A small illustration company owned & operated by a middle school science teacher
I started Captree Designs in the summer of 2015 down in Georgia. Before becoming an officially licensed small business, it was a simple concept where I painted gifts for family and friends and made handmade cards for every occasion of the year. From there I thought, hey, I can actually support myself with my illustrations.
My Etsy shop was set up before I truly knew what I was going to sell. I was really only painting fish and lobsters (I was in graduate school for wildlife at the time) and whatever else my friends wanted. After moving to NY & getting myself settled, I began to brainstorm what my brand really meant to me. I wanted Captree Designs to represent art the way I saw it; art captures the beauty of the earth, it's inhabitants, and the places we cherish.
With that mantra in my head, I noticed a lovely home on my block and I decided to paint it. A small brick home with uniquely colored trim and roofing; it was my very first house portrait. Today, house portraits are the most popular paper goods in my shop. They're such a unique and deeply personal gift, and I love painting every single brick, windowpane, and doorknob on each home. My love for card-making still persists; I have recently debuted a line of bespoke wedding stationery and I also offer completely custom wedding stationery.
I love working with people to develop totally unique concept for any occasion. Over the past few months, I have collaborated with a number of people and together we created floral notecards, wedding invitations with a watercolor painting of the venue, personalized valentine cards, small business logo designs, and custom portraits of beloved pets. The best part of this experience is that my customers bring so many ideas to the table and when we work together, we can create this vision of art that wasn't possible alone.
