Today we’d like to introduce you to Catalina Gutierrez.
Hi Catalina, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
RedViolet Studio started 12 years ago. Art has always been my passion and I’ve always loved working with children. Once I had my first son Martin (now 15), I started doing all kind of sensory activities with him: we painted and explored different textures and materials, like rice, lentils, oatmeal, and a lot more, which I started to put inside a bin to keep the “mess” contained. Once he was a little older we experimented with clay, playdough, pastels, watercolors and lots of other stuff, always in a very open ended set up, where he was given the freedom to create, try new things and make mistakes as he learned in the process. And from there on, we never stopped. Then Manolo was born (now 13) and once he began school, I started with RedViolet Studio as a mobile business to bring art and play to kids ages 7m to 10yo. It has been the happiest journey of my life as I feel like I do not ever work. Doing what I do brings me tons of joy and I feel lucky to be able to bring all this magic to so many families, as we enable opportunities to play, create and learn, while having fun.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think being an entrepeneur/small business owner is never going to be a smooth road. There will be challenges and moments in which you will question every little decision you make. Am I doing enough? Is what I offer good enough? With RedViolet I’ve had a lot of challenges arise along the way. When I started, over 10 yrs ago, there wasn’t much offering like mine in town; one of my current biggest challenges is to keep RedViolet relevant in this ever changing Miami ecosystem, where there are a lot more options to choose from regarding classes and parties for children.
Of course there’s been moments of doubt; but I’ve pushed through. Mainly because apart from loving what I do, I strongly believe that what we offer with our classes and parties, is different, unique and special. I don’t see myself doing anything else. This is what keeps me moving forward; the joy of the process which has shaped and refined my business and my passion of bringing art and play to children while enabling an organic environment for learning and creativity to flourish.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
RedViolet is a mobile art and play studio. We do sensory art and play classes, events and birthday parties for children ages 7m-10yo. Our classes/parties are held at backyards, parks, party rooms, indoor playgrounds, pretty much anywhere!
For our private classes to take place, a parent takes the lead and gets together a group of kids (ideally 6 or more) and we come to their home (or it can be at a park too) once a week to hold our sessions. In our little kids classes (ages 7m-4yo) there’s music and a set up of 4 different art and play stations every week, which will include painting, water, sensory bins, play dough and much more. The teacher acts as a facilitator providing a perfect and safe environment for children to experiment, create and get messy while having fun. We strongly believe that children learn best through hands-on exploration; that’s why we deeply value open-ended play, process over product and age appropriate experiences that organically nurture the development and strengthening of skills such as fine and gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination, language and communication, social and emotional skills, creativity and confidence.
Our classes are one of a kind experiences where children (little and big) feel proud to take lead in their learning process through play and creativity. We may get messy at times, but best part is clean up is always on us!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.redvioletstudio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redvioletstudio/
