Martha Hull adapts and overcomes to grow Cute and Deadly Art
Name of Business: Martha Hull, LLC. I go by Martha Hull’s Cute and Deadly Art, I run under the umbrella of an LLC.
Years in Business: 9
What the Business does: I draw and paint cute and deadly art, then I reproduce it and sell it. It’s basically accessible dark humor. I tend to feature a lot of animals and inanimate objects as my protagonists, and sometimes add text for humor. I have an illustration degree, and there is an element of storytelling in everything.
Sales happen in-person at my local Farmers’ Market (in non-pandemic years), in small, hip shops, and online.
What led you to do what you are doing now? This was a calling. I’d been out of art school for a number of years, working at a rewarding but low-paying graphic design job in Vermont. I moved to Portland during the 2008 recession because my boyfriend wanted to move out west and I’d fallen in love with Portland on a short visit. The only permanent work I found was as an admin in a windowless office, and I ended up feeling trapped. Those were some dark days for me. Eventually, I heard about the SBDC, and they were fantastic. All the folks there were super helpful. Jackie’s insights and encouragement, in particular, helped me have the courage, patience, and knowledge to take the baby steps that slowly led me to where I am now.
I ran a successful Kickstarter in 2015, which got me out of my day job. This helped me fund the creation and production of a picture book I wrote and illustrated, Death’s Daughter and the Basket of Kittens. When that project completed, I honestly wasn’t sure what to do next. Through Jackie, I met a crafter who sells jewelry at Portland Saturday Market, who was very encouraging. I lept in as quickly as I could manage, as my wallet was getting thin. The fellow vendors there were a hugely supportive group and taught me a lot. When I moved to Vermont in 2016, I had an expected bit of a business setback, but I did my best to hit the ground running, and got into the local Farmers’ Market (which is about 30% craft vendors) and have been grow