Part 2
Read part 1 here
So… we’d just landed. My husband, two tiny French kids who didn’t speak a word of English, and a very strong "okay… let’s make this work" energy. No safety net, a student visa (yes, I was a student again), and a completely new environment.
Logo researches
Year One: Paint First, Build the Brand, Open Shop
I spent about a year rebuilding my watercolour practice—a skill I first learned in my 20s. I started in France and continued in Australia, focusing on getting my hand back and remembering the feeling of pigment meeting paper. I painted relentlessly, navigating the "horrible fails" and the little "oops" that eventually became the best parts.
Because yes, I had the idea of Blule in my head… but I needed to reconnect with the actual making first.
But reality gently reminded me I had to make a living out of it.
I registered the business just a month after arriving. I still remember being shocked at how fast it was. In France, paperwork is basically a sport; in Australia, it felt like one phone call and—boom. Done. Now that I had a business number, it was time to build everything from scratch.
Building a Brand (Not Just Paintings)
People sometimes imagine Blule is just me painting with a cup of tea and a cute playlist (which… yes, on the best days, though never enough of them! 😄)… but starting a business meant learning a million things at once: Branding. Pricing. Website. Photography. Printing. Packaging. Shipping. Keeping the whole thing afloat while still being an artist.
The Secret Weapon: My Husband 💙
The good news: my husband is a former graphic designer with a "Chandler Bing" IT job that nobody can quite define. He is my number one fan (my "pompom girl" 🤣) and the calm voice I need when I’m spiraling into "I’m a fraud; let’s just open a French crêpe truck by the beach" mode. (Which, honestly, still feels like a genius idea.)
We work like a tango: I bring the paint and creativity, he brings the structure and technical soul. He helped me set up the systems that I now manage on my own, and together we decided to try something a bit wild to bring Blule to the world.
The "One Painting a Day" Era: Hello Chaos, My Old Friend
We came up with this idea: I would create one painting every day, no matter what. I offered it for free to anyone who subscribed to my "Colour Up Your Day" Newsletter.
Yes: one watercolour sketch every single day, while building a business on the side. I did it for about three years. It was intense, sometimes ridiculous, but also the best training ever.
It helped me find my signature style and connected me to people in the most direct way: "Here's what I made today. No big speech. Just paint." The paintings didn't need to be masterpieces; they just needed to exist.
Actually, it's because of this challenge I ended up working for many clients like Stonemaier Games, and the best of all: Prince himself, who bought 2 of my paintings — but that is another story I tell here.
Watercolour Meets Pop Culture: Superheroes Go Viral
Around that time, Instagram was booming, and I started having fun painting superheroes in watercolour.
I loved the contrast: watercolour is this old, delicate technique associated with flowers… and here I was painting pop culture characters with bright colours and splashes.
Then one day, a big name in the Facebook comic world, Superhero Creation, shared my work—and suddenly, it went viral. And suddenly: orders. Lots of them. (Of course, it happened while I was back in France visiting my family. Perfect timing. Very calm. Very relaxing. Love that for me 😄)
It was a "good problem" to have… but wow. What a ride.
The Not-Fun Part: When Your Work Gets Stolen
When the work went viral, it got stolen. A lot. I started seeing my illustrations on cheap cushions and dodgy canvases all over the internet.
At the time, I was posting my art in high resolution—basically gifting it to the world with a bow on top. One of my first big lessons: protect your work. It was upsetting, but it made me sharper, more professional, and more intentional about how I share and sell what I create.
"La Crème de la Crème": The Blule Quality Obsession
From day one, I wanted Blule to feel premium. Not "fancy for the sake of fancy," but beautiful materials and thoughtful details—a parcel that feels like a treat when you open it.
Since my husband knows printing (and printing is a very expensive rabbit hole 😅), I knew exactly what I wanted:
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Premium watercolour paper
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Heavy texture
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Proper fine art quality
I also wanted to stay flexible and avoid that "my house is now a warehouse" vibe. (I did make a few bulk-print mistakes in the past… I still have a tiny "museum of past decisions" waiting in the basement 🙃).
My largest size Limited Edition is an A2. This one here is Paillette the Dragon, who is officially sold out! 🐉✨
Printing: Supplier → My Own A2 Printer
When I started, I used a great professional printer called Codeice, a few hundred kilometres away. Quality was beautiful, but from the day you ordered to the day I could pack and ship, it was around 10 days. Way too long.
So after about three years, I invested in my own professional A2 printer.
And honestly? Bliss.
It changed everything: faster turnaround, better workflow, and total quality control. It gave me the freedom to manage orders properly without waiting for prints to travel across the country first. It felt like Blule levelled up overnight.
The Shop Chapter: My Gallery/Studio Era (aka: Dreaming Big, Learning Fast)
After a few months, it became clear I needed a proper space. Up until then, I was working from our living room—right in front of my husband. Anyone who worked in the same room as their partner through Covid knows exactly the vibe 😅.
I dreamed big: a shop, gallery, and studio all in one. A place to paint, show my work, and test the local market.
The first years were a mix of fun and stress. The art sold in the studio paid the rent, while commissions and online orders paid my salary. (A very creative way of budgeting, but hey—it worked.)
The space was beautiful, but a little far from traffic—lovely for the calm, less lovely for walk-ins. I loved meeting people and practicing my English, but there was a problem: I could spend the entire morning talking while my commissions were staring at me like: "Hello… excuse me… I need some love here?" 😄
Eventually, I turned the place into a shared workspace with architects and landscapers—a nice little creative ecosystem. Then, Covid arrived, and I had to close the space.
Now, I work from home in a large studio-bedroom. I love the flexibility and having no extra rent, but working from home can feel like being a small fish in a small aquarium. You don't grow as big. I stay in smaller formats because I don't have that "messy freedom" space.
That’s exactly what I want next for Blule: a studio where I can paint big, splash paint everywhere, move my arms like a windmill, and have that full freedom of gesture. The dream.
Honestly, I'm so glad I experienced all those stages. Now I know what works for me, and I can't wait for the next chapter. 💙
Le Petit Atelier
And Now: 13 Years Later (Many Mistakes Later Too 😅)
Many, many mistakes later… here we are. It's been 13 years since I created Blule.
Honestly, a huge part of the foundation was the "one painting a day" era. Sending art straight into inboxes gave me a base of real humans who stayed, came back, and told their friends. I'm not sure I could pull off that same magic trick with social media today; back then, it felt like you could actually breathe online.
That early momentum led to commissions I never would have dared to imagine: wine labels, murals, cocktail illustrations, fashion projects, and of course, my dragons and board game worlds. I've crossed paths with so many fabulous people, and I'm genuinely grateful for the humans behind the projects.
Today, my days look very different:
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Sunday: Creating content, reorganizing Klaviyo flows, and launching Facebook ads.
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The Week Ahead: Painting for a board game and a book I'm illustrating.
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Next Week: Website tweaks, SEO, and making sure Google finds me for "cute dragon print that makes me happy."
Blule is still, very much, a one-woman business. I'm the illustrator, the marketing manager, the website designer, the order packer, and the "wait, where did I save that file?" person.
Most of all: I'm the boss lady (with paint on her hands and 42 tabs open). 😄💙
I don't count the hours, because I'm always learning. I have the freedom of being my own boss—and the scary parts, too. But when I feel like it, I can drop everything and go for a surf. And that? That has no price. 🌊
Painting Big, back to acrylics 
Why I'm Telling You All This
Because Blule isn't just a brand name. It's a whole life shift.
It's what happens when you take a leap, rebuild from scratch, and choose a different rhythm — one where art isn't squeezed into the corners of your day.
And if you're here reading this, collecting my work, sending kind messages, hanging my prints in your home… you're part of the story too.
So… merci. Truly 💙
Colourfully yours, always
Clémentine