Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathleen and Lina.
Hi Kathleen and Lina, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
We (Lina + Kathleen) met nine years ago while working together at an arts nonprofit in Seattle; over those years we developed a successful working relationship and built collective networks that represented the arts community in Seattle and beyond. As not only business partners, but also best friends (TBH…sorta-sisters!), we have developed habits of seamlessly picking up where the other leaves off (like finishing someone’s sentence, but in art production form), and a working relationship where we can focus on our individual strengths, dividing and conquering all the tasks that come with small business ownership. We’ve reached a satisfying symbiosis throughout the years, not at all in a formulaic format, but more of a free form dance. No two projects go the same way, and we do not wake up with attitudes that are always the same as they were yesterday – so we go with the flow, keep our hats on loose and swap as needed. As of May 1, we are beginning our second year in business and we are thrilled to be a women-owned business that is making its mark on public art on the west coast.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Making the leap to start our own company was the best decision we could have made. It was time to take the reins of our own curation and creations, and the universe more or less shoved us in that direction. Luckily, because of our community, we had a smooth road transitioning into our new brand. We love to work with a wide array of artists and support their practices — and we truly felt the love from all of our previous collaborators during our founding year. Because of our previous experiences, we knew right away there were a few things we did not want to suffer through and should outsource: accountants and sign painters, worth their weight in gold! It’s been pretty smooth – and weirdly enough ‘during covid times’ we worked a lot. We always have a short job debrief to discuss what lessons we learned along that way – anything from “should have outsourced this one element” to “wait… we don’t even want to be doing that kind of work – let’s agree to say no next time” – it helps take frustrating moments and assign value to them, in the form of lessons.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
We are Kathleen + Lina and together, we are overall creative, a woman-owned creative company that focuses primarily on large scale murals and assisting artists, communities and clients to achieve their artistic vision. With a collective eighteen years of experience both leading and assisting on public and private art installations, we find great joy in partnering with inspired communities and businesses. We take pride in our ability to absorb a collective desire for art, to consider the community it serves, and to use our sensitivity to install site-specific works that will stand the test of time! What sets us apart from others? Well, our #messybun brand sets us apart visually, but maybe it’s our collaborative nature that sets us apart in the mural world – we stand out by bringing people in. It used to feel like we were working in a really male-dominated-ego-fest, and being woman-owned and led made us outliers, but thankfully that is changing. Seattle has a really high percentage of women painters leading the charge right now!
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Lina: my first mural at five in my parent’s clothing store dressing room. The medium was sharpies and the subject matter was “snakes” — took 12 coats of white paint to get rid of them.
Kathleen: this question is really hard because apparently I don’t know when childhood ended – but it probably has something to do with a pet (mine or someone else’s) or Pawley’s Island, South Carolina. Or probably those things combined. Though little has changed… that is also my answer for adulthood.
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@overallcreative.com
- Website: overallcreative.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/overallcreative
- Facebook: facebook.com/overallcreative
Image Credits:
Personal photo: Austin Wilson (@austin_wil) image 0411: Gordon Fox (@gordonfoxphotography) image 0664 – an overallcreative project designed by Shogo Ota
