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You know those artists whose work you recognize the second you see it?
That’s Darcie Gray.
Darcie is the artist and muralist behind RANGE | Art by Darcie Gray, a creative business rooted in natural landscapes - from deep forests to coastal ranges - and brought to life through a limited color palette of blue, green, black, and white.
Her work has this really distinct feeling to it. It’s calm, but not quiet. Energizing, but not overwhelming. It feels like being outside in the best way - standing in the trees, looking toward the mountains, watching the water move, or noticing the way nature has a way of making everything feel a little more grounded.
And once you see her work, you really can’t unsee it.
It becomes familiar.
Recognizable.
Like something you’d spot from across a room, on a wall, at a market, on a pair of earrings, across a mural, or even painted onto clothing.
In this episode, Darcie and I talk about building a creative business without losing the fun - and what it really takes to stay motivated when your art is also your livelihood.
We talk about her signature color palette, her background in apparel design, what it means to create art that lives in people’s everyday lives, and how she’s learned to keep experimenting even as her business has grown.
And what I loved most about this conversation is that Darcie doesn’t talk about motivation like it’s some magical thing you either have or you don’t.
For her, motivation is built.
Through connection.
Through deadlines.
Through saying yes.
Through trying something new just because it sounds fun.
And sometimes, through getting back into the studio and painting whatever wants to come out first.
Connect with Darcie
Website: www.rangedesignstudio.com
Print Shop on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RangeDesignStudio
Instagram: @darciegray_art
A Style That Became Immediately Recognizable
One of the first things we talked about was Darcie’s limited color palette.
Blue
Green
Black
White
That’s it.
And yet, within those four colors, she creates entire landscapes - misty forests, mountain peaks, crashing waves, coastal ranges, and outdoor scenes that feel full of movement and emotion.
What’s interesting is that this palette didn’t come from a rigid business plan or a branding exercise. It developed organically.
As Darcie became more connected to the landscapes around her, those colors became the ones that felt most true to the work she wanted to make.
And in a way, the limitation became the freedom.
Instead of feeling boxed in by four colors, Darcie found space to go deeper. To explore scale, texture, subject matter, and the feeling of a place. Her work became recognizable not because it was trying to be a brand, but because it was rooted in something honest and consistent.
That’s such a good reminder for anyone building something creative.
Sometimes the thing that makes your work stand out isn’t more.
It’s less.
Less noise.
Less overthinking.
Less trying to be everything.
More trust in what already feels like you.
Art That Lives in People’s Everyday Lives
Darcie has a background in apparel design, and that part of her story adds such an interesting layer to the way she thinks about art.
Because apparel isn’t something people just look at.
They wear it.
They move through the world in it.
They live their lives in it.
That perspective has shaped the way Darcie thinks about her own work today. She doesn’t only see art as something that belongs on a wall. She sees it as something that can live with people in all kinds of ways — as prints, earrings, clothing, murals, accessories, and public art.
In the episode, she talks about the joy of seeing someone out in the world wearing something she created.
There’s this moment of connection that happens when your work leaves your hands and becomes part of someone else’s life.
And for Darcie, that connection is a huge part of the motivation.
It’s not just about making art.
It’s about making art that people connect with.
The Power of Familiarity
One of my favorite parts of this conversation was the way Darcie talked about recognizability.
As artists, makers, and business owners, we can get so close to our work that we forget other people are still discovering it for the first time.
We’ve seen the colors a thousand times.
We’ve talked about the process.
We’ve stared at the same pieces in the studio.
We’ve packed and unpacked them for markets.
We’ve posted them online again and again.
So it can start to feel old to us.
But to someone else?
It might be brand new.
Darcie shared a story from when she was working as a server at Rock & Rye while also showing her art there. Because she was in the space every day, surrounded by her own work, she started noticing every detail and wanting to move things around constantly.
But then another artist’s work went up after hers - work she loved - and she realized she never got tired of seeing it.
That shifted something for her.
It helped her understand that people weren’t tired of her work either. They were connecting with it. They wanted to see it. They liked it because they liked it.
And that’s such a powerful reminder.
Your audience needs repetition.
They need familiarity.
They need to see your work more than once before it fully lands.
The things that feel obvious to you may still feel fresh, exciting, and meaningful to someone else.
Building Motivation Through Connection
Darcie said something in this conversation that I loved:
“Name your love language, find a career that gives you that, and you will probably be happy forever doing that thing.”
For her, words of affirmation matter. Connection matters. Hearing that someone resonated with a piece matters.
And rather than pretending that external feedback doesn’t count, she’s honest about how meaningful it is.
That connection fuels her.
When someone stops at a market booth.
When someone recognizes her earrings.
When someone connects with a painting.
When someone experiences one of her murals in a public space.
Those moments build momentum.
And I think that’s such an important part of self-motivation that we don’t always talk about.
Yes, motivation has to come from within.
But that doesn’t mean we’re meant to build in isolation.
Sometimes motivation comes from seeing that your work is reaching people.
Sometimes it comes from a conversation.
Sometimes it comes from someone saying, “I love this.”
And sometimes that’s exactly the encouragement you need to keep going.
When Creativity Becomes the Business
There’s a tricky thing that happens when your creative work becomes your livelihood.
The thing you once did because you loved it suddenly has deadlines, invoices, inventory, emails, clients, markets, proposals, and pressure attached to it.
And Darcie was really honest about that.
When she first went full-time with her art, she started taking everything very seriously - because she had to. She needed the business to work. She needed to pay bills. She needed the opportunities to matter.
But somewhere in that season, the fun started to get a little buried.
And I think so many creative business owners can relate to that.
When your passion becomes your job, it can be easy to forget to make things just because you want to.
Not because they’re strategic.
Not because they’re guaranteed to sell.
Not because someone asked you to make them.
Just because they feel exciting.
Just because they wake something up in you.
Just because they’re fun.
Making Room for Experimentation
For Darcie, one of the projects that helped bring the fun back was creating a collection of hand-painted clothing for the Noisy Waters Mural Festival Upcycled Runway Show.
It made so much sense for her - a muralist with a background in apparel design - but no one asked her to do it.
It was something she wanted to try.
So she thrifted and upcycled clothing, set up outside with spray paint and a dress form, and started painting clothes like murals.
And in that process, she reconnected with the part of creativity that is playful, curious, and experimental.
She didn’t have every detail figured out.
She didn’t know exactly where it would lead.
She wasn’t following a guaranteed outcome.
She was just following the spark.
And that became a turning point.
It reminded her that experimentation isn’t separate from building a business. Sometimes it’s what keeps the business alive.
Darcie said:
“You’ve gotta infuse fun in your work and do things just because you want to.”
That line feels like the heartbeat of this episode.
Because yes, business requires structure.
But creativity needs room to breathe.
Saying Yes Before You Know Exactly How
Another thread that came up in this conversation was the power of saying yes.
Darcie talked about how opportunities built on each other - small shows, restaurant walls, markets, mural festivals, commissions, and eventually larger public art projects.
Not every step came with a perfect plan.
Sometimes the answer was simply yes.
Yes, I’ll try.
Yes, I’ll figure it out.
Yes, I’ll put it on the calendar.
Yes, I’ll grow into it.
And that’s such a relatable part of building a creative business.
You don’t always feel ready before the next opportunity arrives.
Sometimes you grow because the opportunity requires you to.
Darcie started with tiny paintings. At one point, her business was even called Mountain Mini Studio because she was making pieces six inches by six inches.
Now, she’s painting murals that span hundreds of square feet.
That didn’t happen all at once.
It happened through practice, scale, courage, and a willingness to keep expanding what felt possible.
Creating Structure Without Losing Flow
When you work for yourself, no one is really telling you what to do next.
There’s no boss handing you the schedule.
No team meeting laying out the week.
No one making sure the marketing gets done, the inventory is ready, the emails are sent, the events are promoted, and the art is created.
You are the structure.
And that can be both freeing and overwhelming.
Darcie talked about how goals, deadlines, and calendars help her stay motivated. Sometimes the most useful thing you can do is put something on the calendar and let that commitment create momentum.
But she also talked about the reality of balancing creative work with business work.
The painting.
The admin.
The marketing.
The inventory.
The events.
The reminders.
The behind-the-scenes.
It’s a lot.
And there isn’t always perfect balance.
Sometimes the work is about noticing what needs your attention and moving between those roles with as much grace as you can.
Getting Back Into the Flow
One of my favorite practical takeaways from Darcie was what she does when she feels stuck creatively.
If she’s supposed to paint mountains and the mountains aren’t coming, she doesn’t force it.
She paints something else.
Maybe trees.
Maybe something on a different canvas.
Maybe whatever helps her get back into the rhythm of making.
And that felt like such a useful reminder.
Sometimes the answer isn’t to push harder at the exact thing that isn’t working.
Sometimes the answer is to stay in motion.
To make something else.
To let the creativity loosen up.
To trust that the flow will return.
Because creativity doesn’t always respond well to pressure.
But it often responds to movement.
Building a Creative Business Without Losing the Fun
If there’s one big takeaway from this conversation, it’s this:
Motivation is not always something you wait for.
Sometimes it’s something you build.
You build it by creating structure.
By putting things on the calendar.
By saying yes.
By staying open.
By connecting with people in real life.
By remembering your work is still new to someone else.
By trying the weird idea.
By making something just because you want to.
By letting fun be part of the strategy.
Darcie’s business is a beautiful example of what can happen when recognizable work, community connection, experimentation, and self-motivation all meet.
It’s not rigid.
It’s not perfectly linear.
It’s alive.
And maybe that’s the point.
A creative business is allowed to grow, shift, expand, and surprise you.
You just have to keep showing up for it - and make sure there’s still room for joy along the way.
Connect with Darcie
Website: www.rangedesignstudio.com
Print Shop on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RangeDesignStudio
Instagram: @darciegray_art
Headshot by Kris Gray
