My great-grandmother was an artist, and we grew up spending the summers at her former home. I never met her, as she died before I was born, but I was always surrounded by her work and really admired it. My mom is also an artist—she has an amazing ceramic studio. Every woman in my family has some kind of creative practice, so I always thought of being an artist as a very viable career path. After studying painting in college, I ended up working in fashion for 7 years and painted on the side and after work. I realized that being crammed at my desk painting late at night was the best part of my day, so I took the leap and left my job to pursue art full time.
Colorful, Whimsical, Personal
I’m really inspired by the way people use art to tell their stories. In my invitation work and my painting commissions, I love finding creative ways to tell stories visually that feel very unique to them.
A change of scenery! I left New York at the beginning of the pandemic and have been bouncing around every couple of months since. I have lived in New Orleans, Shelter Island, the Bahamas and most recently, Lake Tahoe. A large-scale change of scenery does wonders for a creative block but I also try to get up and walk my dog if I am feeling stuck in my day-to-day practice.
This is a tough one! I have been so lucky in my career to work with so many amazing brands and clients, but I would have to say it was the first time a total stranger commissioned me to do a painting. It felt like I had really made it!
Oils were definitely my first love. I switched to watercolors out of necessity. Oils take up a lot of space and that was something I definitely didn’t have when I moved to New York City after college. I lived in a tiny walk up and I had a child-sized desk in the corner of my bedroom. Painting with watercolors was really my only option. I have definitely fallen in love with them though. Watercolors are super unforgiving, and I think that makes everything a little less precious. They are also so easy to travel with—I never leave for a trip without them.
I’m really lucky that both of my parents are big readers. Our house growing up was FULL of books. I am such a visual person and I read illustrated children's books way longer than I probably should have. Some of my favorites were "Winnie the Pooh", "Where the Wild Things Are", Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, "Eloise at the Plaza" and "Strega Nona".
In terms of writing my own book, I have a 2-year-old French Bulldog named Freddie. She is full of personality and SO friendly. We have been moving around pretty much since I got her so she has had a very interesting little life. I would love to write and illustrate a book about all the friends she has met along the way.
My sister's wedding! I only have one sibling and she is just a year older than me, so we have always been super close. She got married this past September, to her wife Rose, in Brooklyn. They originally wanted to get married at City Hall, but it was closed because of the pandemic. I ended up getting ordained and marrying them on a stoop in Fort Greene. The whole weekend was very magical and so much fun.
This is probably very unglamorous advice, but I would say, don’t be scared to ask for help. It’s really challenging getting started and even after doing it for a while, it can feel isolating. It takes a village, so don’t be too shy or too cool to say you don’t know what you are doing and you need guidance. Also, get super comfortable taking feedback!
I have been designing paper invitations for the past ~5 years. My absolute favorite part of my job is when I finish a project and think of how many people are going to be opening envelopes in the mail with my artwork inside. Working with Evite is beyond exciting for me because it is that same idea on a much larger scale! I am so thrilled that people will be using my designs to invite people to the most special days in their lives.
While attending college in New Orleans, Larsen studied art history and painting. She eventually left the south and returned to New York to pursue a career in fashion. After time spent working at both Tory Burch and Tabitha Simmons, Larsen left the industry and began painting full time.
Larsen creates custom, made-to-order paintings, prints, stationery and event invitations. She has worked for brands such as Carolina Herrera, Matches Fashion, Tory Burch, Cece Dupraz, Neely & Chloe, Origins, J. Mclaughlin and Anthropologie. Her work has been published in Tory Burch: In Color, Brides Magazine and Goop.com.
For more of her work, check out @larsenmcdowell on Instagram (or these Evites, of course)!
Developed hand-in-hand with community organizers, PTA presidents, parents and teachers, Evite's signup sheets are designed to make organizing volunteers a breeze. Here are a few ways SignUp Sheets are different than other signup tools:
Choose Evite SignUp Sheets for the easiest, most streamlined way to get volunteers and signups for your next event!
Signup sheets are the perfect way to streamline scheduling, volunteer recruitment, class parties, snack duty, potluck organization, parent-teacher conferences and more! You can think of them as your digital assistant for coordinating events and tasks and ensuring that your event is a success.
Evite SignUp Sheets offers parents, teachers and event planners customizable online forms that organizers and volunteers can access and update effortlessly. Volunteers can choose their preferred time slots, sign up for tasks or indicate what they'll bring to the event. It only takes organizers a few minutes to create a signup sheet and send it out with a shareable link, so they can get the word out via text, email or social media—whichever way they prefer!
Long story short, SignUp Sheets save everyone involved tons of time, avoid scheduling headaches and ensure everything runs smoothly before and during the event.
Creating a signup sheet has never been easier than with Evite! Here’s how to create a sheet that’s sure to make your event an absolute success:
When it comes to signup sheet information, there are some essentials to include regardless of what you’re organizing:
When adding your slot information, clearly define what people are signing up for, especially for a what-to-bring list or role assignments. If you want someone to bring healthy snacks for kids to enjoy after a game, specify that. You want your volunteers to feel confident in what they’re bringing and to make it easy for them to know what’s expected of them. It will save them time and stress (and you, too!). That being said, if you make your ask too specific (for example, asking for a hard-to-source item or something expensive), you may not end up with a volunteer for it. So be clear about what you expect, but also be reasonable!
Aside from providing the basic signup information, you can also add optional descriptions to both your entire signup sheet and individual slots. While not required, they can help guide your volunteers further and provide more information. You can add information about allergies, preferences and general info about the event. You can also add a wish list to make it easier for your volunteers to bring exactly what you need!
Signup sheet templates offer a ton of advantages for both organizers and volunteers and with Evite SignUp Sheets, you'll enjoy even more benefits than other digital and paper signup sheets! Some benefits our signup sheet templates offer include:
With Evite SignUp Sheets, you can enjoy organizing and coordinating all your events with ease. Signup sheets streamline the signup process for everyone involved, ensuring that everything will go to plan on the day of your event while saving you precious time in the process.