Ground Floor: Artist creates new Cedar Rapids business

Erin Dufrane-Woods' inner artist lay dormant for years as she raised her two sons and established a career as a department administrator at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

'If someone told me 20 years ago that I would open an art studio, I would have thought they were crazy,” she said.

She did just that in June when she opened Erin DuFrane Art in the Cherry Building in Cedar Rapids. Now she teaches others how to unleash their own creativity.

'You don't have to be schooled in art to create something,” she said. 'You can have fun and make a mess. It's good for your soul.”

Dufrane-Woods is a self-taught artist who has tried her hand in many crafty endeavors over the years: cake decorating, silk flower arrangements, cross-stitch, and scrapbooking, to name a few.

In 2010, encouraged by her partner, artist Russ Fagle, she took up painting. She tried acrylics, water colors and pencil sketching before discovering mixed media and finding her calling.

'Mixed media works very well for me,” Dufrane-Woods said. 'I get to use my love of scrapbook paper, rubber stamps, stencils, paint, and canvas to make something beautiful.”

Dufrane-Woods set up an online Etsy shop in 2011 but did not list anything for sale there for almost another year. She sold her first piece in August 2012.

'That was an extremely memorable moment,” she said. 'I told myself this is real.”

With her art projects taking up the entire living room in the condominium she shares with her teenage sons, Dufrane-Woods learned of an opportunity to lease space in the historic Cherry Building in Cedar Rapids' NewBo District, where Fagle also has a studio.

She uses the space as her studio, where she works part-time, and a retail gallery for her bright and whimsical mixed media and acrylic pieces.

'This is how you move a business forward,” she said. 'You need a dedicated location and room for retail.”

The studio also has space for a classroom. She and Fagle started a second business, Mixed Media Magic, which holds art classes and workshops there.

While Dufrane-Woods has not quit her day job, she said her ultimate goal is to be able to teach and create art full time.

'I can use all the things I've done in the past to build this business,” she said. 'It's still about fun and creating for me but the bonus is getting paid to do what I love.”

' Know of a company in business for less than a year that would be ideal for 'Ground Floor”? Contact George Ford at george.ford@sourcemedia.net.

At a Glance

'Owner: Erin Dufrane-Woods

'Business: Erin DuFrane Art

'Address: 329 10th Ave. SE, Suite 207, Cedar Rapids

'Phone: (319) 430-3824

'Facebook: www.facebook.com/ErinDuFraneArt