Robin Mitchell uses her talent to create custom pieces
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Robin Mitchell
No matter what art you need, Robin Mitchell has you covered. Mitchell started ‘Don’t Go Robin My Art’ in 2020, but due to COVID and the birth of her daughter, Lindie, the business had to close down. “As it turns out, children are a lot of work. Now I’m in the process of rebuilding,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell was born and raised in Chrisman and is currently an Art Education Major at Parkland College in Champaign and plans to finish her Bachelor’s at Eastern Illinois University. “I love art,” Robin said. “Most of my time revolves around it and my daughter.”
Before finding her happy place, Mitchell worked in retail and office & manufacturing. “None of them made me happy. Art is the field where I belong,” Robin said. “I’m always looking for a way to get out of the box and flow against the main stream.”
Robin has twelve years of experience in Graphic Design using the Adobe Creative Cloud suite. For her projects, she uses a Titan 28” vinyl cutter with two wide format printers. “I’m eclectic. Art holds no bounds and the possibilities are endless,” she said.
Mitchell is also able to print high resolution photos up to 13X9 using premium photo paper. Her skills also allow for restoration of old photos, provided they aren’t too far gone. “I recently did a piece of two dogs sitting five feet apart, brought them closer together, eliminating the background,” Robin told us. “It turned out really cool and was a nice tribute to the late pups.”
In addition to the two wide format printers, it’s the other printer that Robin has the most fun with. “Give me a flat surface, metal, wood, fabric and I’ll print whatever you want on it,” she said. “I can do banners, signs, t-shirts and photos. I’m likely to make it happen.” Mitchell’s cousin recently requested to have her ‘Phish’ concert tickets printed on a couple of satin pillow cases. “I can’t wait to give them to her!,” Michell said. “The process was easy and stress free. I just took a picture of the ticket and printed it on the pillow case.”
When it comes to custom pieces, Robin feels that’s where she shines. “I tend to be the sentimental sort and my work really shines when I know it’ll make someone’s day.” Recently, Mitchell printed an ultrasound onto a couple of pieces of jewelry and a wooden bead for the husband, who has dreads.
Custom pieces can be a benefit for her customers as well.
For instance, prices will be cheaper if the customer brings their own dilapidated old barn wood from the family farm that you would like your grandfather’s image printed on or even grandma’s favorite pie pan.
In just the last couple of months, Robin has done graphic drawings of a unicorn and game controller for a friend that lives in China.
“I have a lifetime of experience painting custom paintings using acrylic paint,” she said. “One of my favorites is one I did for my dad of his dog Suzi.”
Though she states that her heart is with custom pieces, Robin also found a love for Typography. “My favorite graphics class was Typography. I love the history of the type face and its intricacies,” Mitchell said. “Typography most often falls in line with logo design for businesses.”
For photos, prices for the large 13×9 prints are $16.00 with duplicate pricing available. “I try to stay in the same ball park as Walmart with my pricing,” Mitchell said. “But I refuse to print precious memories on bad paper.”
Though the image makes the photo, the quality of the paper plays a key factor in producing a high quality print. “I won’t hand you a ‘bad’ one. People seem to get the best pictures from candids on their phone. I’m just an email or text away from a beautiful print.”
Robin said that it took her almost two years to feel comfortable enough to tell people about her specialty printing and charging for it. “Unfortunately, there’s no set price tag for that kind of work,” Robin said.
“Most stuff I work by quoted prices and it costs nothing to get a quote.”
In her line of work, Robin is dependent on what the media is being printed on, necessity of weatherizing, how much ink she uses along with other factors. “I can tell you this, I’ll make it worth the money.”
If you would like to have a piece made by Robin, or have a traveling paint party (in home, host paints for free), you can visit her Facebook page at ‘Don’t Go Robin My Art’, send her an email at dontgorobinmyart@gmail.com or give her a call or text at 217-260-5103.
