By Beverly Kievman Copen
Verde Valley News – It seems ironic that during the 2+ years of the pandemic, so many creative, innovative businesses were invented. That has been fantastic. And now I present another way to create a new idea – within an existing business. Two women became friends in Arizona. One, Mary Rush, is a gifted artist; the other, me, a photographer. Both of us are entrepreneurs and authors. We both admired and respected one another’s talent. I had even taken a painting lesson from Mary during an art hike.
Almost two years ago I moved from Sedona, Arizona to Rome, Georgia. Mary lives in the Verde Valley, near Sedona. We continued to follow one another on social media. I was intrigued that Mary had created a business using her paintings on clothing and outsourcing the production to another party. Her website. WildfeatherArtsy.com was full of fun, colorful, “artsy” casual clothes. Just my style. I ordered a pair of her “leggings/ yoga pants” that was a photograph of an underwater scene. They were comfortable, cute, and fun to wear. I even bought a sweatshirt for my partner, Ken. I went back to the website to see other designs, but there were none. Oh. So, I wrote to Mary and asked her about that. She said she didn’t have another yet. Ah ha. Then I asked her if she might want to try a few of my photographs on the leggings. The answer was a resounding YES. Within a few days, Mary had created a “collection”, in my name, using my photographs on different clothing items. Naturally, I had to buy a couple of them to try on. As I wore them around my home at The Spires at Berry College, the comments were delightful, and other residents started to order and wear their own from the ”Beverly K. Copen Collection”.
Mary and I are having such fun creating and producing these “order online” clothes. Our collection is now on her website, https://wildfeatherartsy.com/collections/beverly-k-copen-collection. We have created a new business within a business. Sometimes we just have to keep our eyes open for the opportunity door to be wide open.
See my new collection of fun artsy wear and gear online at https://wildfeatherartsy.com/blogs/news/artsy-hero-beverly-k-copen-her-new-collection. Website: http://beverlycopen.com