Today we’d like to introduce you to Rashmi Pottekatt.
Hi Rashmi, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Hi, I’m Rashmi, the artist and owner of September Magic, where I create stained-glass-style hand-painted glassware and other art-inspired pieces.
I’ve always been a creative person. As a child, I was drawn to the creative side of everything—whether it was drawing, painting, decorating, or simply finding ways to add my own personality to things. I never really thought of art as a career, though. My early career was in teaching, writing, and editing, and life took me through quite a few unexpected turns.
Over the years, those turns have taken me across countries—from India to the UK, back to India, then to Massachusetts, Singapore, back to India again, and now Austin. The funny thing is that through all those moves and changes, the one thing that has remained constant is art and my love for it. Every time life has put me in a new place, I’ve somehow found my way back to creativity.
My business journey really began when I moved to Massachusetts. I was in a completely new country, knew no one apart from my husband, and was trying to figure out what came next. Not long after I arrived, my husband had to leave for a 10-day work trip. Before he left, we picked up some canvases and paints for me so I would have something to do while he was away.
I spent those 10 days painting. By the time he came home, I had 14 or 15 paintings and absolutely nowhere to put them! So I thought, why not try selling them? I started taking my work to art fairs, and the response was so encouraging that I eventually opened a tiny shop called Magic Fingers.
That little shop quickly grew into something much bigger than I had imagined. I eventually moved into a larger space and worked with more than 30 artists, displaying and selling their work in my shop. That experience taught me so much about business, customers, creativity, and, most importantly, relationships.
A few years later, my husband received a work opportunity in Singapore. It meant making the difficult decision to close the business I had built in Massachusetts and start over in a completely different country. It was one of the hardest transitions of my life, but it also taught me something I’ve carried with me ever since: starting over doesn’t necessarily mean starting from nothing. You carry everything you’ve learned with you.
In this new phase of my life, I decided to reinvent my business and give it a new identity. September is my birth month, and around that time, I came across the symbolism often associated with September—renewal, transition, and new beginnings. It really resonated with me because I was starting over and beginning an entirely new chapter. At the same time, I wanted to carry the “magic” from Magic Fingers with me. And that’s how September Magic was born.
COVID brought another unexpected turn and another move, this time back to India. Eventually, I made my way to Austin, where I had the opportunity to rebuild September Magic once again.
Today, Austin feels like the place where everything I’ve learned along the way has come together. September Magic has grown tremendously here, and my hand-painted glassware has evolved along with it. Years of experimenting and practice have helped me develop a style and technique that feel distinctly my own, and seeing people connect with my work continues to be one of the most rewarding parts of what I do.
Looking back, I realize that I never really planned this journey. Life kept changing my direction, but art was always the thing that brought me back to myself. And I think that’s what September Magic represents to me—a lot of creativity, a lot of reinvention, and a little bit of magic along the way.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road—but I think that’s also what has shaped both me and my business.
One of the biggest challenges has been having to start over, more than once. Each move meant more than simply taking my business to a different country or state. I had to understand an entirely new audience—what people connected with, what worked in that market, how people shopped, even how differences in climate and lifestyle affected what I could create and sell. Closing a business I had built from scratch in Massachusetts and starting again in Singapore was particularly difficult. And then, just as I was finding my footing there, COVID changed everything again.
But somewhere along the way, I realized something about myself: I’m not someone who can sit and plan endlessly. I need to start doing. I’ve learned that doing is often the best way for me to learn. I try something, see what works, adapt, and keep moving forward.
There are also challenges that come specifically with running a handmade business. One of the biggest is helping people understand the value of something handmade in a world where we’re surrounded by mass-produced products. A wine glass can be bought very inexpensively at a big-box store, so naturally there can be a comparison. But a hand-painted piece carries hours of work, years of practice, experimentation, and attention to detail. Fortunately, with my glassware, much of that work is visible when someone sees the piece up close, and that makes a tremendous difference.
Scaling is another challenge. There is only so much I can make with two hands! My work is very detailed, and each piece takes the time it takes. I don’t want growth to come at the expense of quality or the details that make my work distinctly mine. So I’m constantly learning how to become more efficient without losing the handmade quality of the work.
And then there are all the less glamorous parts of being a creative entrepreneur—marketing, social media, administrative work, getting discovered in an increasingly crowded marketplace, and, in my particular case, transporting and shipping hundreds of fragile pieces of glass without breaking them! Over the years, we’ve developed systems for many of these challenges, but there is always something new to figure out.
I don’t think the struggles ever completely disappear; they just change as the business grows. What has changed is the way I look at them. Starting over used to feel like losing everything and going back to the beginning. Now I know that starting over doesn’t mean starting from nothing. Every experience teaches you something, and you carry all of that knowledge into whatever you build next.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
September Magic is best known for my stained-glass-style hand-painted glassware. I create designs across different types of glasses, with much of my inspiration coming from nature—flowers, birds, landscapes, sea life, and really anything that catches my eye. Over the years, this style has become the heart and identity of September Magic.
I think what sets my work apart is that I have a hard time leaving anything simple! I’m always looking for that extra detail—something that gives the design more personality and makes it feel like mine. I don’t just want to paint a flower on a glass; I want someone to pick it up, turn it around, discover all the little details, and wonder how it was made.
My technique has developed through years of experimenting. Instead of simply painting onto the surface with a brush, I first create raised outlines and then fill the individual sections with translucent glass colors, building the design piece by piece. I add layers of details and often go back over the outlines again before the glass is cured and finished. The result is a textured, dimensional piece that has the look and feel of stained glass, especially when light passes through it.
Detail is probably the biggest part of my work. I can be extremely particular about a tiny line or a small section of color that most people may never consciously notice, but I notice it! Each piece takes a considerable amount of time, and no two will ever be exactly alike. I’m okay with that. In fact, that individuality is part of what I love about handmade work.
It’s hard for me to choose just one thing I’m most proud of because this business has given me so many reasons to feel proud. I’m proud that I’ve created something out of nothing and turned my art into a viable business. But I’m also incredibly proud of the work itself. Even after all these years, there are pieces I finish, pick up, and just stare at for a moment because I can’t quite believe I made them. Sometimes my own work still gives me goosebumps—and I hope I never lose that feeling.
But perhaps what I’m most proud of is the joy my work seems to bring people. I see it all the time at events—that moment when someone spots a glass, their face lights up, and they call someone over to come look at it. I hear “Wow, I’ve never seen anything like this before” so often, and it never gets old. Those reactions mean a lot to me because that’s ultimately what I want my work to do.
I believe I’ve created something that spreads joy. If a piece I’ve made can make someone stop, smile, and feel a little happier—even for a moment—that, to me, is one of the biggest achievements of September Magic.
How do you define success?
Success, to me, has changed meaning over the years. At one point, I probably would have measured it in the usual ways—how much the business was growing, how much I was selling, or what I had managed to build. Those things still matter, of course. I want September Magic to grow, I want my work to reach more people, and I want what I do to be financially sustainable.
But today, I think success is much more personal.
Two things I’m strangely afraid of in life are losing time and not laughing enough. I don’t want to look back and feel that I spent years waiting to do something I loved, or building a life that didn’t make me happy. So being able to wake up and spend my days creating something I genuinely care about—and knowing that I built that life for myself—feels like success to me.
It’s also about growth, but not only in numbers. I want to look at something I made a year ago and know that I can make it better today. I want to keep experimenting, learning, getting better at my craft, and occasionally surprising myself with what I’m capable of.
Of course, I have big dreams for September Magic. I would love for my work to be recognized far beyond Austin someday. But I don’t want to reach that point and realize that I lost the joy of creating along the way.
So I think my definition of success is fairly simple: to keep growing, to make a good living doing something I love, and to build a life where I’m excited about what I’m creating and still have plenty of reasons to laugh.
Pricing:
- Hand-painted wine glasses start at $42
- Pricing varies depending on the type of glassware, design, and level of detail.
- Custom and personalized pieces are available, with pricing based on the scope of the design.
- Larger pieces and sets, including carafes and coordinating glasses, are also available.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.septembermagic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/septembermagic99
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shop.septembermagic
- Other: https://septmagic.etsy.com
