Artist and entrepreneur Ashleigh Pengelly’s journey founding Little Black Duck is a self-taught odyssey.
Little Black Duck, established in 2015, stands as a 100% Aboriginal-owned small business, and Ashleigh Pengelly’s brainchild. Her art is a harmonious fusion of creativity, fun, and functionality, with a profound mission to ignite meaningful conversations within the very heart of your home. Ashleigh’s distinctive creations traverse a vast array of unique mediums and surfaces, crafting a brand of functional art that has garnered admiration worldwide.
From her signature hand-painted teapots and serving boards to quintessentially Australian candles adorned with her art, and a breathtaking collection of handmade earrings crafted within the Little Black Duck studio, Ashleigh’s creations radiate love, vibrancy, and a deep awareness of her Aboriginal culture and heritage.
Join us as we delve into Ashleigh Pengelly’s inspiring and colourful journey with Little Black Duck, a celebration of art, culture, and the enduring power of creative expression.
Can You Tell Us About Your Background and What Led You to Found Little Black Duck?
[I’m] an Aboriginal woman from Woolgoolga in regional New South Wales, Australia. Professionally, I worked primarily in community development, youth work and event management, which kind of led me to step slowly step by step to Little Black Duck. Little Black Duck has been around for about eight to nine years now.
What Inspired You to Become an Artist and Entrepreneur?
I used to work in local government, and in an Aboriginal community [where] I was helping Aboriginal artists turn their hobby into a business just through bringing experts down from Sydney and Melbourne.
Throughout that programme, I was [observing]. I wasn’t an expert or anything but I’ve always been creative. And, that triggered me to think that I can actually turn my creative ideas into something as well as. That’s really where Little Black Duck started. [And the teapots idea was actually given to the group]. I did a bit of research and saw that no one was really doing campaigner teapots in Aboriginal art. So, I thought I’d carry it out myself and in the three days they sold out. I knew I was onto a winner.
Can You Share Some of the Key Influences and Values that Guide Your Artistic Journey?
I think for me, it’s really wanting to celebrate and showcase Aboriginal culture and art is a really good way of doing that. There’s really good reach and a good conversation starter as well. That’s really my focus with functional art and also why I have a lot of art on my products as well. Just to start those conversations and also getting people to recognise that our culture is absolutely beautiful. And, it’s got such a deep history and a really strong connection to the land.
What is a a Memorable Experience That Highlights the Impact of Your Art?
Because I’m an artist and get creative with my products for business, [I created a candle with native plants]. And, I had a customer who was about to give birth to her child. She got in touch to ask if she can get the candle to place it in the hospital. [She wanted to have it there during her delivery to give her the feeling of having an aboriginal element in her birthing space]. I thought that that was really touching and beautiful. And to me, having my products in such intimate moments is part of why I do what I do.
Can You Tell Us About a Moment That Stands Out as a Turning Point in Your Career?
I’ve grown up with school, graduated, started university but didn’t finish because I got the job that I wanted. But that was in a completely different field. It [involved] more community work and that sort of thing.
I was going on two parts at the same time of professional community work versus art and creativity. And I think one of the biggest turning points was when I realised that I can do both because I have a lot of guilt around leaving that community work as well. Once I realised that I can do my own business, have the economic freedom and employ Aboriginal people and stuff as well as, it’s helping my community in a different way and on a different level as well. That was really a big turning point for me.
Also, when I realised that, about twelve months ago, that I could [turn my art into a full time business opportunity]. So, eight months ago, I went into business full time. It was a huge step and a scary leap after working all those years and having a salary. But once I realised that it was an opportunity and option to provide a liveable salary for my family, I was down for it.
What are Some Challenges You Faced in Your Entrepreneurial Journey?
I’m assuming every artist goes through the whole imposter syndrome, like wondering if my art is good enough, are people going to buy it, will they like it and that sort of stuff.
I haven’t really overcome that because I’m still getting to know myself as an artist as well. And, I started out from a completely different type of art. At the moment, I’m having impostor syndrome with my work on canvases. Putting my work out there, on a different scale, that’s scary and it’s definitely a challenge.
How Do You Recharge and Find Inspiration When Facing Creative Block?
Yeah, it definitely happens to me, especially now that I’m doing it full time. When I was working in my other roles, I could switch off from the business side and creativity side. But now I tend to find it by putting down the paintbrushes and stepping away.
I’m lucky my family loves [doing activities like] camping and going to the river. So, I get my inspiration back in that recharge time, out at the river or out in nature. And then also having a really good group of friends that you can take a break with and recharge. You definitely need it. It’s very easy to get burnt-out.
I’ve been dealing with the community stuff, the complexity of having a business and obviously having a family. You have to take care of yourself.
Are There Any Particular Artists or Creatives Who Have Had a Profound Impact on Your Work?
There’s a couple. When I first started, I followed [an Aboriginal ceramicist] named Penny Evans. And her work is just beautiful, but it really highlighted to me a different way of doing your art. I’ve never met her but I would absolutely love to. Her work is stunning.
And the other one, Lillardia Briggs, is not too far away from here. She just has such a real focus on going slowly and really puts effort into her work. All her fashion items are carefully made and hand-crafted. And it’s just always a good reminder when I see [her work] to just slow down and that you don’t have to rush things because my customers are still always going to be there.
As an Entrepreneur, What Strategies Have You Found Most Effective in Building and Growing Your Brand’s Presence Both Online and Offline?
Definitely social media. I don’t know how businesses did it before social media. The power of social media just blows me away everytime, it’s insane. I think especially online, being consistent and being authentic as well.
And it’s also having a website. My biggest piece of advice to other people thinking about business is you definitely have to have a website that does the work for you. As for offline, it’s always following through on your value. Being exactly who you are in your business outside of it as well as helps you connect those relationships.
How Do You Envision the Future of Indigenous Art and Culture in Australia?
I find Aboriginal art is becoming much more mainstream here. It’s being valued and picked up by large and huge brands in Australia. And obviously, getting recognition around the world, makes it a lot more acceptable for famous creators and designers to have Aboriginal elements in their lines which just lend itself to those conversations happening.
For me, hopefully, I would love to get a large collaboration so that my [art] can be seen by the masses as well.
What Wider Impact Do You Hope to Have Through Your Work?
Again, I think [with initiating] those conversations, I really hope I’m doing my culture proud. For me, my family didn’t grow up with Aboriginal businesses or anything like that. I’m the first in my family to have a business and succeed at the level that I am, showing our younger generation that this is a viable career pathway as well. I’m really proud to be a part of this generation that’s making that change.
What Are Some of the Most Exciting or Unexpected Places Your Art has Reached?
I remember a customer sent me a picture of one of my very, very first teapots. They sent me a picture of them in the Swiss Alps. It was a beautiful little picture of the teapot with Swiss mountains behind them. And it amazes me that people take these things around the world. Also, I made a teapot which was being used by the Australian Government as an international delegate’s gift so it went all the way to Japan. That was really cool.
And, just random places. The LA stickers were really interesting. Someone tagged me just a couple weeks ago. She’d actually given them to a youth camp in LA and the camp coordinator has sent videos of them receiving it and everything. It’s just all really surreal seeing them pop up all around the world. And I remember a lady ordered from America and it was being delivered to a post office where riots were happening. That’s just insane. Like it’s ending up everywhere.
Are There Any Upcoming Collaborations or Initiatives That You Are Looking Forward to?
I’m really hoping to get a national collaboration or campaign. I’ve started doing art on canvases so hopefully that will lead to that. But I’ve also got some exciting things coming.
Since I’m also working on event management and project management, I’ve just got a contract to work for a community organisation that focuses on Aboriginal youth. Besides that, I landed a collaboration with a sticker company in Australia and they took the stickers to LA for a sticker conference.
They took videos, and they’ve actually got a warehouse in America. So, seeing my videos of my stickers in their warehouse for all their packing was really cool. We’re also collaborating with a university for calendars. That’s been really exciting. Meshing my artworks with a calendar about the environment [and things like that] has been really fun. [I’m looking forward to more while celebrating the little wins for me].
Featured banner image credit: @littleblackduckaus
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