Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Hu.
Christina, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
For a while in my teenage years, I made all kinds of cards for everyone I knew with my stamps and pencils. Making things by hand made me THE happiest. But, you know, being a teenager was just too much about making friends and hitting the mall that I just completely stopped making things.
Fast forward to many years later, I found myself working in the fashion industry, with, ironically, not very many chances to be creative. I missed that feeling when I made things and I needed a creative outlet. I started to make a lot of paper crafts or just any random projects to fill my void. I remembered how great it was to create again. It was all just for fun, though. I always thought I was “just not good enough” to present my work, or even sell it. It’s always just “something silly” as I’d call it.
When I was planning my wedding, I came across a custom return address stamp with pretty hand-written calligraphy font on it. I was also drawn to the pretty letters that were written out on my stamp but I just could not write like that. I decided I want to learn all about modern calligraphy and hand-lettering. I fell so deeply in love with it.
It took a lot of hand-cramping practices and drills, a lot of agonizing over the curves of my U’s and the loop of my L’s, a lot of pencils, papers, ink and erasers. I stuck with it and practice almost every day. I still love it when the ink hits the paper. I started to make personalized signs for friends, and creating art prints for home décor, showers, parties and weddings. I also started to help a lot of my friends with their place cards, envelopes and escort cards. It created a space that I can be creative, where I can create things that are especially hand-crafted for someone.
This past year, I finally have the courage to make this a real business. There are still so much to learn, but I’m really loving the lettering community and continue inspired by so many artists!
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I create custom calligraphy and decoration for events like weddings, showers, birthday. I also create hand-lettered products such as mugs and printable art. My style is simple, very everyday-life. It’s still evolving as I change too. I’m constantly trying to come up with new styles based on things that are in my life, big or small. I want people to start noticing the little things in their lives when they see the things I create, and feel just a little bit of positivity, too. I hope to inspire people with the simplest, everyday things, and appreciate the little things that are surrounding us.
Artists rarely, if ever pursue art for the money. Nonetheless, we all have bills and responsibilities and many aspiring artists are discouraged from pursuing art due to financial reasons. Any advice or thoughts you’d like to share with prospective artists?
It’s really tough having to balance realistic financial expectations and maintain your creativity. If having another job is what keeps you going artistically, by all means do not give up and keep going,
Don’t feel pressured that you have to buy the latest class to improve your marketing or buy expensive equipment’s. Those can come later when you have a well-established foundation of your creative business, and that’s your work! With social media and the internet, there are a lot of free resources we can use, but at the same time, it can also be very overwhelming. You can do a lot with very little start-up expenses. Use the internet and learn free!
Whatever you do, don’t stop creating. It WILL work!
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I am mainly on Instagram and Facebook (@seewholetters). Also visit me on my Etsy store (seewholetters.etsy.com) to support my work! If you have purchased my products, thank you so much and make sure to tag me so I can see!
Contact Info:
- Address: Orange County, California
- Website: seewholetters.etsy.com
- Email: seewholetters@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/seewholetters
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seewholetters
Image Credit:
Christina Hu
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