Most of the pantings used in the designs on this site were painted by Drew Whitaker. If we decide to use any artwork other than Drew's (maybe mine or his sisters) they will clearly be labeled. Drew is my autistic son.
Drew has always had a creative way of looking at things and would play with graphic tools on his phone but due to poor fine motor skills, it never really crossed my mind that he would be able to create art.
Drew started painting in 2019 after a night out with mom. I always wanted to paint and I'm also always trying to find things to do with Drew to get him out of the house. One day we decided to go to a paint and wine night. We both had so much fun that we went about 3 times a week for the first few months. That was just the beginning.
Soon we were painting at home on regular paint nights. We order food, put Ghost Adventures on TV and we each create a painting. Watching Drew develop his style has been interesting. He loves to use bright colors and seeing how he is able to give character to his paintings really makes them unique to Drew.
Drew has loved the attention that he has received from his paintings and it's been such a blessing for us. Watching him begin to engage with people has been heartwarming to say the least. We soon created an instagram for him. The instagram was less of a social media presence than it was a way for him to have all of his paintings readily available when he met new people. It helped him open the doors to conversation. If you asked Drew what it was he loved about painting so much, he will say "he loves to make people smile". For me, I love to see him light up when someone shows interest in his work.
For Drew's 30th birthday, I put his paintings on coffee mugs and gave them to his guests. It was a big hit. In the process, I learned how cute his paintings look on products and thought it would be fun to make some products available to friends and family. That's when I learned about drop-shipping and began exploring the idea of creating a website for him.
It was the same week that I started designing some of the products that we went to eat at a sushi restaurant. While sitting at the sushi bar, we met a woman who had just been promoted to a director of diversity for a large local company. She could not get enough of Drew and was talking to him about his paintings. She told him that she thought he should create a website. He told her that I already was. She asked him what he was going to name his website and he quickly answered "Drew's Paintings". That evening, I bought the domain www.drewspaintings.com and began the steps to make a site for Drew.
I've learned a lot over the last 6 months, and wanted to make sure I communicate this to all of our friends and family. Drop-shipping is more expensive than ordering items in bulk. Especially if the drop-shippers are located outside of the country. The high price is due to print-on-demand for one item at a time, shipping costs, and other fees such as bank or credit fees, etc... I did not create this site to sell products and make money, I created it for Drew to share his craft with people that enjoy him.
I ask only 3 things of anyone who subscribe or follow this site.
- Be Kind - There is a person who creates this art with pure love in his heart. All he wants is to make people smile. That means you too!
- If you don't like something, feel free to email me at kristin@drewspaintings.com and I'll be happy to see what I can do to help.
- Understand that I work full-time, go to grad-school and sometimes I even need to take a break from my crazy schedule so if I am ever slow to respond, it's because this site isn't meant to pay our bills. With that said, You are truly important to me and I will get back to you.
If you read this far, thanks for being here, we are happy to share Drew's artwork with you!
Kristin - Drew's mom