Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in fine arts but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Debra Caplan, Founder of LineScapes, located in Peterborough, NH, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
LineScapes is a Peterborough, NH-based, artist-owned & operated solo business that sells black & white and hand-colored prints of historic and iconic buildings in Peterborough, NH, the Monadnock Region, New Hampshire, and beyond. The prints come matted and framed or matted alone. I sell them in local shops and via my website. I also offer NHMagnarts - postcard-sized magnetic art featuring my drawings. For individuals, I offer Portraits of your Home that come matted, framed, and ready to hang along with a computer jump-drive with a scan of your drawing so that you can make your own holiday and note cards. I work from your photographs, so my customers can be anywhere in the country. I also work with realtors, who give these home portraits as unique gifts to their clients.
Tell us about yourself
I moved to Peterborough, NH, in 2011 and fell in love with the town, its rich past, historic buildings, and vibrant art community. I found wonderful oil paintings, watercolors, and photographs of the town and surrounding area, usually one-of-a-kind and out of most people's price range.
I've always had a love of art, nurtured by an artistic parent and followed by a double major in Art History and Studio Art from Brandeis University in Massachusetts. My idea for LineScapes prints sprang from my early school research into Louis Prang, the father of lithography and a promoter of affordable art for all through lithographic prints.
A few years ago, I began making prints of my pen and ink sketches of Peterborough buildings, hand-coloring some, and matting or framing them. Both locals and visitors are drawn to these LineScapes of familiar Peterborough sights and events, like The Peterborough Town Library (the first tax-supported library in the U.S.), MacDowell (a 100+-year-old artist retreat), the Peterborough Diner, the old Stone Barn or the Children and the Arts Festival.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I'm most proud of starting something from scratch and seeing it grow over time. Beginning with an idea and seeing my finished artwork in stores and galleries and seeing it hanging on people's walls.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Having the time and bandwidth to do it all. Learning to set reasonable goals and expectations and not going in too many directions at once.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Do it because you love it.
- Be patient.
- Don't get stuck in one direction - try different things and see where they lead.
Where can people find you and your business?
LineScapes
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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