We recently connected with Janaye Pitt and have shared our conversation below.
Janaye, thank you so much for joining us today. Let’s jump right into something we’re really interested in hearing about from you – being the only one in the room. So many of us find ourselves as the only woman in the room, the only immigrant or the only artist in the room, etc. Can you talk to us about how you have learned to be effective and successful in situations where you are the only one in the room like you?
By selling at multiple conventions and markets I have met many other talented artists. While I am happy to say that I’ve never really had a bad experience with other artists I have noticed something as time goes on. There have been a few events where I was the only black female in the artist space. Once or twice, I even noticed that I was the ONLY black artist in the artist space. So, what happened? Obviously, I don’t run the conventions or markets so I have no idea if it was a selection issue or if other artists of color just weren’t interested in the events. Regardless, this made me stand out in a way I hadn’t expected. When you’re forced to stand out just by your skin tone alone then the only option is to rise to the occasion. The first thing I do is try my best to network with other artists before most events even start. I introduce myself, explain what kind of art I make, and ask questions about their art. First impressions matter so I try to make a good one every time. The next thing I do is make sure to greet every person that walks by my table. If they even glance my direction I’m there with a smile and a “Hello” ready. I’ve found this to be very effective for two reasons. One: when people are greeted, they are more likely to come over and either speak to you or look at your art. It’s simply in most of our nature to greet someone back if they’ve greeted you first. Two: this method helps possible customers who may be more on the shy side feel more at ease. There have been many times where a customer is more reserved or shy and simply waved at me and kept walking after I greeted them. Only for them to return later and mention that they wanted to circle back because I spoke to them earlier. It’s important to remember that everyone is different and sometimes it just takes a small gesture like a greeting to help people feel more confident.
Over time I have built up a small following of returning customers who have told me that the reason they keep coming back is because of my general positive attitude and my welcoming demeanor. When you create a welcoming environment with little pressure for people, they are very likely to come back, chat, and purchase your art. I believe that this can be accomplished regardless of your race and gender. That being said, I am not totally blind to certain things that have come up. I notice when some men wave back after I greet them but won’t stop to look at all my art once they notice I sell earrings. Often as customers we simply glance at something and base whether we interact with it off of if we’re personally interested in what we saw. I pride myself in making art for everyone and my wide selection proves this. However, there has been instances where men see one thing that doesn’t interest them and walk away only to double back later because, on a second passing, they see a wall hanging or keychain that DOES interest them. They then actually walk up to my table to look at everything there is to offer and often buy something. While shopping we tend to talk and they usually say something along the lines of, “Oh I didn’t realize you had (xyz)!” In a largely female dominated art space, it can be difficult to stand out as every customer has assumptions. Meeting someone half way is an essential skill to have. Being successful in this field comes from being welcoming and knowing how to adapt your approach to fit the needs of different customers.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I describe myself as a multi-fandom resin artist. I know there’s quite a few people who may not know what resin is so let me explain. Resin is a two part mixture comprising of Hardener and Epoxy Resin. I mix an equal amount of both parts together, add in color/glitter/glow-in-the-dark-powder, and pour the mixture into silicone molds. Once the mixture has hardened, in about twenty-four hours, I take the art out of the mold and paint in the designs or details.
I make a wide variety of art including earrings, keychains, wall hanging, bookmarks, coasters, Dungeons and Dragons dice, dice boxes, magnets, and much more. This is where the “multi-fandom” part comes into play. I am personally into a lot of different mediums such as video games, anime, movies, tv shows, etc. I draw a lot of my creative inspiration from these mediums and create art based off of them. For example, I love playing D&D so I have created dice based off of songs I like, characters from shows, and even V-Tubers. I’m also a big fan of horror movies and I’ve honestly lost track of how many different Ouija boards I’ve made.
The main reason I love resin is because I can express myself and my interests through it. Every mold that I buy is something I personally like or love. I don’t buy molds solely because something is popular at the moment or just based off of customer suggestions. Very early on in my resin journey I took on a custom order for something I had no personal interest in. It wasn’t that the request was hard to make but rather it became tedious when I realized I had little motivation to make it. While the art came out well I noticed that I didn’t have much fun doing it. Usually after pouring a piece I would be extremely excited to pop it out of the mold the next day. For the first time ever I didn’t feel that way and it shook me a bit. It was after that order that I made a new rule for myself. I would only make art I liked because otherwise I might have given up on resin art all together. Now I thrive in making art that’s meaningful to me and finding others that are also into the same things I am. It’s not really hard when you’re into as many fandoms as I am!
My art is currently available online through my website and Esty. It is also being shown and sold at the North Carolina Museum of Art and Small Shops Mall in Rocky Mount NC. I also regularly vend at conventions and markets such as Galaxycon, Mad Monster Party/Expo, Koreafest, and more. I hope to be able to vend at even larger conventions in 2025 such as Otakon.
Over the holidays I treated myself to some new molds which means new designs will be coming very soon! Some of these are from beloved shows that 90’s kids will know such as Courage the Cowardly Dog! I also plan to make more bookmarks and book accessories.
Along with my design expansion I plan to launch a podcast sometime in 2025. So if you’re in to story based podcasts make sure to keep an eye out!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I believe in staying true to who you are and your interests is a big one. Making art is such a personal experience and how you approach it is completely your decision. Trying to impress everyone won’t work and may leave you wanting to quit. When art is your passion, when it MEANS something to you, that’s when it becomes something great. Throughout my journey I had to learn customer service skills fairly quickly. Conventions often have a lot of people and things move very fast. I had to learn when to speak up, when to let someone shop in silence, and when I could talk someone’s ear off about my newest piece. Everyone is different and the same approach won’t always work with every customer. Learning how to read body language is incredibly important as well. Once you realize how different people operate it slowly becomes easier to manage big crowds. Every once in a while I’ll read a person wrong but I see each instance as a learning opportunity.
Let’s take a closer look at that last part. Learning opportunities. Seeing everything as a learning opportunity has helped me immensely as an artist. While resin may seem like an easy thing to learn it can be trickier than you think. At first, I rushed in with all the excitement and recklessness anyone has when starting something new. I quickly realized that I needed to pull back a bit when my first try at earrings was a disaster. I quickly became comfortable with a question I’ve come to love over the years; what went wrong? Did I pour it too fast? Did I not wait long enough to take it out of the mold? Did I not mix the resin right? How do I avoid this the next time around? Simply assuming that your art is going to come out well every time does not help make you a better artist. You learn from mistakes, big and small. You learn from overexcitement and recklessness. One of my favorite quotes is from Ms. Frizzle (The Magic School Bus) who said, “If at first you don’t succeed, find out why.”
If you are someone who is trying out resin for the first time I have two pieces of advice for you.
1. Patience. Resin takes TIME. I mean that literally and figuratively. It’s incredibly easy to look at time lapse videos on social media of other resin artists and want to “be at their level.” You have to remember that they had a journey too. They had messy pieces and trapped bubbles just like you’re experiencing now. They had to learn to be patient with their art so it could become worthy of someone else seeing it and wanting to give resin a try too. Resin literally takes a whole day to harden. That is the very start of your waiting game and it can be difficult but the results are almost always worth it. There have been a lot of people who have come up to my table at conventions and said, “Oh I tired resin art but I just didn’t have the patience for it.” I always find those stories interesting because I wasn’t a very patient person before I started making resin art. It literally helped me learn to be patient but the fact that some people just gave up instead of hanging in there is interesting to think about.
2. Try everything for yourself! There’s nothing wrong with asking for advice from fellow resin artists and I honestly believe that the more firsthand information you can get the better. That being said, it’s important to try things out for yourself before deciding if something is for you or not. A big example for me was when I first wanted to start making D&D dice. I did research and talked to a couple of other resin dice makers about it. Everywhere I turned I kept getting hit with the same thing, “It’s basically impossible to make bubble free dice without a pressure pot.” For those who don’t know, a pressure pot is a large pressurized container that you put your dice in after pouring them. The pressure pops any trapped air bubbles and the result is perfect looking dice, most of the time. While it’s a nice tool to have, new dice makers may not be able to afford it as a good quality one tends to be priced between $100 – $300. Not only did I not really want to invest that much from jump but I also like to make other resin art besides dice. Now if you know me, you know I like a good challenge. So, one day I finally asked dice makers a different question. “Did you ever actually try to make bubble free dice yourself? Or were you just told it wasn’t possible so you didn’t try at all?” Needless to say, very few could answer that question. So, I took on the challenge of making dice by hand, no pressure pot. It was by no means an easy task. A lot of resin was ruined, frustrations were high, but I kept at it because I just had to know if it was possible. Turns out it is. You just need a lot of patience and the willingness to look at what went wrong. Today D&D dice are some of my best sellers! People are always shocked when I say I don’t use a pressure pot and ask me how I figured it out. They’re not always happy to hear me say, “Patience.” If you want to make resin art, try everything yourself. Be open to advice but don’t let others talk you out of something just because it may not be their forte. It could just be yours.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I’m always open to possible partnerships and collaborations! Some of my work has actually been recognized and praised by the very people who inspired it. One example is a V-Tuber named Miss Lala. She’s portrayed as a 1950’s diner waitress who is full of jokes and positivity. I quickly became a fan of her and made D&D dice based off her color pallet. Afterwards, I tuned into one of her streams and she showed them off during the stream! I couldn’t believe that this small art that I made to show appreciation for someone actually got noticed!
Another example is when a musician named Derivakat bought two of my dice sets that were inspired by two of her songs. I listen to a lot of music when I’m making art and I remember pulling colors out that I thought represented the songs best. I made the dice sets and shared them online for fellow fans to see. Next thing I knew I get a notification that I made a sale and a message from Derivakat herself saying she bought the dice and can’t wait to get them in the mail!
These and a few more instances were so unexpected because in my mind I was just making art based off of things I loved. Getting to create art that I love and taking inspiration from those who are just a passionate has been one of the best motivators for me. I’d be more than happy to collaborate with anyone with a passion for their craft. It could be music, podcasts, games (especially Indie developers), anime, or anything really. I love working with other artists regardless of their medium. If you’re interested in adding resin work to your next project feel free to reach out to me via Instagram or through email!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.verdonadesigns.com/
- Instagram: @chibiakirachan8
- Twitter: @verdonadesigns
