It started with Savannah

A girls’ trip to Savannah gave me the ultimate inspiration.

The girls packed up the car, put our boots on, and headed off for a fun-filled weekend. I was wearing my favorite pair of Dolce Vita cowgirl boots, taking in the sights along River Street, noticing flowers blooming on windowsills, and channeling all the vibes of the South.

At the time, I was yearning to get back to making my own work and challenging myself as an artist again. Then it sort of hit me out of the blue… how cute would a ceramic cowgirl boot vase be? It would fit right in with the vibes of Savannah and appeal to someone who loves a little Southern charm.

Once we got home, I got to work. I stayed late in my classroom and started building the slab vases. I decided to soft launch them to the group first and made each of my friends one. I wanted them to have something to remember our girls’ trip by, too. I carved their initials into the back of each boot and gifted them to my friends at brunch a few weeks later.

Needless to say, they loved them! My best friend Jenn encouraged me to post them on Etsy, and I took some casual content of the boots and posted it on TikTok as well, just to see how they would be received by a random audience.

My first post was a “how I made this ceramic cowgirl boot” video, with a step-by-step of the process. 12K views later, I got one order on Etsy! I was so excited to share my work with someone outside of my own circle.

I made a second TikTok about the cowgirl boot vase, encouraging others to find me on Etsy. That one hit 60K views, and within 72 hours, I had 32 orders to fill on Etsy… oops! I didn’t think for a second that I should have put a maximum quantity available. I genuinely thought I might get one more order!

That started a trend, and I filled all 32 orders over the next few weeks, completing 26 of them during Spring Break that year. At the time, the only space I had to work was my classroom. The photos below show all the boots completed as greenware and ready for the kiln.

Those boots turned into the beginning of my brand. I started thinking about what I wanted my body of work to look like, where I got the majority of my inspiration, and how I wanted to be perceived as an artist. That’s how Samantha Ann Art was born.

I started making “coastal cowgirl” boots, mugs, trays, ring holders, and match holders/strikers. I hit my 100th sale on Etsy within that year, with almost 60 mugs sold—which quickly became my next most popular piece.

I haven’t stopped making since then… yeehaw!