Meet Sarah and Peter Skidd of Skidd Studio in Scottsdale

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah and Peter Skidd.

Sarah and Peter, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When Peter started his job as an artist at the Phoenix Art Group, we were thrilled. He had just finished his Masters degree in Painting in Manhattan. I was a research assistant at a trading firm. We lived in Connecticut but wanted to get back to my native Arizona.

It was the perfect thing. He gets to make art all day. I get to stay home with the baby. What more could we want?

Fast-forward a few years and the itch to design his own work and be his own boss was intense. So, we thought about going it alone in the art world for like a minute. Sounded like a good idea so he gave his notice.

Armed with a cheap welder and a computer, we started an art business. Peter taught himself to weld and made art in the garage. We sold the art to a few art wholesalers and locals. I started a home daycare.

The momentum started when we got some exposure doing our very first art show in Scottsdale. The show was 10am-6pm every day for three straight months. And when you’re at a show selling art all day, then you’re hustling at home making the art all night.

As things picked up, people started noticing the art (and the art got better), I got busy running the business and too busy to run the daycare.

Fast forward a decade and we’re still at it. Clients come to us. We go to clients. We never really seem to turn “art” off. We don’t dread the work week. We create our own success. The harder we work, the more we stretch our capabilities, the more opportunities show themselves.

We make art for everyone from the guy next door to designers, art consultants, galleries and hospitals under construction. We like that we’ve found our niche. We’re a husband and wife micro-business bringing big, cool art to amazing spaces. We still do a happy dance with every sale! We’re always building, learning and scrambling to keep up with it all.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
When we first started, an artist friend who jumped ship right before us gave us one piece of advice: sign no contracts. In the art world, people want to own you. They want you to be exclusive to their gallery or their art agency. Thanks to our friend, we never signed with anyone and are able to work with anyone.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Skidd Studio story. Tell us more about the business.
We specialize in large-scale indoor/outdoor-friendly dimensional metal art. We’re known for being reliable, quality oriented and easy to work with.

We do custom art like no other artist. About half of our sales are custom art commissions.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
You work hard, you get lucky, right?

We don’t sit on the couch and wait for clients to come to us. We get ourselves out there at art shows, social media and old-school follow-up.

Do we feel lucky to be making a living on art alone? Yes. Has luck gone against us? Yes. Have we made it work regardless of anything? We had to!

Pricing:

• Prices are $500+ and are listed at SkiddStudio.com

Contact Info:

• Website: SkiddStudio.com
• Phone: 480-399-5477
• Email: info@skiddstudio.com
• Instagram: @skiddstudio
• Facebook: @skiddstudio

Image Credit:
Wiggs Photo

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