Alumna’s hobby is now her business

A painting by Victoria Sharpe. Photo courtesy Sharpe

FAMU alumna and artist Victoria Sharpe is proof that a hobby can be turned into a business. The self-taught artist began practicing her painting skills in August 2019. At first, Sharpe did not plan on selling or showcasing her artwork until people started collecting her art and Sharpe was inspired to showcase her newborn talents by selling her paintings, creating her Tallahassee home-based business, Sharpe Crafts.

As for right now, Sharpe’s main and popular work is her acrylic pour art, which is a more fluid painting technique where acrylic paint is poured and distributed all over the canvas by tilting. And although it’s a messy technique, the results are what matter.

Similar to how people remember most of their firsts, Sharpe remembers her first order, which was not local.

“The first piece I sold was a purple and white one with a gold tree on it and I shipped it to North Carolina,” Sharpe said.

This was not her only order that was in a different state. Malik Hill lives in California and ordered a painting from Sharpe Crafts.

“I gave the artist an idea of what I wanted and she produced an awesome piece of artwork,” Hill said. “I want to say thank you to Sharpe Crafts for putting the last touch to my place for me, it was well needed.”

Not every piece of art takes the same amount of time, according to Sharpe, depending on the sizes of the canvas, the time varies. For example, an 8 x 10 or a 12 x 16 is likely to take about 45 minutes to an hour, while a 24 x 31 may take hours or a couple of days.

Most of the time Sharpe is given the freedom to paint whatever from those buying a painting, while for others, she does have the same freedom but they request specific colors.

One of her customers, Deja Vanterpool, requested Sharpe’s services after seeing a painting online and wanted Sharpe to  make something similar to it.

“I loved the painting she did for me,” Vanterpool said. “She made it based off of a piece I’d seen online and was willing to experiment with a new technique to make it for me. Shes definitely very talented and sweet as well. No doubts that Ill be buying more art from her in the near future.”

While Sharpe is content with her business, she isn’t just settling on art. In fact, she is hoping to expand Sharpe Crafts in the future and make it about more than just art.

“I definitely want to move on to furniture,” Sharpe said, talking about her plans for her business. “I want to own my own craft shop and furniture store, I’d love to see it go there. And maybe even own an art gallery one day.”

Orders can be placed through direct message on Sharpe Crafts’ Instagram, @sharpe.crafts, or through email, vicki.sharpe@yahoo.com.