I’ve been making marks on paper since an early age. My kindergarten friends decided that I would grow up to be an artist. I disagreed. Why artist just because I can draw? At 4 years old, I stubbornly vowed I would not draw for a living. Judging from what I do now, I suppose you can’t outrun a playground’s prophecy.

I spent some time as a designer before turning to art. Funnily, I practiced design like an artist: creating what fascinated me, compromising rarely. Surprisingly, this attitude even made me valedictorian of my graphic design major. Of course, life knows how to set things straight: I went on to work in an advertising agency and was profoundly miserable. The job demanded devotion to solving others’ problems; yet all I wanted was to be myself.

These days, I create with honesty. That means I pick up the pencil when I encounter a tingling story — too beautiful, too touching, or too interesting to ignore. I try to listen to my own interests and curiosity, paying minimal attention to the noisy “shoulds.” That instinct brings me peace and joy in creating art — the same pull that captured me in the early days.

Compared to other artists, I look like a hobbyist. I don’t draw eight hours a day, every day. I once heard someone say that if you can’t do that, you shouldn’t consider art a career. That voice lived in my head for a long while.

Solution? I embraced being a half-ass artist — one who spends most of her time reading, daydreaming, and judging the world. Then, when the strike comes (it always comes), I shut everything down and obsess with shaping it for a few weeks, before dropping back into energy-saving mode.

I don’t sell digital brushes or run a Patreon. I don’t follow business advice. I may sound chaotic on paper. But most of the time, I can say I have no regrets about my works. I gave them everything I could. Every. Single. Time.

There’s only so much one can say about themselves. I am not that one; I could go on. But as they say, leave them wanting more, so I will stop here.

If you happen upon a story too good to keep, consider me your audience,

Thanks for reading this far.
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