How a Charlottean’s Etsy shop turned into her full-time job

Evelyn Henson is all about living a “brightly decorated life,” so when Mother’s Day came around before her senior year of college, she decided to paint her mom some flowers using a colorful palette.

Throughout her senior year, Henson, 26, continued to paint. Because she declared her communications major late, she ended up in an Intro to Digital Communications class, which taught her how to use PhotoShop and how to scan and edit her own artwork through the computer screen. With the support from her family and friends, she opened her Etsy shop to sell her work. 

“I think of (a brightly decorated life) as bringing joy to the everyday things and letting the little things make you happy, whether it’s a cup of coffee in the morning or throwing paint on a canvas or adding colorful things to the wall or stopping to smell the flowers,” Henson said.

Feeling that her Etsy shop was a success, Henson decided to move her sales to her own website, https://www.evelynhenson.com. The site sells her work as fine art prints and mugs featuring her signature Map Series or Brightly Decorated Life Series, notebooks in the Brightly Decorate Life Series, greeting cards and phone cases.

Henson’s painting and selling through her website has become her full-time job. She paints at her apartment in the Dilworth area as well as Freedom Park when the weather is nice.

She tackles the financial aspect of her business, and occasionally a few sketches, at local coffee shops a couple times a week for a change of scenery, like Sunflour Baking Company, Not Just Coffee, Central Coffee and Nova’s Bakery.

“I honestly don’t know that I would be doing what I’m doing if Instagram hadn’t connected me with so many people,” Henson said in an email. “It’s given me exposure to customers and clients that I would probably have previously needed a gallery or agent to obtain. At the end of the day, I just want my art to brighten someone’s day, and Instagram gives me the chance to do that with thousands of people instantly.

“These individuals can provide feedback on products and new designs, learn more about my work, go the behind the scenes and, best of all, refer @evelyn_henson to their friends.”

At her latest live-paining event, Henson answered some questions from her audience. Here’s what she said:

Do you cater to your own personal style, or do you cater to your customers’ wants and needs?

“Both. Whenever I feel stuck, I try to always think, ‘What would I want to hang on my wall?’ in hopes that someone else would want to hang it on their wall, too, because usually the things that don’t sell are the things I’m not hanging myself.”

Do you ever feel like you’re finished with a painting?

“I’ve started to paint almost exclusively on paper now because with paper you can only add so many layers, and when I’m on canvas I feel like it’s hard to call it quits.”

For the cities you’ve never been to in your map series, do you do research in order to fill the map?

“I try and find someone that lives there to help me because it’s hard to know. When I did my hometown, Google gave me really random results, like it was giving me places that I’ve never heard of. So I’ll do a little bit of research and then I’ll pair that with what someone else says about that place, and that makes that a lot easier.”

You have your Brightly Decorated Life Series and your Map Series. What’s your next series?

“I’ve been very into landscapes lately, so I’ve been painting a lot of beaches, trees and things like that, so I’m hoping to finish up a landscape series soon.”

(And in fact, she did! The the original Southern-inspired landscape series was set to go live on her website on May 23 at 10 a.m.)

Interested in purchasing some of her work in-person? You can find it at:

– Gratefully Danielle (6414 Rea Rd, Charlotte, NC 28277)

– Paper Twist (2902 Selwyn Ave Suite A, Charlotte, NC 28209)

– The Cheeky Bean (14835 Ballantyne Village Way #115, Charlotte, NC 28277)

– Theory Design Studio (1405 East Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28203)

– Clair de Lune (1820 South Blvd Suite 100 Charlotte, NC 28203)

Photos: Colby Alvino

This story was originally published May 23, 2017 at 11:00 PM with the headline "How a Charlottean’s Etsy shop turned into her full-time job."