From big city to small village, an artist from Westchester County has planted roots in the Village of Clinton in just a few years.
Rachel Bartunek, owner of Handmade Darling, is a hand-lettering artist. She started her business about five years ago making handmade greeting cards. Today, Bartunek has a full product line ranging from signs to mugs.
Although art has inspired Bartunek since childhood, it wasn’t until she was in graduate school studying communication design with a focus on typography that she found the art style that has made her name and business popular.
Bartunek said her thesis advisor at Pratt Institute’s graduate campus was a master calligrapher. She learned what she does from him.
After studying with her advisor, she started to “put her own spin” on her hand-lettering art.
“Having a design background really navigates my style,” Bartunek said. “Those principles you learn while you’re in school. All of those things that they want you to remember, I take into my lettering. So, there’s a background not self-taught. I did learn from someone.”
She said her artwork takes constant practice. Even after all these years of professional hand-lettering design, Bartunek said she still goes home and practices her craft.
As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. And for Bartunek her daily practice has paid off.
Not only does the Clinton resident have a successful hand-lettering business, her work was just featured on ABC’s Good Morning America website.
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