Meet Amy Perrier

We recently connected with Amy Perrier and have shared our conversation below.

Amy, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

To get to this question I want to tell my story on how I got started in creating art.
First off, I never went to art school and I never took any business courses or anything like that.
In my youth, I experimented with psychedelics and hung out with a lot of artists. From these experiences I reminisced about how I wanted to live my life, but had no idea how I was going to achieve this. I wanted a life free of as many responsibilities as possible. I did not want to work a standard 9-5 job and most of all I didn’t want to spend my time sitting in an office.

The year was 2012 and I just turned 30. I was living in a beautiful Victorian flat in Bernal Heights, San Francisco. I was working at a tech start-up that I hated and I was 5 years deep in an emotionally abusive relationship with a drug addict that I couldn’t get out of. Pinterest was just launched and I was hooked. I was yearning for a creative outlet to offset all the crap in my life. I have the drawing skills of a second grader so anything with that skill set was out.
I found a project on Pinterest for recycled garden art, made with second hand items like bowls, dishes, cups etc… I thought on it for a long time and at some point decided I wanted to make and sell these.

My roommate at the time was Amos Goldbaum, who is now a famous local artist. Before he was even my roommate I remember seeing him selling his shirts and sweatshirts down at the Ferry Building. He just happen to respond to my Craigslist ad for a roommate the year before. I envied the freedom he had and a goal was set.

The recycled garden art sold well at the craft fairs and what I didn’t realize is that I had a special talent. Customers would compliment my color combos. The compliments became an addiction, since my partner was bringing me down most of the time.

I started making other art for my shows like terrariums and string art. The Recycled garden art wasn’t selling as well as it used to and one windy day when I was vending at The Treasure Island flea my 40lb stand full of art blew over. Most of my garden art was destroyed. I took it as a sign to start concentrating on my string art. Funny enough, I’m a 3rd generation string artist. My grandpa had been making string art since the 1960’s and sold it in Central Park NYC for the next 40 years. He taught my Dad how to make string art, but he only made it for fun.

As I became more successful I was able to quit my full time job in 2014! However, my partner was deteriorating from drugs and things were getting very bad. He would constantly steal from me and he was becoming even more callous with the more success I had. He once told me “you’re not an artist you’re a crafter” in the most ruthless tone he could muster up. I cried and cried. For some reason his words just made me more motivated than ever to prove him wrong. I would hold up in my art room for hours and hours. It was like my safe space, it calmed me and I would become very focused.

At the end of 2014 everything came to an end. My partner agreed to go to rehab and for the first time I was single and on my own. Having just quit my full time job I was in a bit of a panic. I got a part time job delivering flowers for a start-up called Bloom That. When I was in high school I had a job delivering flowers and it was the most enjoyable job I ever had. Working for Bloom That was amazing. I loved driving all over San Francisco, discovering streets and neighborhoods. It was all very inspiring.

I don’t know if all artists experience this but I feel like my art is in a constant state of flux. I like to think of it as the snowball effect. I start making one thing than it goes in a different direction and so on. One of my biggest sellers on Etsy were these light up letters I made. Then this thing called a “Preserved Moss Mat” hit the shelves and I decided to wrap my light up letters in that. Then companies started coming out with more and more preserved plants, moss and flowers. This is the medium that I now create with and I don’t ever see myself veering off in another direction.

12 years later my life is even better than what I could have ever imagined it would be during my acid trips.
I’m still addicted to the compliments and I can’t believe I make a living selling art. The happiest place for me is being in my studio creating.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

When the pandemic hit a lot of artists had to shift in different directions. Some of my artist friends started teaching Zoom workshops, so I tried it out. This has been a great new source of revenue. Now I teach at in person corporate events, kid birthday parties and senior centers. Public speaking has always been terrifying, but it was something I had to overcome.

In 2024 I had my first solo art show at a boutique. That was a huge milestone in my career.

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?

One thing I never had a problem with was staying motivated and focused. My motivation was to make enough money so I would never have to work a 40hr a week job again.

Second, is trying to find that one thing you’re good at. I went through a lot of trial and error until I found the medium I work best with. If something isn’t working for you don’t feel bad quitting.

The third most impactful was staying inspired. Living in San Francisco is like living in a dream of beauty. The architecture, colors, landscape, fog, ocean and panoramic views. It all has played a part in my designs.

My advice is to do what makes you happy, not what is going to make you the most money.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

My parents are really amazing and they made a lot of sacrifices for me to have the best possible life. I got really lucky.
My Dad is really into Christmas, like Chevy Chase from Christmas vacation level. We make fun of him that he’s making up for being a Jewish latch key kid in the 60’s. My parents still live in the same house I grew up in in Folsom, CA. In the mid 90’s my dad decided to decorate for Christmas and well he started the tradition of Candy Cane Court.
When someone moves into the court they have to sign a disclosure that they will decorate for Christmas. They win contests and even the news stations come out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49-yu5FgivQ

My Dad hand makes 90% of his decorations. Once a year they would participate in their local craft fair, selling their handmade wooden Christmas decorations. I would always help. I looked forward to this weekend every year it was a blast! That was a very fond childhood memory and feeling.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bernalburrow.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernalburrow/