Today we’d like to introduce you to Zell Schaal.
Hi Zell, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
Back in 2010, I went on a cruise to Key West, Florida where one of their excursions was a butterfly house. I entered a greenhouse filled with tropical butterflies flying around. If you sit very still they may even land on you! I had a magical experience and afterward, I walked through their gift shop filled with framed butterflies and art made from the butterflies that had naturally died on site.
I came home from that trip so inspired to create my butterfly art, especially after learning that I could get the butterflies humanely after dying of natural causes on a preservation farm. After some research and obtaining a U.S. Fish and Wildlife license, I found the right resources to order butterflies from similar preservation farms in the rainforest on protected land.
Through much trial and error, and determination I have come up with a variety of artistic designs that I sell at art festivals, gift shops, and online. I was able to turn this into a full-time job for both my husband and I who are living the artist dream!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As an owner, you wear all the hats in a business. It’s up to me to figure out how to market, design, produce, source our materials, and respond to ongoing obstacles along the way. It takes a lot of motivation to keep going (we’ve been in business for 14 years now) and find a way to turn this into a consistent full-time job.
One constant struggle for us is getting accepted into fine art festivals. It is a stringent application process, particularly for jewelry artists where only a small fraction of applications can be accepted into an art show. Every year will be a little different in terms of what art shows we get into and how we make our income. Some art shows are amazing, and others can be a complete waste of time.
Poor art shows can always occur for reasons out of my control such as bad booth placement, bad marketing from the event organizers, extreme weather, or a suffering economy. All of these factors come into play when selling art so we must remain flexible and have enough resources to pivot around struggles such as this.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We recycle butterfly wings into unique framed art and pendant jewelry. We love to make custom art where the client can choose different color combinations, backgrounds, or other unique items to be displayed along with the butterflies in a unique art creation. Creating custom artwork is more meaningful and helps us grow as artists.
A popular product we make that can be customized is a background of a hot air balloon. Except instead of it being a balloon it is a cluster of butterflies that look like a hot air balloon. A person is riding at the bottom of the balloon in a basket. If customers provide a family photo then I can recreate the design to have the family in the basket instead. After the custom design is finished digitally I have the art professionally printed.
I use the printed background in a 3D shadow box with real butterflies placed on top for a unique finished piece of art. People can submit photos of loved ones who have passed away as a memorial piece, pictures of their pets, or I’ve even had a custom request to put Robin Williams in the basket as a custom memorial to him. It is a fun product to make and my clients are usually always thrilled to be able to receive custom art at an affordable price.
We also stand behind our product. If our products break we will take them back and fix or replace them for you. That is how we learn, grow, and provide excellent customer service.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Going to Thailand when I was 16. I have been hooked on traveling ever since.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.asananaturalarts.com
