clipart
Welcome to Lolagraphics
Lola graphic Images is a mom and daughter team, Lorna and Bella Pauls. Our brand, Lola is a combination of both of our first names, Lo- taken from Lorna and La, taken from Bella. We gladly and excitedly share our story, to set the tone for our heart-warming relationship with you.
Our designs and creations, although rather popular now, wasn’t always. In fact, not too long ago it was nothing close to what we offer now, and our story starts in 2017 when an American friend proposed that we take our talents into a different direction.
At the end of 2017 the suggestion to take up clipart and sell it on Etsy was a daunting thought, and in truth, one we dismissed immediately. The thought of changing from professional wildlife artistry to painting illustratively didn’t sit well and meant that my realistic creations would be traded for an unknown platform – illustrations.
After much debate, a first draft miraculously appeared, and the result was less than pleasing. Challenging Bella to do better after she mockingly released me of my duties, a challenge between the two of us arose and soon we fumbled our way through the drawing process. Being a little shy of IT concepts and formatting our work into PNG, we purchased CorelDraw and painstakingly undertook figuring out the program. In hindsight it was hysterical, but at the time, we felt that the learning process would never end – and today we can attest, that it never will.
Our new-found hobby was put to the test when we asked a few opinions from friends and relatives and once we felt relatively positive, we decided to try ‘the Etsy thing’ and submit a few listings onto the Etsy platform. Our partnership was born, despite us not knowing where the journey would take us.
Our first piece was sold on 26 December 2017, ironically enough, the piece was called ‘Christmas Time’, and was sold a day after Christmas, but we were ecstatic!
The beginning of 2018 saw us hit the ground running, or spinning in actual fact, as we juggled homeschooling, painting wildlife art for the gallery (commission based only – which adds a good dollop of stress to the equation) and the all-consuming dance classes, all the while developing our artwork and strategizing on new projects and ideas.
Our blood sweat and tears finally, and with great effort saw our 100th piece placed on Etsy in April 2018.
We knew that we were far from experts, but our hearts were filled with joy and a sense of accomplishment, which naturally pushed us to improve, learn and do more – which is exactly what happened. Our road to making and selling clipart taught us so much and the value of our talents was truly illuminated during this period.
Building a great business with returning clients has been hard, but worth every second. It’s brought us so much joy and happiness as we build and strengthen our professional relationships. We inspire our clients as much as they inspire us and these healthy relationships blossom into learning opportunities and creative insight.
In due course we will be providing helpful hints and tips on the use of hand-painted clipart in the vast industries in which they are used as well as practical information on how to navigate Etsy and social media platforms.
We love hearing from our clients, so please leave us a comment and share your experiences– we treasure every response and love to see what you’ve created using our designs. The possibilities are infinite, and your creativity speaks to our hearts and our creative juices, so please do share! We look forward to it!
Kindest regards,
Lorna and Bella
