Yes, a Black owned candle company can inspire art, and not in an abstract way, but in very direct, practical ways: through scent-based storytelling, label and packaging design, collaborations with painters or photographers, and even the simple act of lighting a candle before you start a creative session. When you look closely, the whole process around a candle can turn into a small studio practice, and if you want to find one to experience this for yourself, browsing a black owned candle company is a good starting point.
That is the short answer.
The longer answer is more interesting. Candles sit at this strange crossroads of art, memory, mood, and culture. They are objects, they have color, they live in a space, they change the air, and they carry stories. When the maker is rooted in Black culture, history, or daily life, those stories can take on a shape that is especially rich for anyone who makes or loves art.
How scent turns into a sketchbook
I want to start with smell, because that is usually the first surprise. Many artists think visually first. Lines, colors, light. But scent can move your mind in a different way.
Imagine a candle named after a neighborhood, or a grandmother, or a Saturday morning hair appointment. The label says something simple, like “Juniper & Vinyl” or “Porch Talk”. You read it, then you smell it, and suddenly you are not in your studio anymore. You are in a hallway, or in a kitchen, or on a street that maybe you have never walked, but you can still feel.
Scent gives you scenes, almost like storyboards, that you did not have to invent from scratch.
Many Black owned candle brands lean into this kind of storytelling. They mix fragrance with reference: to HBCUs, to natural hair salons, to cookouts, to Sunday service, to block parties, to quiet mornings before work. For an artist, this can work like a shortcut into a world of images.
You might light a candle that smells like tobacco leaf and caramel and think of:
- A grandparent’s hands resting on a Bible
- A barbershop filled with slow conversation
- An old record sleeve left open on the table
Each of these can be a painting, a photograph, a short film. Or just a color palette. Maybe you only keep the mood. That is fine too.
I once worked on a small illustration series where I forced myself to start with smell instead of sight. I picked three candles, wrote down the first five objects I imagined for each scent, then built the drawings from that list. The results were slightly strange, but in a good way. Less controlled. A friend who is a photographer tried the same method: one candle per roll of film, one mood per walk. It changed the way he chose his locations and even the way he edited the photos later.
Visual design as a quiet art lesson
Now, if you only think of candles as “jars with wax”, you might miss how much visual design surrounds them. Many Black owned candle brands treat the whole product as a small gallery object. Not in a loud way. In a careful way.
Look at what artists can learn from a candle box or label:
| Element | What you see | How it can feed your art |
|---|---|---|
| Color palette | Earth tones, jewel tones, or sharp black and white | Ideas for backgrounds, clothing, or abstract fields of color |
| Typography | Bold serif, soft script, or minimal sans serif | Inspiration for hand lettering, poster design, or zines |
| Illustration or patterns | Silhouettes, line drawings, geometric shapes | Motifs that can repeat across paintings, prints, or textiles |
| Material choices | Matte glass, tin, ceramic, kraft paper | Ideas for texture studies in drawing or mixed media work |
Sometimes you see a candle label that is basically a mini print. A face drawn in two strokes. A skyline reduced to five blocks of color. A pattern that looks like kente cloth simplified into stripes and triangles. If you paint or design, this can act like a free workshop on reduction and clarity.
A good candle label often says a lot with almost nothing, which is exactly what many artists try to do on a larger scale.
Some artists make a habit of collecting candle jars and boxes as physical references. They line them on a shelf and use them as color swatches. That might sound silly at first, but it is practical. You can see how a deep emerald sits next to a muted peach on the same box, or how off-white feels different from bright white when it covers a whole jar.
Black owned candle companies often build visual worlds that reflect Black culture in subtle ways: a certain shade of brown that feels like skin, a pattern that reminds you of braids, or a font that echoes a 90s album cover. You do not have to copy these choices, but you can ask yourself: why does this feel warm, or bold, or nostalgic? How can I echo that feeling with my own tools?
Storytelling rooted in Black life
Many artists are always trying to answer one question: what story am I really telling here? Candles can help, especially when the scents and names pull from lived Black experiences and not from vague “spa” or “ocean breeze” ideas.
Think about a candle called “Wash Day”. If you grew up in a Black household, that phrase carries an entire scene: hot combs, braids, detangling, maybe long hours on a stool near the couch. If you did not, you still know what it is like for a mundane ritual to shape a day.
This kind of naming shows you how to frame an artwork around a tiny, real moment instead of a big concept. You might paint “Wash Day” without anyone in the frame: just a sink, a towel, a bottle left open, a comb on a counter. The story is there without a speech.
Here are a few other candle name types that often show up and how they can spark work:
- Neighborhood names: “Harlem Night”, “Leimert Park”, “Third Ward”. These can push you toward cityscapes, portraits, or sound-inspired pieces.
- Family roles: “Auntie’s House”, “Big Cousin”, “Papa’s Chair”. These can guide character design or storytelling comics.
- Events: “Homecoming”, “First Sunday”, “Cookout Smoke”. These can inspire sequences, like storyboards or series work.
There is something honest here. Not everything is a grand narrative, and not every piece of Black art has to carry the whole weight of history. A Black owned candle brand that focuses on one tiny scene at a time can remind you of that. Art can sit in the detail of marinating food on a stove, or braiding hair before bed, or ironing a shirt for work.
The candle as part of a studio ritual
Let us move from the object to the action. For many artists, there is a pre-work ritual. Some clean brushes. Some put on the same album every time. Some just sit and stare at the blank page for a while and then, slowly, begin.
Candles fit easily into this set of habits. One match, one flame, one small act that says: now we start.
When you repeat a small act before you create, your brain starts to link that act with focus and courage.
Plenty of artists talk about how scent helps them shift into the right headspace. For example:
- Using a softer, powdery scent while sketching, to keep the mind calm
- Using a sharper, citrus or herbs blend during intense painting or writing
- Saving one candle only for days when you feel stuck, as a personal reset
If that candle is from a Black owned brand that draws inspiration from your own culture or from one you respect, the ritual takes on a second meaning. It becomes support, a small act of solidarity, along with a tool for focus.
Some artists make it very structured. One painter I met keeps three candles on a shelf:
| Candle type | When they use it | What they work on |
|---|---|---|
| “Morning” candle | Early in the day, with coffee | Loose sketches, idea work, warm-up exercises |
| “Work” candle | During main studio hours | Large paintings, client projects, detailed tasks |
| “Closing” candle | Late in the evening, short burn | Quick notes on what worked, clean up, reflection |
This might sound a bit too organized for some people. I think so too, to be honest. But the idea under it is useful: the candle helps mark time and mood. You can build your own version, less strict, more intuitive.
Collaboration between candle makers and artists
Now we get into a more direct link to the art world: collaboration. Many Black owned candle companies work with visual artists, writers, and musicians. Sometimes you only see it if you read the fine print. Other times, it is a full release or event.
Artist-designed labels and limited runs
One common format is a special candle line where each scent has a label designed by a different artist. The candle maker sets the scents and maybe some naming rules; the artists bring their styles to the packaging.
This creates a few things at once:
- Income and exposure for the artists involved
- A physical object that fans can collect, like small prints
- A reason for art lovers to step into the world of candles, and the other way around
If you are an artist, these projects can be a way to test how your work lives on a product, not just on a wall. You have to think about legibility, scale, printing limitations, and how art interacts with text and barcodes. That is a useful challenge that might improve your poster or book cover work too.
Scent inspired by artwork
The reverse direction is also interesting: some candle companies base a scent on a painting or a photo series. The process usually involves long conversations. What does this picture sound like, smell like, feel like in the air?
Imagine a blue-heavy abstract painting with sharp edges. The maker might go for eucalyptus, mineral notes, perhaps something metallic. Or a warm, sepia-toned family photo might turn into a blend of coffee, vanilla, and worn leather.
For artists, hearing how someone translates their visual work into scent can open new angles on their own practice. Maybe you think your work feels “cold”, but the candle maker reads it as cozy. That tension might make you reconsider your color choices or composition.
Community, galleries, and pop ups
Many Black owned candle brands do not live only online. They show up at markets, in small shops, at art fairs, in pop up events that blend retail and culture. For people who care about art, these events can feel like portable mini galleries.
You might walk into a space and see:
- Tables covered with candles grouped by scent family
- Walls with prints or paintings from local Black artists
- Music from a local DJ or playlist by a musician in the same circle
- Books or zines from writers in the community
Here, the candle is part of a bigger picture. Artists meet each other. A painter might trade pieces with a candle maker. A photographer might shoot the product line in exchange for a portrait session. These slow, real connections often lead to the kind of collaborations that you do not see in a basic online store listing.
Art thrives in networks of people who share resources, spaces, and audiences, even when the main product is not a painting or a print.
Some galleries have started to include scent-based installations with work from Black owned candle brands. A room filled with portraits might also hold a single candle on a plinth, lit at certain times, that echoes the theme of the show. Scent becomes another layer, quiet but powerful.
Is this always successful? Not really. Sometimes it feels forced, like the curator just wanted a novelty. But when it works, it can deepen the experience of looking at the art on the walls. Especially if the candles themselves come from people whose stories overlap with the ones in the images.
How candles influence different art forms
This is where things branch out. It is easy to imagine a candle in a painter’s studio, but the impact spreads further. Let us walk through a few art forms.
Painting and drawing
For painters, the most direct inspiration is often color and mood. A candle with a smoky, dark scent might push you toward deep blues and blacks, toward blurred edges. A bright, citrus scent might lead you into yellows and fast brush strokes.
Some painters build whole series around one candle scent or name. They treat the candle like a prompt. For instance:
- Series “Porch Lights”: ten small night scenes, all painted while the same candle of that name burns
- Series “Coconut & Cedar”: a study of how tropical and woody feelings can sit in the same frame
- Series “Sunday Dinner”: still life paintings of pots, plates, and quiet table corners
Even if you do not make a public series, you can still use this method privately, as a way to break out of your usual subjects or palettes.
Photography
Photographers might not think of candles as a tool at first. But they can change both the scene and the editing choices.
Some ideas:
- Use a candle name as the title concept for a portrait session, then choose wardrobe and location to match that feeling.
- Let scented candles act as props in interiors, making the scene feel lived in and personal.
- Smell the candle, then pick a color grading approach that matches the mood, warm or cold.
A Black owned candle line rooted in city life can lead to a street photo project that pays attention to windows at night, or to hands passing food across tables, or to quiet corners of shops that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Writing and poetry
Writers talk openly about using candles during work more than some visual artists do. They see scent as a way to hold a narrative tone in place.
Here is a simple practice:
- Pick one candle that fits the world of your story or poem.
- Only light that candle when working on that specific project.
- When the project is done, let the candle burn out during the final read-through.
Black owned candle brands that name scents after experiences like “The Cookout” or “HBCU Homecoming” can be especially rich for writers who want to capture those scenes with respect and detail. The smell can help you remember small things: the sound of ice shaking in a cooler, the feel of a folding chair under you, the way people call out across a yard.
Music and performance
Musicians and performers sometimes use candles on stage or in rehearsal spaces. Not for drama only, but to mark a particular set or piece.
A Black jazz trio might light a candle named after a certain city before playing a set that pays tribute to musicians from that place. A spoken word artist might build a show around three candles, each linked to a phase of the poem cycle.
This is not about superstition. It is about anchors. When the work reaches into Black history, love, grief, faith, or joy, having a scent tied to those themes can help the performer enter the right headspace quickly, especially on tour or in unfamiliar venues.
Candles as everyday art objects in Black homes
There is another layer here, which you might only see if you step into the living rooms, bathrooms, and kitchens where these candles end up. In many Black homes, candles sit with framed photos, books, and small art pieces. They are part of the arrangement.
Some people build little corners with:
- A candle from a local Black maker
- A framed print from a Black artist
- A plant, a book of poetry, or a small family photo
This everyday curation blurs the line between “decor” and “art”. It also creates steady, small support for artists and makers in the community. You are not just collecting work for a gallery wall. You are placing it where you sit, read, rest, and think.
If you are an artist yourself, living with objects made by other Black creators can slowly influence your sense of what is normal, what is possible. You might get braver with color, or more rooted in the specific details of your life, simply because you are surrounded by work that does so too.
How to use a Black owned candle brand as an art tool
If you love art and want to see how candles can boost your own work, here are some simple, practical ways to experiment.
Create a “scent sketch” session
Try this once and see what happens:
- Choose one candle with a strong concept in its name or description.
- Light it and set a timer for 20 minutes.
- For those 20 minutes, sketch anything that comes to mind because of that scent. No rules.
When the timer ends, stop, even if you feel mid-thought. Look at what you made. You will likely see images and ideas you would not reach just by sitting in silence.
Build a mini series around one scent
Pick one candle and commit to making three related pieces of work:
- One literal piece, based on the name and description
- One emotional piece, based purely on how the smell makes you feel
- One abstract piece, focusing only on color and shape
This small constraint can sharpen your style and help you notice your own patterns.
Pay attention to how Black stories appear in the branding
Next time you handle a candle from a Black owned brand, look closely at every detail connected to Black life. Not to copy it, but to study how it is handled.
- How are people represented on the label, if at all?
- What words are chosen, and which are left out?
- Is humor present? Nostalgia? Quiet respect?
Ask yourself how your own work treats similar themes. Are you as careful, as grounded, as specific?
A small question and a quiet answer
So, can a candle really change your art practice?
Not alone. If the work is not there, no scent or label will fix that. Candles are tools, not magic. And I think some people lean too hard on the romance of “light a candle and your creativity will flow”. Reality is less dramatic.
Still, a Black owned candle company can give you three valuable things at once: stories rooted in Black life, small objects that teach color and design, and rituals that help you enter a focused state. Combined, these can shift the way you see and make art.
Maybe the better question is this: if a simple object can carry memory, culture, and design into your daily space, why not use it on purpose?