Meet Your (Etsy) Maker: Tender, Introspective Paintings by Ybryksenkova
Solitaire and Rainy Day by Yelena Bryksenkova.
Since it was founded in 2005, Etsy has become the ultimate one-stop shop for people who want to buy unique handmade goods and curated vintage finds. The Brooklyn-based site now boasts 24 million active shoppers who peruse 1.6 million online shops — raking in $2.39 billion in gross merchandise sales in 2015 alone.
In this new feature, we dive deep into our favorite Etsy shops — beyond the product pics and shipping fees — to meet the talented people who run them and get an inside look at what it’s like to be a part of a cultural phenomenon that’s brought international recognition to even the most obscure of artisans.
Yelena Bryksenkova (Photo: courtesy of Yelena Bryksenkova)
Shop: YBryksenkova
Owner: Yelena Bryksenkova
Location: New Haven, Conn.
Opened: Aug. 21, 2008
What she sells: Emotive, finely detailed original paintings, prints, and cards that often tell stories of everyday life for the young and solo
Yahoo Style loves: Nude in the Kitchen print ($22), The Squatch II print ($12), The Breakdown print ($20)
Yahoo Style: What was your inspiration moment to start the shop?
Yelena Bryksenkova: I was in college at the time and keeping a regular blog with my student and personal work. Every now and then, people would ask me for prints, so I started using the printing facility on campus and opened the shop as an easy way to handle those sales. As I was about to graduate, I had my work featured on DesignSponge and the orders started pouring in. And that’s how my shop took off!
Nude in the Kitchen by Yelena Bryksenkova.
Did you have a moment you thought you might give up?
There have definitely been moments when I felt like I wasn’t sure about the work I’m putting out there. Some pieces were created years ago, at a completely different time in my life and even though people still love them I couldn’t relate to their sentiment or aesthetic anymore. One day I just pulled a bunch of those prints from my shop and now I feel so much better. Some people still request them and I happily oblige, but I no longer feel bad about culling, even if it’s a bestseller. It’s more important for me to sell only those items that I still like.
Yelena Bryksenkova’s workspace. (Photo: ybryksenkova.etsy.com)
What’s the weirdest or most memorable customization you’ve ever been asked to do?
I’m always puzzled when someone requests that I make a very custom painting for them, but then only sell them a print of it. Like I would spend seven to 10 hours on a painting of your family which I will be stuck with forever while you only buy a $20 reproduction.
When have you felt most competitive on Etsy?
Maybe in the early days, when I was just starting out and longingly scrolled through some seriously successful shops from other illustrators. Now, I only feel “competition” in the sense that when I see someone doing something well, I feel a need to make something better than the last thing I did, rather than one-upping that person.
La Boum. (Photo: ybryksenkova.etsy.com)
How many products did you sell on your biggest day?
Unfortunately, I can’t find such specific stats, although it would be interesting to know. I’m pretty sure it was back in the day after that DesignSponge feature. I must have sold a hundred prints in one day.
Which Etsy shops are you obsessed with?
Datter Industries, Depeapa, and Signed & Numbered.
The Breakdown. (Photo: ybryksenkova.etsy.com)
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