One Smart woman
ABOUT CHRISTINE MERCER-VERNON
Age: 37
Occupation: Business owner, fitness instructor, art therapist, freelance graphic and Web designer, fine artist and mother. “It could be the coffee, but I do have a lot of energy.”
Family: Daughter, Shelby, 15 months; husband, Chad
Education: Graphic design degree from The Art Institute of York-Pennsylvania (formerly Bradley Academy for the Visual Arts)
Lives in: Hellam Township
Check out: www.punkpunkbaby.com; worththewaitbaby.com; www.mercer-vernon.com
What is your artwork like?
My art is about me. I’m not a big talker. It’s just easier for me to express myself through art. I just paint how I feel. It sometimes takes a couple paintings to get through a feeling for me. It’s a release.
How has parenthood inspired you?
I find that it’s easier to paint about the tragedy. It’s easy to paint what is sad. But what I found about being a mother now, these emotions that I have about my child are so strong. I’m painting these strongly emotional paintings that are positive.
An example of that would be your painting “Instinct.”
It’s a storm coming in, and it’s all these female trees wrapping around to protect their saplings.
You really don’t understand until you have a child and hold that child in your arms. It (the emotion) is so fierce.
What’s the biggest challenge of being a businesswoman, artist and mother?
II think I would spiral very quickly out of control without time management. I’ve had many nights working to 2 or 3 in the morning, go to bed, and those days Shelby decides to wake up at 7 in the morning.
What are your favorite parts of the job?
I know working from home, I don’t have a 9 to 5 job. I know I have control. So I’ve made very clear decisions that every job that I take, every painting I start, is really what I want to do.
How has your family supported you?
(Chad, my husband,) is my biggest supporter. He has never once doubted what I wanted to do. I wanted to work from home and be a freelancer and an artist, and he said, “OK.”
What advice do you have for women about working from home?
Put fear aside. You can always pick it up when you’re done. Put fear aside.
Definitely educate yourself about what you want to do. And not necessarily by going to work. For me, I wanted to start my own novelty apparel line. You don’t just pull that from the air.
Have a passion for what you want to do. Have a plan for what you want to do. Giving up and thinking that you can’t do it won’t get you anywhere. You need to 100-percent believe that you can do it.
Tell us about punkpunkbaby.
Punkpunkbaby is a new line (introduced in September) for my worththewaitbaby clothing line. It’s a novelty apparel company. All the products are made in the U.S. The line itself really is just my baby. I’m an artist. I’m not a fan of the cutesy, cutesy baby stuff. I have a girl, and the pink is great, but the pink is a little overwhelming. I love punk, but punk can be a little hardcore. I’m a little softer, but I still like the artsy, kind of skull-and-crossbones feel to it.
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