Zoe Rae Art

Autumn Flatirons 🍂

To be honest I’ve been struggling getting back to painting and being creative in that way. Work has been a lot. I got myself a little 8x8 watercolor block and still have not touched it. I know I need to be better about making space for that and setting aside that time but by the time I get home or it’s the weekend I’m exhausted. I know something is off or wrong when I don’t want to paint. Anyway I’m going to try and set an alarm or something for myself and at least spend 20 minutes being creative. Fingers crossed I can get back into that mindset and routine.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here and that’s mainly due to figuring out what I want to do with my art. I’ve realized I just need to start creating for myself again.

This means that I’m going to continue with watercolor cause I love it but I won’t be making pieces into prints as fast as I was. There’s quite a bit of inventory that I would like to sell and not restock.

Since this is the side hustle again I want it to be a little smaller which means at this moment in time whatever apparel accessories I have in stock that is it. I thought about making hand painted hats again but it takes so much time to create original works of art. Going forward I want to focus on my paintings, prints, cards, and stickers.

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The Flatirons with Lupines co****le boards are complete! We might have played a few games once they were finished. If you want them for yourself 👀 they are being auctioned off by

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Ok…I gave in. This trend is actually a lot of fun 🪩

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After being home for a month I had a lot of time to reflect on 2024. I learned a lot by being a full time artist. One of the things I learned is that I am someone who thrives when I have a consistent routine. I enjoy being challenged even if that means daily. My art is more enjoyable for me when it’s not my main source of income. Due to all of these realizations I am kicking off the new year by going back to being a secondary art teacher! I am really excited to return to teaching.

With this there will be some changes to Zoe Rae Art this year. I will still be working on my art but it will be a side hustle again. This means I will not be doing as many markets and I will not be creating as much new work this year.

Thank you for taking the time to catch up on what I’ve been up to and for continuing to support my art. I can’t tell you how much it means to me.

Fox 8x10” watercolor on cold pressed paper

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Since there’s a lot of new faces here I thought I’d take the time to reintroduce myself. First of all my name is Zoe and I am the crazy lady running this small little business of mine.

To give some history as to who I am, I was born in Chico, CA and lived there till I was eight. At that time my parents decided to move us to Hawaii (which I still consider as home). Growing up I paddled, hiked, and surfed. In high school I started a side hustle called Hats by Zoe. Throughout high school and college I hand painted trucker hats.

After high school I moved to the Big Island for college. During college I was still working on my art but changed it to Zoe Rae Art, once people became interested in my watercolor work. I did receive my bachelor’s degree in art and masters in art education. I taught on Kauai for my first year of teaching. In 2020 I decided to take the leap and leave Hawaii to move to Colorado.

In 2023 I left teaching after some big life events and tried being an artist full time. Kicking off the new year with new goals for work and my personal life. Stay tuned for updates on that.

If you made it all the way to the end, thank you for taking the time to get to know more about me.

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Here’s my little holiday card to all of you.

Happy Holidays! I hope you all have amazing and cozy holidays. If you’re traveling I hope you have safe travels. Wherever you are and whoever you are with I hope there’s a lot of laughs and good times. Thank you for continuing to support my art and little business this holiday season. If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be here doing what I love each day.

I am leaving for home today and not sure exactly when I’ll be back since I got a one way ticket. Don’t worry I’ll be back. I’m so excited to be going back home and getting to spend time with my family this holiday season. It’s crazy to think it’s been a year since I was last home.

If you place an order in the meantime it won’t be shipped out until I’m back.

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To those that don’t know the Zoe Rae Art journey all started back when I was in high school. I hand painted four trucker hats for my family to wear for paddling. We were sitting on the beach one day when someone asked us where we had gotten them from. My mom told them that I had painted them. To my surprise they asked if I sold them and if they could buy one.

At the time I was not selling my artwork which we told them. After they left I was told by my family that was the sign to start selling my work. That’s when Hats By Zoe was born. Throughout high school and part of college I sold hand painted custom trucker hats.

This hat is extra special since the original was a commission from back in 2017. It was so much fun to recreate! I forgot how much I still love to hand paint hats. It’s always fun to see how my style has changed throughout the years too.

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