Gift Guide: Reven Marie Swanson of AnnieMarie Design, llc Highlights their Top Product

Today we’re excited to be connecting with Reven Marie Swanson again. We’re excited to feature one of their products in our gift guide – learn more below and we encourage you to use your gift budget to support small businesses & creatives whenever possible.

Reven Marie, we loved learning your story, but I think our audience is going to appreciate learning about the product side of your story as well. So, maybe you can help bring everyone up to speed?
Hi, I’m Reven Marie Swanson.

As an accomplished sculptor in the professional field of public art, it is time to expand my creative exploration. Cultivating a garden of independence from a demanding career, I explore the art of transforming glass. It is an intimate experience that is gratifying and I feel closer to the Natural World than ever before.

Inspiration

Growing up in a rural Colorado setting, as a young girl, I built forts in ditches, swung on the backs of wild horses and chased lizards with my sister, Channing. It was a childhood experience that ran closely with the rhythms of the Natural World. My garden is more like a scientific research project. I observe the relationships of soil, water and growth. There is a beautiful complexity of living. I feel a responsibility to share observations and foster more stewardship of others for the Natural World, especially when it comes to Water in the West.

Techniques

My artwork is one-of-a-kind and made entirely within my studio walls. I weld, fabricate in steel and work glass in my kiln. Starting with “plain Jane” glass panels, I cut, fire, cut, fire, cut, fire and so on until I finally invent a glass panel that satisfies my artistic vision and high standard for quality.

Career Highlights

AnnieMarie Design is a relatively new company started in 2019 to focus specifically on glass work. As a public art sculptor my work resides in numerous public and private collections, both nationally and internationally. Highlighted commissions are throughout the Rocky Mountain region including the National Endowment for the Arts, Trust for Public Lands, Museum of Outdoor Arts and 40West Arts District. Recent articles have been published in Canvas Rebel, Shoutout Colorado and Voyage Denver.

For me installing artwork is like “leaving pieces of sunshine where ever I go!”

What’s been the most exciting part of the journey of taking this product from idea to real life?
The question asking about the most “exciting” part of the journey when a person decides to take a new product to market probably better to ask about the adrenaline. There is life changing moment when one seizes absolute confidence and decides to jump into the abyss of the unknown.

The little voice inside you tells to return to what you know as you are spending your savings to capitalize the new venture. But that said, to go back to the familiar, is to stay same place you are now.

Speaking from experience, there are many services and online platforms that make big promises you will be an overnight success. The truth of the matter is you have to plan for the long game. There will be moments when your new product will gain traction. There will be moments you think about giving up. Always remember, your product is a well thought out creation. Keep believing. If your not seeing the gains you anticipated, it just means you haven’t found your market or niche. Keep looking.

If you had to boil your product or brand down to one core message – what would that message be?
When it comes to original artwork and selling online, it’s very difficult to educate or communicate with your following that the work does not resemble “Made from China”. The work is made by hand, one at a time with the highest quality of materials. Every component of the product is made within the studio walls.

That said, I sincerely make work that has meaning, credible and integrity. There is a reason for it’s existence.

“Every where the artwork travels is like bringing little pieces of sunshine.”

What are you most thankful for?
I am most thankful for having a troop of supporters in my friends and family. They have routinely provided encouragement and have been the a successful sales staff. They were the catalyst to small gains that came in the beginning of the new venture.

Another thank you goes to myself. It’s a challenge for an artist to give themselves credit and not feel conceited. I am grateful that throughout my career I made many good decisions. The decisions resulted in the ability to have financial security while launching a new product. I was able to be better organized with the launch because of the experience making public art and seeking commissions.

I am grateful that I was willing to start a new venture. There are many points of being uncomfortable. When those points arise, I greet them. I know it means I am onto to something new and growing in my creative experience.

Image Credits
Photographer: Robert Alexander Mutch