Artist maps a new course with newfound focus on painting

T-shirts are a staple souvenir, but this is Longboat Key after all. Nobody wants to leave this island paradise with a three-for-$20 garment with a questionably witty slogan. 

“The comments that I get are that a lot of people want to be able to give something that says Longboat Key, but they don’t want it to be a T-shirt,” said Heather Rippy, owner of Driftwood Beach Home & Garden. 

Stephanie Troxler, a 33-year-old entrepreneurial mom and a lifelong artist, solved Rippy’s problem with a watercolor map of Longboat Key.

“It’s so specific to this little community and island, and I think too what’s special is that it's made by a local artist,” Rippy said. “You can put the words Longboat Key on anything, but this is actually supporting a local artist in a local shop.” 

Troxler lives in Bradenton with her husband and 2-year-old twin girls. She’s been a doodling, drawing daydreamer since she was a girl herself. She still remembers her favorite day of elementary school when her teacher spread canvases on the grass so the class could paint outside. “It was the coolest. That was kind of like my first art experience,” she said. 

Fast forward to quarantine in 2020, and Troxler’s childhood daydreams began turning into reality. She had babies at home and couldn’t return to work as a dental hygienist because of COVID-19 shutdowns. “For my own sanity, I would paint when the girls were sleeping,” she said.

Friends started making so many requests that Troxler opened up an Etsy shop. She recently stepped away from Etsy to launch her own website, LittleBlueDesignsUS.com and also has independent brand representation now. The goal is to expand through the gulf coast and eventually nationwide. 

“I have a personal relationship with every artist in here, so that’s really fun, but they’re all pretty much Florida,” Rippy said, “Stephanie is unique in that I do see her really growing into something that could be a national brand.”

Troxler started painting maps when a client requested something cute to welcome her guest to a destination bachelorette party. She created a watercolor map of Harbor Island in the Bahamas and put it on postcards.  

The water-colored ball rolled from there.

Troxler painted a watercolor map of Anna Maria Island first, then Longboat Key. Rippy carries hand towels, prints and canvases with the pink and turquoise map of Longboat Key in her shop and says they’re very popular. So much so that Rippy started buying versus consigning items.

“There’s no gamble in taking her work.” 

It’s not necessary to walk into Driftwood Beach to see the design. Look left of the shop to the salon next door, Design 2000. When a window was shattered and replaced with plywood, Troxler turned an accident into art. She painted a mural of the signature map on the plywood. 

“That’s a big gift,” Trippy said, “She wasn’t paid to do that.” The mural took nearly six hours to complete and will stay at Design 2000 long after the window is fixed. Owner Irina LaRose has a spot waiting. 

But Troxler’s spot at the dental office will have to be filled by someone else. She’s a full-time artist now and said she’s considering hiring an assistant because it’s becoming impossible to keep up with the demands of inventory and social media. 

“I didn’t go to school for business, so learning that side of things has been a challenge.” A challenge Troxler welcomes, “I’ve had to teach myself, but that’s the goal. The goal is to grow it and hopefully become a nationally recognized brand.”