary failure firsthand at popular art supply stores, Al reached out to his artist friend from college, Sarah Cray. Soon enough, the California native found herself flying out to Missouri to build a business plan. Al, having done this before with his first founded company Missouri Star Quilt Co. (quilters, where ya at?), used his experience and Sarah’s knowledge about all things art to create a company that is known today as Let’s Make Art.
The Crays later moved out to the small town of Hamilton (aka Quilt Town, USA) to pursue the Let’s Make Art dream. The dream narrows down to three main goals:
- Accessible education would be prioritized by offering free video tutorials from artists
- The shopping experience for new and returning art-makers would be free of stress and confusion by offering only tried-and-true products
- Art would not only be seen as teachable, but also as fun, valuable, boundless, and non-competitive
It didn’t take long for the dream to become reality as our little company began to grow. And no, it wasn’t the kind of growth you see in a newly-planted tree over the course of several years. The growth we experienced was fast, it was sudden, and it was life-changing not only for us but for thousands of people around the world. It was at that moment that we knew we aren’t just a small company in the small town of Hamilton anymore—we are a part of something big.
How it started
We began the month of May 2018 with our first watercolor subscription box with just 30 subscribers. The next month we had 250 subscribers, and the month after that we had 1,000 subscribers. What started as a team of three doing all the work quickly turned into a team of 20+ people, and we finally got a shipping company to help us out (phew!). Soon we started renovating an old shop on main street to open as our storefront in 2019, and around the same time, we became sister companies with Missouri Star under our parent company Creativity, Inc. This cluster of creative-focused companies shares the same goal of inspiring and empowering people to create. We at Let’s Make Art have made it our mission to teach you the beauty of art-making and equip you with the right tools and assets to show you how you can create artwork you’re proud of.
How it's going
So, what does your future with us look like?
Well, for starters, we know you might not stick with us forever. The goal is to help you learn and discover your own artistic passions. We know there will probably come a day that you outgrow us, and that’s okay! We’ll still be friends, promise. While your interests may evolve, we plan to continue providing you with new and exciting content that meets you wherever you’re at in your journey, including projects, mediums, and even guest artists! Watercolor, Hand Lettering, Art Journaling, and art for Kids is only the beginning and we can’t wait to continue adding fresh content to stimulate your creative mind. The beautiful thing about art is that the power to create something beautiful already exists inside of you—we’re just here to help you discover that side of yourself. You are your own hero in this story!
No matter how messy it is in the beginning, no matter what challenges arise, the important thing is to just start.
We have been scrappy from the beginning, taking it one day at a time to make things work. And that, my friends, is what creating art is all about. No matter how messy it is in the beginning, no matter what challenges arise, the important thing is to just start. Just create. And before you know it, you’re taking a step back to admire the beautiful thing you just made with your own two hands.
Ready? Let’s make some art!
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My little sis asked me what I do with my paintings. I told her I put most of them in a book that I can go back and look at later. She questioned why I paint if that’s all I do with them. To me the answer was obvious … I paint because it makes me HAPPY. Thank you Sarah for bringing joy to so many people. Without your tutorials many of us would just be grumpy old ladies … I can’t change the old lady part … but I’m certainly not grumpy if my watercolors are nearby. Bless you 💕
Let’s Make Art saved me during the Pandemic, I was home alone and overwhelmed with nothing to fill my time. I started on some paint by numbers and then found Sarah on Youtube. I never looked back! Not once in my life had I painted but Sarah taught me skills I never knew I could master. I got my daughter into it and we would paint together on Zoom, those times saved me. I jokingly say I have a modicum of talent but honestly, I think Sarah could teach anyone. Thank you everyone for what you do at Let’s Make Art, don’t underestimate the power you have to change things and uplift people. I can’t say enough how much I love you guys and watch and work over the tutorials, I love it all so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I joined Let’s Make Art near the beginning. I just happened to be seeing the ads during a particularly stressful time in my career and, for whatever reason, decided that I was going to learn how to watercolor to help release some of the stress from my daily life. Not ONLY did Let’s Make Art create a productive way for me to decompress but it has opened up my love for art, awakened long latent desire in me to create and it continues to deliver valuable lessons to me even today when I’ve moved up and out in my art and am creating in multiple mediums. I thank Sarah for her thoughtful descriptions, her silliness, her real talk about dealing with your inner voices when you’re creating. Let’s Make Art is transformative and I tell everyone I can about it. It’s accessible to EVERYONE and that’s what makes it so special.
It had been a long time since I painted. A paint brush felt like it weighed a ton. I had stopped painting to focus on starting a family, and my two autistic kids kept me plenty busy. I never seem to have enough time to focus on painting and I was afraid to fail again. 11 years passed and I watched many watercolor tutorials with lust but still unwilling to pick up that brush. Then I found Let’s Make Art. I couldn’t help it and had to purchase some lessons. 6 months after the lessons arrived, I gathered my two sons and asked them to paint with me. I was surprised at how easy it was and how I wasn’t a loser in painting after all. Thank you Sarah Cray for your ever optimism and cheerful encouragement. Now we have three artists in the family.
It had been a long time since I painted. A paint brush felt like it weighed a ton. I had stopped painting to focus on starting a family, and my two autistic kids kept me plenty busy. I never seem to have enough time to focus on painting and I was afraid to fail again. 11 years passed and I watched many watercolor tutorials with lust but still unwilling to pick up that brush. Then I found Let’s Make Art. I couldn’t help it and had to purchase some lessons. 6 months after the lessons arrived, I gathered my two sons and asked them to paint with me. I was surprised at how easy it was and how I wasn’t a loser in painting after all. Thank you Sarah Cray for your ever optimism and cheerful encouragement. Now we have three artists in the family.