Those buying in the Raleigh area get usually get their products hand-delivered in a day or two. People can view our products online on Amazon. How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you? I don’t think Grumpy Rocks would have been born if I was worried about selling art – it seemed like such a silly concept that only I would enjoy – sort of like a bad “dad joke.” Luckily, thousands of others have appreciated my humor as well. I think this gave me the freedom to make pieces that I liked, versus focusing on fads and stressing over pieces that didn’t sell right away. Luckily, I was able to return to art later in life and just do it for enjoyment instead of worrying about paying bills from my work. I finished college with two bachelor’s degrees in the sciences, and two more master’s degrees in economics and business, but always felt a drawback to art/sculpture. After a year and a half of undergrad, I realized I’d probably have more opportunities if I focused on science instead, so I switched my major. I started out college with the goal of becoming an artist who focused on painting and sculpture. What else should we know about what you do? But despite this, I’ve had a steady growth in sales, or as I like to call it, adoption.Īppreciate you sharing that. Unfortunately, this meant I had to pass up some opportunities to really promote Grumpy Rocks like I wanted to. I wanted to keep my full-time job while creating and selling Grumpy Rocks. The second challenge I faced, was really time management. I would not have been able to get the first ones cast without their guidance and support. Luckily, I found a local company, Border Concepts, who helped me with the process. The biggest challenge I faced, was trying to navigate having something mass-produced outside the US with vendors I didn’t visit and no initial understanding of importing. We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road? I have been selling them on Amazon since 2016 with great success, and now have them in my first brick-and-mortar location – Urban Pothos Houseplant Shop. About 8 months later, I had a warehouse full of 7 designs cast in a rock resin and hand-painted – 3 small designs, and 4 larger rocks. So, I reached out and found a company that would help me make casts of my sculptures so we could have a few designs mass-produced. We were still having difficulty keeping up with demand and also discovered that it was difficult keeping all the unique designs updated on my websites. Eventually, I brought my retired parents into the fold and taught them how to make Grumpy Rocks. I was selling them as fast as I could make them – from the studio as well as from art festivals. So, I turned all my efforts into making these grumpy little forms. So, I made another – it sold immediately. To my surprise, it sold while it was still wet. I was going to give it a smile, then at the last minute decided that the rock was grumpy for some reason – perhaps he didn’t get his snack, or could only find one sock that morning. One day, instead of making a large monster, I just randomly made a small rock-shaped papier-mache ball and put my eyes on it. I originally focused mainly on crazy monster sculptures that people loved to look at, but few people were brave enough to buy and display them in their homes. He focused on photography and while I’m a scientist by schooling, I used the space to return to my love of sculpture. It was a space my husband, Jose Harvey, and I used to create and sell our artwork. The gallery was open from 2011 to 2015 in the Carter Building in Glenwood south. Grumpy Rocks® was born in a small art studio in Raleigh, NC called March Hare Gallery. Hi Alfred, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story. Today we’d like to introduce you to Alfred Harvey.
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