Today we’d like to introduce you to Diana Oriel.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Diana. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The idea started when we moved from Florida to Illinois 3 years ago. I actually didn’t have an art background. I was born and raised in Mexico City and in my home, an artist of any kind was not a real profession. My mom always told me that if I wanted to support myself I had to be something “important” like a doctor or an engineer. I ended up following her advice. I studied Industrial and Systems Engineering in Mexico. After that, I found a job that required me to move to Miami, Florida where I also did an MBA at the University of Miami. I have worked at companies like Cisco Systems and Microsoft but I have always had that passion and inclination for the arts.
In the last years in Florida I started to take some art classes, painting mainly, and then my husband and I decided to move to Illinois. My full-time job at that time required me to stay in Miami so I had to quit. I remember thinking this is it! I can either go and try to find myself another similar job or I can try to find my passion. Thanks to my previous jobs and my husband’s (who is also an engineer) we had the financial freedom to look for something to invest. Turns out my mom was right (moms always are, aren’t they?). I decided to take a year off from work to help our kids to settle down in their new schools and activities and have some time do some exploration of my options into the art world.
I also started looking for possible Art degrees at colleges around the area to continue taking classes. I found that the local community college, College of Lake County (CLC), had an Associate in Fine Arts degree that I could finish in about 2-3 yrs. It seemed perfect! If I was able to complete the program I could no longer have the excuse of not having an “art background,” so I decided to enroll myself and I’ve been taking classes there ever since. I hope to graduate soon although since we opened, I have had to cut down the number of classes I take per semester to take care of the business as well.
In Florida, right before we moved, there was a boom of paint and sip studios, those ones where people go and paint something with step by step instruction while they sip on a glass of wine. I liked that concept a lot because it fitted my “not art background status”. At first, I started looking for possible franchises but the more I looked into them the more I felt like that was not what I wanted. Their class offerings were very limited (acrylics only) and they targeted adults mainly. I thought that if I was serious about entering the art world, those franchises would only be a good start. I wanted to have programs for all ages (not only adults) and I wanted more media variety like watercolor, pastels, even just plain charcoal pencil drawing classes seemed like a good idea to have.
Above all, I wanted to have the potential to grow into a place where we could develop more robust programs for both kids and adults. A place where some people go to just relax and have fun but also where people, who want more, can also find a good growing path to start. That was when I decided to create my own concept and Painting Time Now was born.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There have been many struggles, finding a place for a new business with no previous history was the first one. People were very excited about welcoming the concept when they thought it was part of a franchise but when they realized that it was a new concept not proven yet, they got very nervous about it. I found myself thinking that I had found the place many times, just to receive a call next day from the landlord agent saying that the owner had decided not to rent it to us, just like that. I get it, I was nervous myself. In the past couple of years, I have had so many sleepless nights thinking about the future and questioning all decisions made. It is a big risk to start something from scratch but I like to think that we are going on the right path, people has started to notice us and invite us to events and art local programs, because they like our concept.
Once we finally got the place after more than a year of searching and basically assuming all risks, we needed to move quickly. I needed a construction manager, a website developer a logistics planner, a purchasing coordinator, a marketing director and a bookkeeper among so many other responsibilities. I had so many jobs that needed to be done and NO people! I am still performing many of those functions myself and I have to admit that my “no art background” has helped a lot in starting the business, but still, the beginning was and still is a huge challenge having to work 80-hr weeks. Little by little, we have been finding the right people and we are building a great team. I put special attention in finding the right art instructors which are the heart of what we do.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Painting Time Now – what should we know?
At the moment we offer art classes for beginners of different age groups with not previous instruction required but we have several media options besides acrylics, like adult watercolor or pencil and ink drawing classes for teenagers. We also have mix-media after school and summer camp programs for kids 5 to 14 and we do offer paint and sip acrylic sessions for adults as well. Private parties are a big hit because we customize the session with the painting or media type that the customer wants. We have enough variety for all ages and art styles!
We plan to develop more robust programs in the next couple of years for the people that would like to take their art instruction to the next level, and we hope to do that hiring the right people. I like to think that in doing this we are promoting art among those who never thought they could be artistic and also helping young people (like me some years ago) who love art but are afraid that they will never be able to support themselves. Supporting our local artist is a big part of our objectives and mission.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
The Village of Deerfield had been a great supporter. They have made it very easy for us to succeed and have even recommended us and include us in some of their programs and events, which has been a tremendous help in promoting the business.
Pricing:
- Open time session from $25/person
- Summer Camp programs from $40/kid (per day) or $180/kid (per week)
- After School programs from $72 per month (one class a week)
Contact Info:
- Address: 13 Waukegan Rd. Deerfield, IL 60015
- Website: www.paintingtimenow.com
- Phone: 847.315.0882
- Email: info@paintingtimenow.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paintingtimenow/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paintingtimenow
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/painting-time-now-deerfield
Image Credit:
Tim Olson Photography
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