When Portia de Rossi decided to let fans in on why she quit acting, she opted to do so on her wife's talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Sitting down for a chat in spring 2018, the former actress explained that as she "was approaching 45," she started to wonder if there was "something that [she] could tackle ... that [she'd] never done before that would be really challenging and different." As a result, de Rossi launched what Architectural Digest deemed "an innovative consumer-art company."

The star's venture, General Public, "aims to transform the art market as we know it," per Artnet News. "In essence, General Public produces three-dimensional reproductions of works of art, a mix between original painting and print using a special process invented by the actress working with Fujifilm."

"As an artist myself, I have watched every other art form use technology to cut out the middleman, democratize art, and empower the artist," de Rossi told Artnet in 2018. "I want painters to have the ability to sell editions of their paintings to maximize their profitability. I also want the folks who really appreciate these artists to be able to own and enjoy their works as the artist intended them to be enjoyed and not just the wealthy few."

While that sounds intriguing, we'll just have to wait to see if de Rossi finds as much success in the art world as she did with acting.

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