Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Martinez.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
Rad Girl was started actually not by me but by my 11-year-old daughter named Mia. She is deaf/blind (not fully blind but almost) and is a great artist who loves photoshop as much as I do. She started making lots of designs, and many of them are still used in Rad Girl today. We started this business back in 2017, and it has been so amazing since then. We have had the opportunity to sell with lots of vendors and stores across the US, travel for Rad Girl, and add two employees. All in all its been pretty rad.
Please tell us about your art.
We are photoshop junkies here at Rad Girl. Our patches, pins, and purses are creations we first see in our heads and then make it real in photoshop then it is sent to our manufacturer. We also hand-make our own jewelry which is really fun, but we usually can’t feel our fingers at the end of the day. Our style is a bit eclectic, but you can narrow down our immediate style favs and inspiration to our six store categories we work in: #rainbowraver, #pastelgothgirl, #kawaiigirl, #cybergirl, #gothgirl, #mermaidbabe, and #alienbabe. As you may be able to tell, girls and all their unique interests are what inspire and drive our brand.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
There is a saying we know all too well at Radgirl, and that is, “There is nothing new under the sun.” It is becoming harder and harder to create something original without encroaching on someone else’s artwork or what they perceive to be their artwork. We love rainbows and unicorns and aliens but so do a lot of other artists, so it can be challenging to find your own completely unique design. We also have problems with our designs being mass produced and then resold in small online stores. A few months ago we took a day to google our most popular products, and we found our own images and designs being sold on random websites from Turkey, to France, to the United States. Following other artists, on social media, we see them as well post about these issues.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
We have lots of pop up shops and comic conventions that we hit up every year. As of now in 2019 you can find us at Houston and Austin Pride, Comicpalooza, Alamo City Comic Con, Freaky Deaky, Buzzfest, and Austin Pecan Street Festival. You can shop our store online at radgirl.fashion; we are also on Poshmark and Amazon.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.radgirl.fashion
- Email: radgirlfashion@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/radgirlfashion/
- Facebook: facebook.com/radgirlfashion/
Image Credit:
We take our own images 🙂
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
