Twin sisters Polly and Josie Dinsdale turn a shared passion for creativity into beautiful interiors and original artwork.
Our lives are constructed of an infinite number of small details that seem insignificant and unrelated until they suddenly come together to form a cohesive whole. It was this very phenomenon that brought together elements across three generations to spark the successful careers of two local artists, twin sisters Polly and Josie Dinsdale, cofounders and owners of Copper Owl, an interior design business centered in Camdenton, Missouri.
“Copper Owl was born when we took an elective interior design class in high school,” Polly recalls. “You had to pick a partner and start a fictional company together. Our mom and grandma both went to William Woods University, whose symbol is an owl. And our mom’s sorority symbol is also an owl. They became a little symbol between the girls of our family.”
However, the sisters still had a way to go from that spark of interest as teenagers to becoming self-employed artists. They both decided to pursue interior design in college.
“When we graduated,” Polly explains, “a furniture company hired us to start a design firm within their company to help people pick out fabrics and help them select custom furniture that would fit in their homes.
“We always knew we wanted to break off on our own. But I think it was a blessing at the time. You need to start somewhere and learn. There was so much to learn about reps and manufacturing and meeting people in the industry to get your foot in the door.”
Eventually, the sisters did strike out on their own, combining their experience in the interior-design industry with their skills as artists to carve out a unique niche for themselves. They do interior-design work both independently and as subcontractors for local construction companies.
They also create and sell their own original artwork.
“People don’t realize how creative interior design is: color mixing, patterns, and selecting artwork or details that go into a home,” Polly says. “Since we’re creative, we can see the big picture. The artwork is our creative outlet.
“We have people asking for commissioned artwork. We paint pieces that are specific to their space or that incorporate things about the client.”
It really inspires us when someone is at the next step in their life to build a home or their dream space,” Josie adds. “They’ve waited a long time to do that, but they feel a little overwhelmed or don’t know where to start. We love getting information from them and seeing what they enjoy doing, how they like to use their space, and putting all those things together to make it a space that they enjoy, that’s their home.”
While they’ve encountered challenges along the way, they’ve also experienced some amazing successes, most notably in their collaboration with MacKenzie-Childs.
“Our main form of work is watercolor,” Polly says. “It kind of took off with different clients or different projects we were working on for our clients, for the lake crowd.
“We went to the MacKenzie-Childs Artisan Festival in New York, and they picked up our watercolor from there. We applied, not knowing if we’d get in, and we got to do that for two years in a row. Then, their creative director said they liked our style of art and wanted to know if we could create some artwork for them to put on different mediums.
“We were lucky they took a chance on us when they did because we were still very small. They understood the craftsmanship behind our artistry.
“We used to collect their pieces growing up, so we’re so excited to collaborate with them and have our artwork on some of their products.”
While Copper Owl is based in Camdenton, Jefferson City has become like a second home, and the sisters frequently find themselves working there. Southbank Gift Company has featured their work, including their latest collaboration with MacKenzie-Childs. While the Lake of the Ozarks still inspires much of their artwork, Jefferson City has begun to influence them as well, and they have created a Jefferson City collection that includes coasters and art prints of Jefferson City landmarks.
“When we were just getting our foot in the door, we used to say, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if we just had our own business and got to do this, or we got to make a bunch of really awesome art or products or beautiful spaces for everyone to enjoy?’” Josie explains. “And that’s what our days are full of now. So, even when days are super long or we’re struggling to get through, we always say to each other that we’re doing exactly what we wanted to do."