How Fort Worth Watercolor Artist Catherine Cartie Built a 100-Plus-Store Brand — Custom Mahjong Bags, Playing Cards, Silk Scarves, and More

For those familiar with local artist Catherine Cartie’s spirited watercolors, walking through the doors of her pop-up boutique at Fort Worth’s 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’s signature.

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

“People say they love the colors,” she tells PaperCity Fort Worth. “If it brings people joy, I think that’s great.”

The last few years have seen the busy mother of three’s 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’ve championed her work, and wholesale manager Jacqueline Dearden with her ongoing success.

Sitting inside her pop-up boutique at Fort Worth’s premier luxury shopping district, Cartie admits the whirlwind growth has exceeded anything she imagined.

“Working with The Shops at Clearfork has been such a special opportunity,” she says, adding that one of her long-term goals is to have a permanent flagship store of her own one day.

From Calligraphy and Greeting Cards to a Multi-State Business

Even non-artists understand watercolor’s 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’s vision. For Cartie, watercolor was simply practical as a stay-at-home mother several years ago.

“My kids were little, and it was fast-drying, easy to clean up, and portable,” she says. “It’s 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.”

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.

Custom wedding invitations soon followed, but after several years, she found herself craving something new — and watercolor became the unexpected answer.

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.

“Butterflies started becoming a big part of my brand after she passed away,” she says.

Colors continue to define her product line’s success and her personal journey.

“Before I painted, I was more of a neutral-color person because, honestly, I didn’t want attention,” she says. “Once I started painting brighter and bolder, it brought my personality out. I’ve 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.”

Catherine Cartie’s pop-up boutique is open through August at 5240 Marathon Avenue in The Shops at Clearfork.