above: What started as a hobby for a new stay-at-home mom has flourished into a thriving business for Mary Jane Macdonald, with clients reaching out for special invitations and nursery décor.
Mary Jane Macdonald grew up in New Canaan as the youngest of five in the well-known Frisbee family. Creativity was a cornerstone of Macdonald’s upbringing, largely influenced by her mother, a painter and interior designer. “Growing up, we were always doing art projects and sitting outside painting on canvases,” she says. Her mother’s entrepreneurial spirit, with various “little side businesses,” proved particularly impactful. “I think that’s where we all got the knack to create businesses,” she explains. Her mother’s inclination toward creative ventures would eventually inspire Macdonald to use her artistic talents to create her own business.
As with many local families, the Frisbees were also passionate about sports, and Macdonald spent much of her childhood swimming competitively. Although she admits she “would often complain about going to swimming and other sports practice because I wanted to take art classes instead.” This passion led her to pursue numerous art classes throughout her time at Saxe Middle School and New Canaan High School, culminating in an art-focused application to Trinity College in Connecticut, where she was accepted into their studio arts program.
THE BIRTH OF A BUSINESS
After college, Macdonald initially pursued a career in fashion. An internship at Marie Claire magazine led her to an entry-level public relations job in New York City. For 15 years, she worked for various agencies, immersed in the world of brands and marketing, attending fashion shows and building her expertise.
Her career path shifted when she became a mother. “I stopped working when I had my daughter, and I knew I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom,” she says. “But then I started getting really bored, really quickly.” To fill her time, she began making baby gifts for friends. “I was painting my friends baby gifts, just little things to frame,” she says. This quickly evolved from a hobby she would do at her dining room table in her West Village apartment to a full-fledged business.
Utilizing her marketing background, Macdonald leveraged Instagram to grow her business. “I knew that you could get a lot of attention if I gifted these paintings to influencers,” she explains. This approach proved incredibly successful, with influencers posting about her creations, leading to significant spikes in followers and orders. Her primary audience became “millennial moms who are up in the middle of the night on Instagram buying things,” drawn to the sentimental value of her personalized keepsake art.
Macdonald’s custom pieces feature charming personal details.
THE ART OF CUSTOM CREATIONS
Macdonald’s artworks are personalized pieces that incorporate meaningful elements into the designs. She says customers often request specific details, like a picture of their favorite stuffed animal or the family dog, all woven into the unique design around a child’s name.
As demand for her handpainted pieces surged, with waitlists reaching 200 people, her husband suggested expanding into prints. This led to the development of a digital process where Macdonald scans her original handpainted designs (like bunnies or sailboats) and meticulously clips out each element in Photoshop, allowing her to arrange them creatively around a personalized name. These digital prints, offered at more accessible price points, provide a quicker turnaround for customers and allow for a wider variety of designs. There are more than 50 design elements to choose from on Macdonald’s website, featuring themes such as golfing dogs and ballerina bunnies.
Despite the efficiency of prints, Macdonald continues to see a demand for fully custom handpainted pieces. These highly personalized artworks involve a collaborative process: customers share their desired details; Macdonald sketches the design for approval, then she meticulously handpaints the final piece. While these take significantly longer to complete (two to three hours compared to ten minutes for a print), they remain highly sought after, especially as gifts commissioned by grandparents.
Macdonald’s work can be found on Instagram @maryjanemacdonalddesigns or online at maryjanemacdonald.com.