Faith and family come together in Abigail and Aaron Reller’s flourishing art business
For Abigail and Aaron Reller, creating art for their home that felt meaningful and intentional turned into a mission to create the same for others. Through their business, Abigail Reller Art, the pair infuses religion and family into art pieces that speak to the beauty of creating together.
The couple has long offered commissioned paintings and art featuring Mother Mary, but their resin sculptures of the Blessed Mother have emerged as a quick favorite in their hometown of New Orleans and all the way to the Capital City, hardly staying on the shelves at local boutique The Keeping Room, since their release last November.
“It’s a modern take on a traditional icon,” Aaron says. “It’s not a church-like painting,” Abigail adds.
The sculptures are available in a variety of colors, ranging from bright, bold and fluorescent shades to more muted hues, ensuring there is a Mary fit for every home. “She’s for everyone, not just the traditional people in church pews,” Abigail says.
Both teachers by trade, the couple met while teaching in Mississippi, and moved to New Orleans after getting married. In 2018, they launched Abigail Reller Art, which they are now both pursuing full time. “We both do a little bit of everything,” Abigail explains. “It started out as me doing all the painting, and Aaron and my dad would pour resin on the paintings. Now, we both paint, resin and make the statues.”
The artistic and business efforts are shared, aside from The Grey Collaborative, which Abigail spearheads. The Grey Collaborative offers children the opportunity to have a hand in the artworks that fill their family homes. The process starts with a collaborative session, in which a family goes into Abigail’s studio and paints base layers. Then, Abigail uses that foundation to create a commissioned piece with custom colors, dimensions, finishes, framing and more.
This child-focused initiative began organically with Abigail painting an abstract piece with her daughter in 2018 over summer break. “We wanted a nice piece of art, and with us both being teachers at the time, we couldn’t find a piece that fit our budget that we loved and connected with,” Abigail says. “Aaron was tutoring a family, and when the mother heard about this project, she asked if I could do the same thing with her sons.” From there, the project has evolved and grown into its own studio where she holds the collaborative sessions.
“It’s so meaningful,” Abigail says. “It’s art that tells your family’s story, with them all having a hand in the finished product.”
From the handcrafted Mary statues to The Grey Collaborative, Abigail and Aaron’s business is centered around intention, with each piece not only meant to be beautiful but also to serve its owners in some way, whether through faith or through the simple memory of childhood as kids grow up. That genuineness blossoms out of the couple’s love for one another, their work and the joy that art brings both its creators and observers.
“It’s really fun to get to work together,” Abigail says. “And we’re really happy that it’s taken off!”
Learn more about the couple and their work at abigailrellerart.com
