Long-lasting passions that stay with you for life can be the perfect excuse to push a hobby into something more, and incorporate it into your career. Shore teenager Chelsea-Mae Wheeler is managing to do just that, creating her own business in the process.
Throughout her whole life, 18 year-old Chelsea cannot remember a time when she didn’t love creating art. Whether she reached for a pencil, a paintbrush, or black ink, she loved the way that she could capture and express a great amount of detail whenever she constructed something. It was at age 12 that she started portrait lessons and became mesmerised by the art involved in drawing eyes - and her love for detail continued to grow from there.
Today her artwork still reflects the detail she first began to love, as she found her preferred style of blank ink pen art in high school. The way that the one colour can create so much meaning is what fascinated Chelsea and inspired her to turn her doodles on the back of her school books into something more. And so, Chelsea-Mae Art was born.
When the idea for her business first came about, Chelsea’s father would take her artwork to the printing company he owned and bring her back copies to share among her family and friends. When she created her first piece that she ever sold, she was able to see a clear vision of what a career could look like that involved her most beloved hobby. She decided to start by promoting her artwork on social media for publicity, as well as creating an Etsy account, which is an online store where creators can sell handmade crafts, jewellery, and other items to customers. Chelsea-Mae Art has opportunities for customers to request personalised items including names, initials, and tattoo designs. She also sells notebooks, prints, and other items she spends hours on, creating each unique piece.
Chelsea found that her approach required a lot of determination. When she first began, her business was very slow, making only eight sales in the first year of starting up. She then discovered that a really great platform for selling her work were the local markets in the area. The first market she sold her art at was the Coatesville market, where she was also then approached by the organisers of Kumeu market to begin a stall there as well. Chelsea still sells her art at both of these markets, as they were part of her inspiration to see the potential of creating art full time, and taking Chelsea-Mae Art more seriously.
Chelsea is now at the point where she wakes up and creates every single day. Based in small flat in Albany, she sometimes spends ten hours in a single day drawing until she is happy with her creations. Chelsea has the drive to continue doing what she does because she knew that for her dream to come true, she had to put in all of her best efforts to make it happen, and she still continues to uphold this work ethic everyday.
Chelsea has such a strong passion for art because of the way she can tell stories through her pieces. She says: “I love that art is everywhere and everything is art. Whether its architecture, fashion, food, murals or just traditional canvas art - everything is created to express a story, memory or the beauty of the world.” Every single piece of art that Chelsea produces holds a special place of meaning in her heart, and the fact that she gets to share little parts of herself with the community is something that she finds incredibly rewarding. “What I love the most is that everybody looks at art and sees something different. I continue to do art because when I see beauty in the world, all I want to do is to create something that represents it.”
Because of Chelsea’s finer style to her art, she allows herself to really focus on the details and depth of something whenever she is drawing. Living in New Zealand has developed Chelsea’s strong love for nature and all of the natural detail in plants, foliage, and our beautiful New Zealand landscape.
Not only does Chelsea-Mae Art derive her style from the environment, but the business is also eco-conscious in the sense that all of their packaging is paper or soft plastic recyclable. She also embraces local small businesses within the community by choosing to work with them when it comes to printing and packaging. The markets that she sells her work at allow her to connect with the community and meet people to share her completely unique free-hand art with.
The next step for Chelsea-Mae Art is to find a more permanent place for her artwork to be created, as well as extending her pieces into more places such as retail stores and galleries for more exposure. You can find Chelsea-Mae Art at the next Coatesville markets on the 2nd and 16th of December, and Kumeu markets on the 9th of December. You can also find her social media channels and website by searching Chelsea-Mae Art online. Perhaps you'll be inspired by something beautiful and unique to give this Christmas time.
