Let me introduce myself!

Hi! 👋🏼
I feel like these are easier to read in list form:

1. My name is MacKenzie Tobias and I'm the artist behind Pivot Hill.

2. Pivot Hill is the name of my mom's ‪‎westiepoo‬. He doesn't live with me, but I get to see him every time I visit their place. He's so energetic and sweet; qualities I like to include in my paintings, which is why you'll see so many fun and bright colors in them!

3. I didn't plan to make this my job. I'm actually a licensed substitute teacher in suburban ‪‎Minneapolis‬. I've always enjoyed art and wanted to try painting something for my husband for our first anniversary (we were married September 20th, 2014). Knowing he loves to travel like I do, a watercolor map seemed like a good subject.
Once I finished the painting, I brought it to a local framing shop to have it framed, and one of their clients came in looking for an artist to paint a ‪‎watercolor‬ map while my art was spread out on the table! She loved mine and wanted one of her own.
After getting that first commission, I began to be challenged by clients who asked for things I didn't think I could do (like chinoiserie pumpkins), who pushed me to realize I could mayyyybeee do this for a living!
Before I knew it, I went from painting once for the first time in YEARS to selling dozens of my pieces to clients in the ‪‎Twin Cities‬ and a few here on Etsy‬. I'm seriously loving every second of this new journey and it's great that I can still work with kids as a sub when I'm not doing a commissioned piece.

4. You may notice that my shop has been around since 2012. I initially sold embroidered pillows and handmade home decor in my shop back when I was still in college. That never really took off and it was a lot to manage on top of schoolwork, so I closed in 2013. I reopened again in early 2015 to try selling pillows again, but quickly became frustrated with the process and lack of sales.
Maybe I'll add a few pillows to the collection down the line, but the love I have for sewing isn't as nearly as strong as my love for painting, so I'm sticking with this for now!
Bonus! Paint, paper, and brushes take up much less space than a sewing machine and stacks of fabric do.

5. My husband and I share a two bedroom apartment with our sweet senior rescue Pekingese, Chugs. We both work out of our second bedroom, so it gets a tad cramped at times (part of the frustration with sewing!), but he's seriously the best coworker. :)

6. I do fundraising for local animal rescues. Please contact me if you're interested in having me sell my work for your organization in the Twin Cities.

7. I owe everything I have to Christ my savior. I know all that's happened to me in the past few months isn't just luck, and I'm so thankful God put me here.

8. If you read all of this, you're amazing. Thanks so much for your support. I can't wait to paint for you!