Cristall Harper is a prolific painter and lover of flowers. She once wrote, “I inherited my love of flowers from my parents. On vacations, they take more pictures of the local flowers than their own family, something I’m now guilty of as an adult. I like the artistic challenge of taking something traditionally feminine and fragile, like a flower, but redefining that femininity with strength and confidence.” She was profiled previously on The Krakens for her series of dog paintings. Harper lives in Utah.
Talk about your soap venture. It’s so funny to me that you asked about my soap venture. As if I didn’t have enough to do already being a full-time artist, I also make my own soap. I don’t know, I just love making things with my hands. I decided one day to take a lotion-making class at Thanksgiving Point. The lotion making was a bust but I sat by a lady who has made her own soap for decades. After class, she taught two of us how she did it and I was hooked. I make enough soap to keep my family supplied and to sell to friends and neighbors. It’s all just word-of-mouth. I made a blog for my soap sales venture and it’s www.harperandcosoap.blogspot.com – maybe some day I’ll have an Etsy store, but for now it’s a wee operation out of my kitchen that makes my house smell amazing and makes my friends and neighbors happy.
What’s next for you? My 2016 is totally booked, and my 2017 is quickly filling up. I’m so blessed. I have my first big show at my Park City gallery (milestone!) booked for the summer of 2017. I’m marinating on the idea of entering a couple of new markets. There are areas of the country with a strong art scene I feel my work would fit into nicely. First, I need to acclimate my business and my production to the two new markets I have recently entered (Sun Valley, ID and Jackson Hole, WY). I have the mindset that I will be as successful as I choose to be.
Visit Cristall Harper’s website.