019 Kits and Classes, with Wendy Klinke, Art Instructor Artwork

Make It and Sell It

This podcast is about how to start a small-scale production business—a low-risk career option with low upfront costs but huge potential benefits—that can be done from home. Whether you are home because of the Coronavirus or family care responsibilities, limited mobility or transportation, or are just more of a homebody, you can still earn a living on your own time and at your own pace. And best of all, you can MAKE something to share with others. Whether you are a baker, a maker, a crafter, an artist, or even a mad scientist, you can turn your hobby into a living. This series will explore all aspects of this kind of business, sometimes called a “cottage industry,” from brainstorming new product ideas to perhaps one day making enough income to quit your day jobs. Episodes will include interviews with home-based entrepreneurs at different stages of their business development and from a broad diversity of fields. Who are they? Why do they do what they do? What have been the major challenges as well as the secrets of their success? What would they recommend to others?For more information about the movement behind the podcast, visit our Facebook Group, at https://www.facebook.com/groups/350301745982098

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Make It and Sell It

019 Kits and Classes, with Wendy Klinke, Art Instructor

March 16, 2021 • Cory Heyman, Cottage Cupboard Cooperative • Season 2 • Episode 19

In this episode, Wendy Klinke reflects on her start-up art instruction and art kit business this past year called Blue Cat Studio. Wendy’s love of art and teaching led her in a roundabout way to home-based production, as she created and sold canvas, paint, brush, and instruction kits to her students. Classes, both in-person and online, have created a growing residual business for new kits and supplies.

With a lifelong passion for painting and crafts, Wendy studied fine art and architecture in college. Her career veered in a different direction, but she has come back to painting time and again over the past 20 years. It was during the federal government shutdown, in December 2018, that she recommitted to art as a serious focus, promising herself that she would sketch or paint every day. Then, in the fall of 2019, a friend asked Wendy to teach an art class for a Junior League event. Wendy describes the event as a “hot mess” but also a great way to bring disparate people together for a fun activity. The wheels started turning to start a new art instruction business.

With infinite energy and creativity, Wendy only needed the business skills to get her new business off the ground. She started a master’s program in business, joined a Facebook group to help new art instructors market their paint parties, and launched Blue Cat Studio. With hard work and savvy advice,

Wendy was able to create a solid business in just a few months. A crucial part of this success—and the part in which home-based production comes in—was the creation of art kits that Wendy made and sold to her customers.

Find out in this episode why Wendy decided to make these art kits in the first place and how the combination of instruction and production has been so vital to her students’ enjoyment and her early business success.

You can learn more about Blue Cat Studio, check out Wendy’s online classes, and purchase art kits at https://www.facebook.com/bluecatstudioart/, https://www.instagram.com/bluecatstudioart/, https://www.facebook.com/groups/letspaintwithbluecat/.

For more information about the movement behind the podcast, visit our Facebook Group, at https://www.facebook.com/groups/350301745982098; follow us on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/cotcup/, check out examples of our guests’ creations on Pinterest, https://www.pinterest.com/cotcup/boards/, and subscribe to our email list (https://cotcup.com/lp) and receive our living document, the Eightfold Path Plus One Guide to Success for Home-based Producers, and future updates.