Printing, pressing and packing, once Dana Shoops creates the design, Annie Twaddle (10) puts it out on Instagram for the Memphis community to view and even purchase. This mother-daughter duo is bringing a new spin to the local art scene. 

After volunteering to help with a Best Buddies fundraiser, Shoops decided to raise money by selling her art. Gaining attention, she took the plunge and made the business Artwork by Dana Shoops. 

“She just kind of started painting one day and said, ‘hey, you know it’s your next fundraiser, I’m going to put [my art] on the table, and I’m going to sell these,’ and she did,” Twaddle said. “And people bought them up quick.”

From tea towels to coffee mugs, Shoops transfers her designs onto almost all gift items. She specifically creates prints for holidays, game days and even ornate florals. 

“She is doing ornaments for Christmas, and she does prints where she will just print the art on a piece of paper,” Twaddle said. “She tried to make t-shirts, but it was you know, it was a pass-fail kind of situation.” 

Through a typical week, Twaddle spends five hours helping with the business. She runs the Instagram account @dana_shoopsartwork, along with pressing the designs on the items. Around the holidays or before big shows, the family gets quite busy filling orders and prepping for crowds of shoppers. 

“It is the same as a job,” Twaddle said. “I think for Cooper-Young, we made like 100 products, but you know with 40 different designs, it’s not really that bad. You can print like a little bit of each, so we did it over the course of like two or three months maybe.” 

Shoops’s business is more to her than just a little extra income on the side. It’s also the way she expresses herself through ups and downs, or even to just escape. At shows, she sometimes gives away items to people when she can tell that they like it. To her, seeing their joy is more important to her than the money. Despite her passion for art, Shoops is still her own worst critic. 

“My mom is very modest with her stuff,” Twaddle said. “She likes to put [her art] out there, and she likes to sell it, but only about 25% of what she makes, she puts out there for people to see. She will paint something that is absolutely gorgeous, and she’ll say, ‘I hate it! I can’t sell it.’ even though everyone says it’s beautiful…she’ll still say she hates it.”

Since creating Artwork by Dana Shoops, she has made great strides to expand her business. Shoops recently created a studio in her backyard solely devoted to her art, but she still has bigger dreams.

“My mom says all the time that her biggest pipe dream is having a store and to make half of it a store for her art, but other artists can sell theirs too,” Twaddle said. “The other half is a studio where if someone just wants to throw paint at a canvas, they can do that … or teach a class. So, she definitely wants to open a store, but she wants to share it with all the other local artists.”