{"id":357382,"date":"2026-07-01T15:29:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T15:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/357382\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T15:29:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T15:29:15","slug":"how-fort-worth-watercolor-artist-catherine-cartie-built-a-100-plus-store-brand-custom-mahjong-bags-playing-cards-silk-scarves-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/357382\/","title":{"rendered":"How Fort Worth Watercolor Artist Catherine Cartie Built a 100-Plus-Store Brand \u2014 Custom Mahjong Bags, Playing Cards, Silk Scarves, and More"},"content":{"rendered":"

For those familiar with local artist Catherine Cartie\u2019s spirited watercolors, walking through the doors of her pop-up boutique at Fort Worth\u2019s The Shops at Clearfork feels like stepping into one of her paintings. Powder blue walls set an airy backdrop for blush pink pillows, coral silk scarves, tangerine and lime mahjong bags, and vibrant watercolors that have become Cartie\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n

While many artists are content working within a single medium, Cartie has built a lifestyle brand<\/a> around her watercolor paintings, bringing her colorful aesthetic well beyond the canvas.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople say they love the colors,\u201d she tells PaperCity Fort Worth. \u201cIf it brings people joy, I think that\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CatherinePillows, scarves, acrylic artwork, stationery, and home d\u00e9cor showcase the breadth of Cartie\u2019s colorful product line, which has grown from a greeting card side project into a multistate brand. (Photo by Canon Sawyer)<\/p>\n

The last few years have seen the busy mother of three\u2019s career blossom, from a humble greeting card side project to a full-fledged brand of products now sold in over 100 stores across a handful of Southern states. She credits her artist grandmother, who passed away in 2021, her husband, the supporters who\u2019ve championed her work, and wholesale manager Jacqueline Dearden with her ongoing success.<\/p>\n

Sitting inside her pop-up boutique at Fort Worth\u2019s premier luxury shopping district<\/a>, Cartie admits the whirlwind growth has exceeded anything she imagined.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with The Shops at Clearfork<\/a> has been such a special opportunity,\u201d she says, adding that one of her long-term goals is to have a permanent flagship store of her own one day.<\/p>\n

\"CatherineCartie\u2019s watercolor artwork appears on a growing collection of silk scarves, many featuring Fort Worth and Western-inspired designs alongside colorful botanicals and wildlife. (Photo by Canon Sawyer)
\nFrom Calligraphy and Greeting Cards to a Multi-State Business<\/p>\n

Even non-artists understand watercolor\u2019s reputation for being unforgiving. Countless elementary art classes still introduce children to the unwieldy medium, where pigment is often more beholden to gravity than the artist\u2019s vision. For Cartie, watercolor was simply practical as a stay-at-home mother several years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy kids were little, and it was fast-drying, easy to clean up, and portable,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s not like an oil painting that has to sit and be kept away from kids. In hindsight, it made total sense because my grandmother was a watercolor artist, and I just loved her so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born and raised in Midland, Catherine Cartie came to Fort Worth to attend Texas Christian University, where she earned a marketing degree before taking a job at Lockheed Martin, first procuring airplane parts and later scheduling flight tests. She met her husband through a company softball league, eventually left the aerospace giant to raise their growing family, and, looking for a creative outlet, enrolled in an online calligraphy course.<\/p>\n

\"CatherineFrom ribbon scarves and tote bags to summer accessories, Cartie\u2019s vibrant watercolor illustrations now adorn products sold in more than 100 stores across the South. (Photo by Canon Sawyer)<\/p>\n

Custom wedding invitations soon followed, but after several years, she found herself craving something new \u2014 and watercolor became the unexpected answer.<\/p>\n

One of her first major breaks came when the Junior League commissioned her to design its annual rodeo scarf, she recalls, adding that the butterfly motif found throughout her work was inspired by the last gift her grandmother left her: a butterfly scarf.<\/p>\n

\u201cButterflies started becoming a big part of my brand after she passed away,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Colors continue to define her product line\u2019s success and her personal journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore I painted, I was more of a neutral-color person because, honestly, I didn\u2019t want attention,\u201d she says. \u201cOnce I started painting brighter and bolder, it brought my personality out. I\u2019ve become bolder. I never would have imagined having a brand or a store with my name on it. Now, this artwork makes me happy, and I want it to make other people happy too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catherine Cartie\u2019s pop-up boutique<\/a> is open through August at 5240 Marathon Avenue in The Shops at Clearfork.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For those familiar with local artist Catherine Cartie\u2019s spirited watercolors, walking through the doors of her pop-up boutique…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-357382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}