A New Chapter

Do you know the feeling of falling asleep with a book in your hand? I did that a lot as a kid when a story was so exciting that I couldn't help but peek at the next chapter. I feel that way a little bit now. A chapter is coming to a close - a good, exciting, satisfying chapter - and I'm so eager to get started on the next one that I can't look away!

At 17, I knew I wanted to make beautiful things... but that was really all I knew. I wanted to make beautiful things with my hands, and all the different options and avenues became so overwhelming! Just by chance, or maybe by instinct, I started playing around with letters and lines and started to find an artistic voice that was lighthearted, colorful, and decidedly silly. I called this body of work "Bright & Clean", never imagining that much would become of it. After a couple years of hemming and hawing, I opened an Etsy shop under that name and listed prints and greeting cards.

In 2014 I made my own wedding invitations and realized that I finally knew what I wanted to spend my days making! I sat in coffee shops for weeks, carefully lettering and re-lettering our names and all the details of our wedding... an event I saw in my eyelids when I tried to sleep at night.

Under the name Bright & Clean, I held these two portfolios in my hand - light, silly, bouncy work alongside a growing body of sentimental, romantic, elegant invitations - and always felt that it wasn't quite right. I wasn't viewing my art as my job yet, though, so I didn't give it a lot of thought. It wasn't until I had my daughter that I started to look at things differently.

In January of 2018, Freya Lenore was born, and anything seemed possible. Her name means "Lady of Light," and she is. In expectation of her birth, I began to view Bright & Clean as an important artistic outlet and an important source of income. To my own surprise, what had been my side hustle for years was suddenly really important. And not only that, it was changing.

Floral Arrangement by Foxglove & Grace, Photo by Krys Henry

My work was taking on new life. I was eager to learn new artistic and digital skills, eager to try new things, eager to not only follow trends but to push boundaries and wander outside of my comfort zone. One day I looked at Bright & Clean and realized that it had become something different.

This new chapter deserved a new name, and I chose to name it after my little girl, my Lady of Light. Using the latin words for light and lady, my husband suggested the name Luxdomina, and it settled right in.

With the help of my friends Krys Henry (who takes the most stunning photos), Kennan Robbins (who is a floral genius and the owner of Foxglove & Grace), and Rebecca Eckert (who films, makes Best Friend Cake, and encourages) I began the process of launching Luxdomina - not exactly as a replacement for Bright & Clean, but as a new, different brand of totally custom, curated wedding stationery for couples who want to stand out.

I'm not sure what this new chapter holds. I do know that my 17 year old self could not have predicted that I'd be here at 25! For now, I'm giddy. I can't sleep at night, dreaming of where this story is going and what challenges and vistas might be around the next bend.

Kam ClarkAugust 24, 2018