Meet Audrey Fuller | Surface Designer & Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Audrey Fuller and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Audrey, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
What a fun question. And I have to laugh because I don’t think it was a ” thought process” per say for me in the beginning. I’d say my business definitely was born from a hobby and love for simply doing what I love to do: draw, write, create, doodle, sketch, design. It wasn’t until more and more friends were asking me to design something for them or illustrate for them, that I really started thinking: Okay, I can do this! I can make this more than just a “little hobby”.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Sheesh. I almost-nope that’s a lie, i DO-get teary-eyed thinking about this question. Because looking back, it’s most definitely not just one thing that made anything happen, but a million little steps I took along the way. A million little choices and actions.

I’ve always loved art. I was definitely the girl that was happy with a pencil and paper no matter where I was. In college though, I didn’t know what exactly to do. I took art classes, but nothing was ever like “omg I LOVE this” to me. I wasn’t into fine art, and that’s all I really saw back then as being a “career”.

I remember specifically in one of my critiques with a teacher, she said “I think you’d love graphic design”…and that always stuck with me, but I didn’t know exactly what to do with that or what it was (this was 2006 mind you, and I knew nothing). I even took an intro to graphic design class and got a big fat C, which I had NEVER gotten EVER (I do blame that on meeting my husband that semester)! The biggest pro of that graphic design class, was that I was introduced to Adobe’s Creative Suite. It came in a box bundle back then you’d buy off the shelf.

Around this time blogs were getting big, and I found that I really loved making mine look cute. I taught myself to code because of this, and then I had friends asking me to help them with theirs. I loved that! After I had my first baby, I remember having that thought: “I think I better just try creating and selling blog templates, because if not now then when will I ever?” So I jumped on Etsy and sold blogger templates. And it was wild to me that people I didn’t know were buying them.

Fast forward some more and I had another baby and was designing custom templates for people. I was so so rewarding to me, but also I felt drained sitting at my computer all day. So I pulled back. I wanted to find something that let me not stare at my computer screen for so long. That led me back to pulling out my paints from college.

Christmas of 2015 I made a family watercolor for a sister-in-law. I gifted it to her, and thought “maybe I could offer these for people”. Looking back I just laugh (and cringe a lot) at how those beginning pieces looked! But the biggest thing was that I had friends and family encouraging me on. Telling me how awesome it was that I could do these, and have this skill. And I enjoyed it: watercolor painting custom family illustrations. And I did that for a long while.

In 2016 I was pregnant with my 3rd baby, a girl. We found out she only had developed 1 lung and because of that a slew of other complications. It was heartbreaking and hard, but one of the most special times of my life. I carried her full term, had a beautiful birth, and then she passed away in my arms after 12 short hours. My art took on a new meaning after she passed. I now was even more grateful for this talent that I had to be able to draw my own family-all of us with my angel baby-in the picture. I was able to connect with other women who had gone through similar experiences and lost loved ones: babies, moms, dads, sisters or brothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents…and I began offering those types of paintings for them.

During all this time/all these years, I was always playing around on/using Photoshop…CS3. It was ancient! I KNEW if I wanted to level up my art and move forward, I had to learn Illustrator. So around 2017/18 I forced myself to learn it. Google University all the way. I remember seeing an instagram friend (Mindy Young @indybloomdesign) starting to do surface pattern design, and I thought: “No freaking way. THAT is what I want to do!” And it all clicked. All my doodles and brush strokes, and random painted designs…it all felt so good and like that finally had a place. I dove into the world of surface pattern design and WISHED that they had had classes like these in college! I got a Skillshare membership and devoured every lesson there was on the subject. And it all just made so much sense to me.

Life happens though, ya know?! haha and I had another baby, who was actually born at 23 weeks. So that was another insane curveball that took place after we buried our daughter. And about this time my husband decided to go BACK to school to get his undergraduate…and start medical school. No big deal that we were in our 30s and had 3 kids. hah! ahhh. Life’s wild.

I knew with all our moving around that I wanted to simplify my process for my watercolor families. I still wanted to offer them, but I didn’t want to be shipping a bunch of physical products. So I bought an ipad that supported Procreate and the Apple pencil, and I began illustrating digitally. And maaaan did I fall in love with that whole process. It was wonderful being able to revise things for people and not ruin my paper! During this time I was also building a portfolio of seamless repeat pattern collections, licensing my designs with some other small companies, and reaching out to POD fabric shops. And yep, I put my designs on Spoonflower.

We lived on an island for the first year of medical school (Grenada-a third world country at the bottom of the Caribbean belt, located right above Venezuela. That was an adventure!) And in June of 2022 my husband and I launched a clothing brand (yes he is still in med school!)! That passion project was brought on by my need to branch out and place my designs on apparel. Well, guess what happened December of 2022? We found out we were going to have another baby! I had to put the breaks on here which was honestly a major bummer because I felt we had great customers and were just gaining traction. But that’s life. You roll with the punches and don’t get stuck in your head or beat yourself up over your “what ifs”. You pivot and keep moving forward.

Honestly, one of the biggest things I am proud of is the way I have been able to prioritize being a mom and wife, all while chasing my own art projects and creativity, and showing my kids how to do the same. My freelance work has helped to pay for my kids sports and activities, and I’m so grateful for that. Now being a family of six and in the thick of medical school, I want it to do more. I want to be able to pay bigger bills and relieve some of my husband’s stress. That’s what keeps me going. I’m not some big wig or to some even remotely successful, but I keep failing forward. I’m doing what I can with what I have, and trying not to let imposter syndrome or perfectionism get the better of me.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well I’m a sucker for hikes and the beach is always a plus, and if I can combine the two I will! Going to Dana Point’s Pirate’s Cave is a fun family friendly one, as well as seeing the tidepools at Crystal Cove State Park. My family also loves taking people to The Donut Man!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Oh my gosh. Every single one of my sisters and sister-in-laws (I have 8 of them!) for sure! They are the BEST focus group (haha!) My parents, my husband, Kevin (the best sound boards), and a million more supportive girlfriends who have reached out and offered encouragement to me along the way. They all made me feel seen and appreciated and like I was doing something important…even if it was something I didn’t think was a “big deal”. And my aunt Jill, who has always been an artist and someone I admire for that. She’s the one who pushed me to start my creative blog all those years ago…and it’s morphed into so much more than I could’ve hoped for or knew I needed.

Website: www.audreyfuller.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audreyfullerart/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrey-fuller-95582a295

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555704512146