Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily.
Hi Emily, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
The long version story of Emily McClenagan Art (originally named Jane & Pearl) is below, but here are a few quick facts about me.
I was born and raised in Austin, Texas to a great family. I’m one of four kids, third born, I feel ya all middle children. I studied Business at Texas A&M University (whoop) and landed my first real job at a small startup in Downtown Dallas that honestly wasn’t too different from The Office.
Fast forward to meeting my husband while playing ultimate frisbee, a move to Wisconsin, identical twins, a move to Knoxville, and just one more baby later, here we are!
My business was originally called Jane & Pearl. I created this business to use my art to support non-profit organizations that support underprivileged families.
How did it start? In 2015, after reading articles on the Syrian refugee crisis in the early 2010s and knowing friends on the front line in Iraq doing art therapy with Isis survivors, my heart was bursting with a way to respond to the tragedy coming out of the middle east.
At this time, we were raising twin one-year-old toddlers in Madison, Wisconsin while my husband worked as a pastor. I wanted to give more financial support to those on the front lines while staying home with my toddlers. So I thought, “what do I have?” A little bit of nap time, and a love to create. I thought, what if profits from a painting could go to women and children fleeing Syria. I actually had two contacts working over there and I could give financial support directly to them. I had a business degree and my family is artistic but I had no training in art.
The burden to continue to support others would increase over the next few months as I brainstormed how I could make something that people would want to buy.
I read “In Order to Live” by Yeonmi Park, and was moved by her story. Growing up in North Korea, Yeonmi’s greatest motivation in escaping to China was an entire bowl of warm rice. That was it. Tragically, after making it to China as a teenager she was trafficked, bought and sold, for less than a hundred dollars the first time. She now had rice, but again had no freedom, and it’s all she wanted. Simply to be free. To not be someone else’s property.
A month later, I had a vivid dream involving my family. And in that moment, in my dream with devastation, I felt the weight of all the faceless, nameless, statistics of especially women and children that were suffering. They are someone’s daughter. I thought of their mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers who want to fight for their freedom.
“All suffering, injustice, poverty, and death will be ended. To pray ‘thy kingdom come’ is to ‘yearn for that future life’ of justice and peace.” -Tim Keller
That’s my purpose with the resources and any talent I’ve been given.
Jane and Pearl. The middle names of my daughters and the motivation to remember the value and worth inherent in every single person. Each one is someone’s child. Each one has immeasurable worth.
So I learned to paint watching a lot of YouTube videos, convinced my friends to buy my paintings, and then I donated to organizations on the front lines.
I’ve painted stationery, prints, ornaments, custom works, and most recently live wedding painting. Though the products have changed, the heart and mission behind my business has stayed the same.
I’ve supported refugees, domestic trafficking victims, and others in Iraq, Tijuana, Knoxville, and Afghanistan over the last 10 years.
“The absurdity of a mad world only changes when we stop being deaf to the other —and have the audacity to listen to each other’s hearts — and respond.” -Ann Voskamp
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Anyone that owns a business knows that wearing all the hats comes with challenges, most often for me, dropping response times or missing a deadline. Managing accounting and art with the short bits of time I have to run my business became unmanageable for me. The best decision I made was to hire an accountant, she’s been incredible for my business and allows me to not have to spend time on accounting.
Anything that I create feels personal and over the years I’ve learned to not worry too much if someone doesn’t like a painting, or a specific design does not sell. At one pop up event, I had my products out on display and was pretty proud of this new painting I had on a 10×10 square canvas. I’m standing there and a customer comes up and says that the ocean painting would be perfect for grandma. I sold her the painting, thanked her, and decided not to mention that it was actually a mountain painting, at least that’s what I intended. I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I started out primarily painting watercolor designs, which I turned into stationery and art prints. One of my early pieces — a wreath in soft blues and greens with succulents and the phrase “There is room for you at the table” — quickly became a bestseller. I’ve recently reintroduced it to my shop because it still represents what I value most: creating space where everyone feels welcome.
In 2020, a friend asked me to paint her wedding live. I thought, “How hard could it be?” — and quickly learned that capturing a wedding scene *in real time*, with an audience, in under six hours, is incredibly challenging. I completed the painting but didn’t think of live painting as something I would pursue. Honestly, I was considering closing my art business, feeling like the stationery chapter had run its course. But clearly, it wasn’t time. With no marketing or promotion — just word of mouth from that first event — I started getting emails for more live wedding paintings. I painted 4 in 2021, 12 in 2022, and over 20 weddings in 2023. In 2024, I scaled back to spend more Saturdays with my family. I recently made an artist team so share the leads with and love being connected with other artists and sharing our talent in the wedding industry.
Live wedding painting is a unique role for an artist, and it fits me well. I love meeting people and chatting while I paint — I don’t need to stay laser-focused the entire time. I’m not a perfectionist, and my style is fairly loose. I tend to zoom out and focus on capturing the overall feeling of the day. My hope is always that the painting reflects the energy and joy of the day.
Occasionally I’ll teach watercolor 101 classes to beginners. I think being a self-taught artist is really helpful in teaching beginners because I know exactly how they are feeling about learning watercolor. It’s not an easy medium, but my classes are always full of tons of laughter and I would say pretty much every student walks away feeling a bit more confident about painting with watercolor.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I like to have a few books in rotation at all times. On my kindle is Erik Larson’s Demon of Unrest. By my chair in the living room is my bible, and my next up to read is Theo of Golden.
In terms of art inspiration, in the early years I watched a lot of random YouTube’s with titles like “how to paint a person” or “how to paint a tree”. Jenna Rainey’s book “Everyday Watercolor” was so helpful in teaching me how
My husband and 11-year-old twins and I started watching Portrait Artist of the Year. HIGHLY recommend to anyone artist or not. It’s like the Great British Baking Show for artists.
Pricing:
- Live Wedding Painting Packages range from $1,500-$2,800
- Prints in my Etsy shop range from $25-$100
- Custom portraits range from $50-$250
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.emilymcclenaganart.com
- Instagram: emilymcclenaganart
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/EmilyMcClenaganArt
