Check Out Siti Husin’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Siti Husin

Hi Siti, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Thanks for having me. I’m originally from Melaka (also spelled as Malacca), the historical city of Malaysia. I moved to Los Angeles 18 years ago, after living far apart from my husband for 5 years. The first 10 years I was a commissioned portrait artist, but now I focus on painting florals and still lifes.

I have always loved drawing and I was drawn into portraiture. Since portrait drawings are not taught in school, I had to learn it on my own. In school, I studied hard so I could study law in university. But because of my love for art, I wanted to major in arts & design in college. However, my parents convinced me that artists can’t make a living doing art. Instead, my mom suggested that I enroll in an executive secretaryship course.

Even though at that point I was studying a course that was completely unrelated to my interest, three and a half years in college was not a short amount of time, and I can say that it’s the foundation of what I do today.

An entrepreneurship class in my final semester, which teaches you how to open a business, sparked the idea in me to have my own business someday.

After I graduated with a Diploma in Executive Secretaryship from Mara University of Technology, I worked as a secretary for a number of years. However, the dream to be an artist never went away. I wanted to be known as a portrait artist instead of as a secretary. I frequently visited the Central Market in Kuala Lumpur to observe portrait artists work on their portraits.

Being shy, I casually informed coworkers and friends about my artistic skills and to my surprise many of them requested portrait commissions. I suddenly had a business doing something I love.

During those years, I planned to continue my studies in the USA. But, when I couldn’t get a scholarship, I went back to my former university to continue my studies for a bachelor’s degree. At that point, I could’ve chosen an Arts & Design course, but I didn’t want to have to get a diploma again. I decided to major in business, with a concentration in marketing, so I would learn more relevant skills to help me with my creative business.

I started looking for creative business books for artists on Amazon but there were no such books available. So I had to use the knowledge that I acquired in my entrepreneurship class in college. I created a roadmap for my business.

I dreamed of becoming a successful portrait artist and own a portrait business in America someday. I even wrote my business name, Siti Nuriati Husin Studio – Los Angeles, on a piece of paper. That fired me up to work even harder.

With a 9-5 job, working on my portrait commissions on the weekends, and studying for my bachelors degree at night, my plate was full!

After I got married, I quit my job. Shortly after leaving my job, I was blessed to have my first solo exhibition in my hometown, which led to my first newspaper feature. But I realized that a gallery exhibition wasn’t a good strategy for my portrait business. I realized that to acquire clients I prefer to engage with them one on one.

After our young son and I moved to Los Angeles to reunite with my husband, I had four portraits of Princess Diana’s published in a coffee table book in the UK. However, I decided to leave my portrait business due to religious reasons.

During that time my husband and I decided to homeschool our son. Homeschooling took a lot of my time. With the little time I had left, I focused on learning new creative outlets. For example, I created illustrations for my greeting card line and I created paintings for my YouTube video tutorials.

I also learned about online business and online marketing; for instance creating websites, videos, and more. Even though I didn’t produce a lot of art, I was constantly studying about the latest trend in online marketing and improving myself on the business side of my fine art business.

Time passed and one day I realized it had been almost 10 years since I last produced a painting with my main medium, pastel. In 2018, I started producing paintings in pastel and haven’t looked back.

With over 20+ years of experience, my mission statement has become crystal clear. I want to help my collectors find their inner peace through art.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Losing my beloved mom at 18 has been the hardest thing to happen in my life. I was very close to her. My mom was a wonderful artist and I aspire to be just as good as her. Although I felt devastated at the time, I realized I had to live my own life and I started to plan for my future. That’s where the idea came into being to live in a foreign country someday and it got stronger everyday.

I worked hard to become a recognized portrait artist. Honestly, it was a very lonely journey as I had no family member that supported my artistic career. I remember visiting art galleries and looking at the artists’ paintings and dreaming that someday they’d be exhibiting my paintings. But at the same time, feelings of inadequacy arose within me because I didn’t go to art school.

After I got married my husband was my biggest supporter in my art career, although we lived far apart for the first 5 years of our marriage. As we both had commitments in work and school we only met twice a year, when my husband visited me and our son in Malaysia. Some people doubted that I’d ever move to the USA.

Recently, I was tested again with separation. I had an emotional roller coaster when my eldest son joined the army 4 years ago. It was a hard moment for me as it caused me to stop doing my creative work. However, thanks to my husband who has believed in me from day one, he encouraged me to start painting again. What you see in my portfolio is the result of my comeback and I truly believe that art brings inner peace because painting again brought me inner peace.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a realist painter who specializes in painting nature’s beauty and still life. I help my collectors to find their inner peace through art. That’s the core of my business now. Whether a piece is an art print or a commission, it will help them to achieve their inner peace.

My main subjects have been flowers. I also paint still life and I do enjoy painting food, a subject that I recently explored a few years ago.

I produce a limited number of large original paintings per year. From the originals, I created fine art prints, both paper and canvas. You can also find small original artworks in pastel, colored pencil, and watercolor.

I also accept painting commissions. I help my collectors preserve their family stories by painting their precious mementos. For painting commissions, I work one on one with my clients. Commission work is personal, so building relationships with my clients is key.

I’m currently working on a personal project called, The National Flowers of the World. The idea to do this exciting project came to me during one of my teaching sessions with my youngest son. My goal is to paint national flowers from 195 countries. This is the project that, hopefully, will be my legacy as an artist.

I’d say I’m most proud of my portrait work of Princess Diana, which has been featured in 3 countries. When I formally started my portrait business, I never imagined my story and art would be featured internationally: Malaysia, the USA, and the UK. Before my Princess Diana’s portraits were published in that coffee table book, my story and paintings were featured in a local newspaper, the Los Angeles Daily News, and in two top Malaysian women magazines. All of this happened in 2007. That was the proudest moment for me as an artist, especially since I hadn’t gone to art school and had no art degree.

Years later, I was featured in a Malaysian TV documentary which aired in Malaysia. Can you guess what work of mine they featured? You guessed it, the main focus was about my Princess Diana’s portraits in that coffee table book. On a side note, anyone who is a fan of Princess Diana can search for the book, ‘Diana in Art’ by Mem Mehmet, at Amazon or their local public library.

As a self taught artist, I don’t restrict myself with certain rules that the art world dictates. From the very beginning of my artistic career, I understood that art is a business and that I don’t need a degree to be an artist. My experience has taught me that you can learn from other businesses and apply that to your own business.

To date I enjoy every aspect of my business; photography, designing marketing materials, recording art videos, creating sales pages for my website, or writing stories for my paintings. I’m thankful for having my husband who helps me with other technical stuff that I’m not so good at.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was a shy, quiet, and sensitive person growing up. I was inquisitive and liked to ponder about the world. In my spare time I drew. I loved learning and I particularly loved learning about history in school.

As the eldest in my family, I bore many responsibilities at a very young age. My parents emphasized that I should set a good example for my siblings since I’m the oldest child.

Education is very important in my family. I remember my dad sat with me and drew a study timetable. In school, I was a school prefect. It required me to be a good role model for other students (patience, responsibility, and empathy) and to be in charge in class when the teacher wasn’t present.

I feel like my childhood was all about discipline. At home and school, I studied hard so I would get good grades. When I got older, my life was all about going to college and getting a good job.

But I’ve always been a visionary person. I wanted to explore living in another country someday. I’m also a risk taker, I won’t take no for an answer.

One important lesson I learned was about decision making. I owed that to my dad who taught me not to just go with the flow but to make my own decisions, whether big or small. I learned that it takes courage and confidence to make a decision, even if it’s the wrong one.

Pricing:

• Original paintings from $100
• Commission a painting study $350
• Commission a painting from $2,000
• Fine art paper prints from $89
• Canvas prints from $400

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sitinuriatistudio.com/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sitinuriatistudio

Image Credits
Yusuf Friedman