Kathy Lechler has found fertile ground for creating art and growing her business after moving to Connecticut two years ago. A graphic designer working in marketing for a hospital in Westchester by day, Lechler has crafted a studio space for herself in her Norwalk home where she can engage in her passion for painting. She sells her work under the banner Black Bird Studios.
Lechler used her creative process to name her business in 2010.
“I just wanted to have a brand for my business, and I was fooling around with logos because I make logos for my day job,” she recalled. While sketching out ideas for a few months while trying to settle on a name she found herself drawing the shape of a simple but distinctive black bird. “I started fooling around with that logo and I came up with a name, I was like oh, Black Bird! That’s how it happened.”
Working mostly in acrylics on canvas, though occasionally exploring watercolors, Lechler also discovered a uniquely festive way to share her art during the holidays.
“I started out doing note cards because I felt like it was a good way to promote my artwork,” Lechler said. “I coined it as ‘affordable art’ because not everybody is an avid art collector. This is more for everyday people who are looking for something they like.”
The cards were an instant hit with customers seeking either a cost-effective decoration or a thoughtful way to send a message to those they care about.
“I started turning almost all of my artwork into note cards, and then last year as I was making more it just came to me that I should make cards for the holiday season.”
Lechler began selling her special holiday editions through word of mouth and social media, as well as some art fairs where she says she typically sold out of the cards entirely. Her holiday cards feature a seasonal phrase over one of her winter themed works with a blank interior so that customers can convey their own personal holiday messages.
Typically, Lechler produces a full-size painting in her studio and takes a high-resolution photo which she prints on the card, but this year she has branched out into hand painted note cards. She intends to sell the original hand painted cards at art fairs and her website.
Much of her work is inspired by her coastal surroundings. Lechler grew up on Long Island but spent many years in the Midwest before moving to Norwalk. Her recent work heavily features beach scenes, lighthouses and shorebirds, although she has also captured moments of pastoral stillness and detailed depictions of flora she encounters.
Scenery is not the only thing which Lechler has grown to appreciate since arriving in the area.
“I really lucked out moving to Norwalk. They have a huge art community. Truthfully when I moved here, I didn’t know that,” Lechler said. “As I researched, I learned there is actually a huge art community through a lot of Connecticut.”
Lechler described how she was pleasantly surprised to get to know the community of artists, gallery owners, and art appreciators that has grown in and around the city, and she expressed hope about continuing to grow meaningful relationships in the future. She has already made connections with the Connecticut Spectrum Gallery in Essex and is hoping to work with more local creative spaces such as the Silvermine Art Center in New Canaan.
Alongside her growing ties to the community, her art has grown into a nationwide business.
“After I put it on my social media, I have gotten people from as far away as South Dakota asking for cards,” Lechler said of the reach she has achieved.
The expanded reach is important for Lechler, who viewed growing her creative skills as part of achieving success.
“It is a business journey as well, that’s for sure,” Lechler said. “It’s been slowly growing but since I’ve moved here it’s definitely taken on a new dimension. It is growing so I am really happy. Connecticut is the best place I ever moved to.”
