Daily Inspiration: Meet Kate Schumacher

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kate Schumacher. 

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve always been artistic – and I was lucky to have a family who always encouraged me to draw and create. I took semi-private art lessons most of my childhood and signed up for every art class I could while in school. Although I loved art, I never thought of it as a career… I graduated college with a degree in Communications with no real plans or idea on how to use that degree. I worked a few different jobs out of college and eventually took a role in the public relations department at a local non-profit. In 2014, my husband and I moved into our first home where we created a dedicated “art room” for me. The next couple years, I began to get back into drawing, painting, and creating. I became really inspired after attending a craft fair and tried my hand at all the latest “trends” – calligraphy, wood-burning, hand-lettering, and watercolor. 

The moment I rediscovered watercolors, I was hooked! I practiced and painted every day. I watched you-tube videos and scrolled Instagram for inspiration. In 2016, I found a watercolor challenge on Instagram and decided to participate. We were to paint something every day for a month and post it to our Instagram. That little challenge was life-changing. After the month of painting, I decided to open an Etsy shop – sort of on a whim. I had no idea what I was doing and really didn’t even have any products, but I learned as I went along – google, you-tube and Instagram were so helpful! 

I started out with custom-painted cards that sold pretty well but were really time-consuming. My friends and co-workers started asking me for custom work so that really helped me build my portfolio and practice my skills. One of my co-workers asked me to create a watercolor painting of her friend’s home. I listed the “custom home portrait” on my Etsy and things took off from there – it was honestly a bit crazy how many people wanted a house portrait! The next several years I kept busy with house portraits and started to learn skills in photoshop and digitizing. This allowed my to move into more pre-designed artwork, cards, and prints. 

In 2020, after 4.5 years of running my business as a side hustle, two kids later, and almost 10 years working at the non-profit, I decided to leave the organization and take my business full time! It was an incredibly scary leap of faith, but I knew if I wanted to continue to grow this business, I needed to put more time into it. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Surprisingly yes, I believe it has been a pretty smooth ride! I never set out to create a business that I could make my full-time gig, so I never felt like I HAD to work super hard. It all just sort of happened and fell into place. Honestly, my journey has really made me believe in the power of the universe and following your intuitions. My struggles this year have been more about balance – making sure I can continue to grow my business, but still have time and flexibility to be with my family. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a watercolor artist specializing in custom house portraits and venue illustrations. I think I really leaned into the house portraits because it allowed me to create a painting that had a personal meaning. A lot of the homes I paint are special to my customers – their first home or childhood home, grandma’s house, or a family cabin. I get to hear the beautiful (and sometimes heartbreaking) stories behind these homes and I feel that much more connected to the piece. This year I started to focus a little more on creating cards and paper goods out of my artwork. I’m excited to expand my offerings and provide products that are a little less custom and more affordable. 

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I’m definitely an introvert, so the word networking makes me anxious, but I’ve found a lot of camaraderie on Instagram. There is a wonderful community of artists doing similar work to me who are incredibly supportive. We all share each other’s work, offer advice and words of encouragement. When I left my day job, I had a hard time adjusting to not having co-workers anymore – finding my community on Instagram, although not entirely the same, has definitely helped me not feel so alone and build relationships. 

Contact Info:

• Email: kate@thelighthousesketchbook
• Website: www.thelighthousesketchbook.com
• Instagram: @thelighthousesketchbook
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelighthousesketchbook
• Other: https://lighthousesketchbook.etsy.com

Image Credits
K Mc Q Photography