Abstract Artist

March 10, 2024

     At first, I thought she was an ‘energizer bunny.’ You know the commercial, where the bunny keeps going and going and going without a battery change. But she couldn’t be a bunny, they have names like Peter Cottontail, Bugs and Jack. So, I decided to cast a line in the water, after all, where else would an Ariel be?

     Then one day, not long ago, she yanked so hard my bobber went under. I finally decided to click that send message link on her Instagram profile, much like pulling the rod and reel back to set the hook. And as it set, I realized I hadn’t caught just any sea creature, I had landed someone much bigger.

A mermaid it was, but had I caught her, or had she caught me? Was I being pulled to the ocean’s depths for a certain death, I pondered. Probably not, I rationalized, because I know ‘fairytales’ and ‘mermaids’ don’t exist otherwise I’d be leading a wonderful life. Instead, I’m a mere writer getting ready to tell you a tale of an artist and entrepreneur.

     My interviewee works in finance and tells me upfront, “I’ve always had a job working with numbers to pay the bills. I’m good at numbers but I’m a creative soul at heart,” and added laughingly, “that’s not what I want to talk about.” 

     Ok then, I replied back, and with that, lets ‘Meet: Ariel Rainville,’ the Mermaid I caught with my own creativity.

The Beginning

     I’ve never given much thought to where people are born, it’s always been about where they end up in life that intrigues me most. But Ariel begun our interview as excited as her videos when she said, “I was born and raised in San Francisco, California.  And, yes, in the actual city.  Not outside the city.  I am an authentic SF native.” By gosh, I thought, I’ve never known anyone actually born there. They’re all transplants. Everyone I know there, born elsewhere and resettled. Gee, ok, this will be interesting, I concluded. 

      Raised an only child to a mother who worked in the fashion industry and a father who owned a shoe store in North Beach, a neighborhood in SF, the now Massachusetts resident says of her parents, “They gave me the opportunity to be around so many creative people.” So many in fact that by age eight she auditioned to be a member of the prestigious San Francisco Girls Chorus.  That opportunity, Ariel said, “allowed me to perform in two SF operas; Mephistopheles and Turandot, in the 1990’s, it allowed me to sing with numerous accomplished musicians and singers, including Linda Ronstadt, and I even got to tour to Italy and sing in so many incredibly historic sites, including the Vatican.”

      “Although, the SFGC was a huge part of my childhood, and took up most of my after-school time, I did play every sport when I had time,” she added, “I played soccer and basketball.” Before I could find a way to tie in my opening here, Ariel heard the starters whistle and jumped in, and added, “I swam. My Dad was a swimming teacher and to this day swims in the SF Bay, so swimming was always a constant in my life.” 

     During high school, Ariel continued, “My dream was to be in a rock band.  I briefly had a gig in an all-girls high school band. I played the bass. I LOVED IT. I took piano growing up, and once I told my dad that “I was over it”, he made me choose another instrument.  Now I realize how amazing my parents really are to always help keep my creativity going. I decided on guitar (because she wanted to be a rock star). I learned on a steel string electric acoustic Epiphone that belonged to my dad. I brought that guitar to college with me.  So many great memories.”

     Her parents still live in the same home she grew up in and says of them, “They are the most youthful 75-year-olds I know.”

College

      The one-time SGGC member is a 2002 graduate of The University of California, Santa Cruz and holds a BA in Theater Arts. “I wanted to be an actress, like many people in California,” she says shyly, before adding, “Although I loved performing and wanted to be in front of the spotlight, I’ve always had issues with anxiety” Ariel then proceeded to tell me that performing in front of people live, by herself, may not have been the best career path for her and stayed with the numbers.

Designing

      “I’ve always had a design gene in me,” Ariel asserts. “My Mom worked for a fashion designer, and she always had the best style, so she was obviously a huge influence. I, also, worked for an interior design firm in my 20’s, handing out fabric swatches to designers. I was able to take home old fabric swatches that were discontinued, and I would get ecstatic and make bags out of furniture fabric swatches just for fun. I broke my sewing machine a few times.” 

      “Art is my core, music and color are my inspirations.” she carried forward. “My family and current life is my motivation to keep going.  I’ve taken little parts of me that I always thought were mediocre and seem to have landed on a mix of everything that I love and have finally started to see I can add something different to this world.”

       “Many people think AbstractArtMom (her Instagram moniker) is my job and how I make my money, but I’m just a normal person with a full-time job working with numbers to help support the wonderful family I have. It would be nice to have this passion be my source of income one day, but that is not the reason why I do this. I do this to be happy and to be able to express myself in ways that I have never really had the opportunity to do so. Especially when I have this crazy drive at this point in my life,” Aeriel affixed.

Artwork

     Ariel’s first sale occurred when she was helping raise funds for friends’ sick dog. It was a piece she made while in college in 2001 and sold for $80, in which she says, “amazed me.”  

        “I never really sold my art. It was always an outlet for me to be me,” she tells me. “I’d find joy in giving my art away to friends and family on special occasions.  This is how I really got into this, and how AbstractArtMom was created. My friends started sending me pictures last year of the paintings I had given to them over the years. Fifteen years ago, I wouldn’t have known what to do with the pictures, but today, we can do so much digitally. I’ve taught myself over the past year, and graphic art is my new passion. I say it all the time. I’m 43, and I just found my passion.”

AbstractArtMom the Online Store

     Q – Do you do all your own artwork and printing of the t-shirts?  

     A – I only make my own graphics; I use a 3rd party to help with printing because I don’t have the time right now. 

     Q – Do you do, or have you thought of doing seasonal items? 

     A – I have seasonal graphics, like my “Settia” I show off more around Christmas, and “Muse”, my heart design, around Valentine’s Day, but most of my designs can be worn all year. 

     Q – How supportive is your husband and other family members?

     A – My Husband and kids have always been huge supporters, especially when I was going through the harder days last year.  I mean, how lucky am I that I get to pretend to be in a music video for 30 minutes a day at 43 years old? My Husband gets me! This allows me the time I need, and the creative time I need to get new fun content out. 

     Q –   Do they offer you assistance?  

     A –   Regarding my designs, my kids help me name my weekly “Make Something Out of Nothing” series every Saturday morning….so I guess they do. They also provide huge motivation to keep this up. 

     Q – Do you or have you thought of children’s sizes? 

     A – Yes, I have thought about it. I just don’t have enough exposure yet to expand my shop’s products. I find only the best products that work with my designs.  The totes are my favorites. The colors transfer perfectly. I’m just working on getting my designs visible to the public right now. My kids love my totes. 

     Q – How many different items do you sell? 

     A – Over the past year I’ve been figuring out which products I like and which I don’t.  I sell my graphics on tees, totes, and accessories.  I recently was asked to recreate a photograph of a person’s sweet dog, and it came out amazing.  This may be my new gig.   

Advice

     Nearing the end of our time together, I asked Ariel if she had any advice for those feeling inspired to follow in her footsteps. She offered this, “I think the best advice I can give is to be confident in what you love and what you’re passionate about. Don’t let that feeling pass you by. If it’s something you love, it will show in your work. Keep going, don’t give up. And this advice I need to also remind myself, do it because you love it, don’t do it for the $. Happiness is the goal.” 

About Me

     Finishing up, I asked her that one – or two – part question about me…I don’t recall how long we’ve been following one another, at least a year, maybe two…Why and what is it about me that has kept you following my account?  And what do you like most about my approach to social media, I asked the artist.

      “I’m constantly impressed by the people you choose to interview,” Ariel says in closing. “I found common ground right away when you said you used this outlet as a form of healing. I started AbstractArtMom during a hard time last winter dealing with seasonal depression. Anxiety and depression go hand and hand, so I told myself that this would only be for positivity and to allow me the opportunity to be the creative person I wanted to be. I noticed that you also were using it for positivity, along with giving notice to other creatives out there. It’s simply amazing what you’re doing.” 

  Writers Note

     I’d like to thank Ariel for her time and especially her excitement for agreeing to be interviewed. Yes, my platform has helped the creatives that have appeared and I’m grateful to be here for them. But it’s also been about my healing as well and Ariel’s keen artistic sights have picked that up too and I hope it helps her along the way. I love doing this. I meet some really interesting people and have become good friends with many of them. 

     I’d, also, like to thank my readers because without you, all this would be meaningless. I’ve enclosed links to Ariel’s social sites and website below so you may contact her directly and/or check out her cool products. 

Ariel’s Sites

 Ariel Rainville (@abstractartmom) • Instagram 

 Ariel Rainville (@abstractartmom) on Threads 

Snapchat abstractartmom

 Website AbstractArtMom.com

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