Meet Linda Tan of Adnil Studios

Today we’d like to introduce you to Linda Tan.

Hi Linda, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
When I was a kid, I would always beg my dad to take me to Michaels (my favorite store ever!) on the weekends to buy art supplies so I could recreate the DIY projects that I had watched on YouTube. I grew up an only child, so arts and crafts were really my only way to keep myself busy. I had this whole collection of paints, glues, fabrics, ribbons, tape, beads, and every other imaginable art supply and every weekend I would come up with something new to make, whether it be a new tank top design I had seen on Pinterest or a desk organizer made of cardboard, wrapping paper, and funky Snoopy stickers.

As I got older, my DIY “capabilities” grew as well, and I began to do more technical and dexterous work. The summer of my Junior year of high school, I enrolled in an Introduction to Architecture class at the San Francisco Academy of Art, and needless to say, I absolutely LOVED it. Every night I would work diligently on my models, cutting and gluing small pieces of cardboard together to create my own version of what architecture was. One of my fondest memories in the class was one of the instructors asking if I had a parent who was an architect while she was admiring this model I had made of Sonia Delaunay’s “prismes electriques.” Neither one of my parents are into the arts, so this really took me by surprise. I remember feeling like I was on top of the world, and I promised to myself that this was something I needed to pursue. Of course, life has its ways of not working out sometimes, and I ended up choosing a different path for my undergrad in college.

However, this feeling never really left me. This past summer was a particularly difficult time, as I had fractured my ankle after running into a pole on my bike in April (Yes, I’m a very clumsy person). The combination of being stuck in bed because I couldn’t walk and quarantine really took a toll on me, so of course I turned to the one thing that I knew would always make me happy: arts and crafts. I was strolling through Michaels when I found myself at the jewelry making aisles. I caught a glance at the craft wires, and I distinctly remember those very popular face and hand shaped wire earrings (you probably know what I’m talking about) and thats when the idea came to me.

Instead of making just faces and hands, I could do so many other different designs. I’ve always been really inspired by simple line art, and I figured that just about anything in the line art realm can be turned into a wearable wire charm. My first design was my clothes hanger earrings, which I thought were the perfect combination of random and “yeah, this makes sense!” Then it turned to other household objects that I thought would be pretty funny if I had turned into earrings, like forks, spoons, whisks, and knives. Now, I do all sorts of designs like clothing, leaves, flowers, and fruits. And although I am not the architect (yet!) that my younger self wanted to be, I like to think that I am an earring architect. While I can’t design and create buildings, I can certainly design and create little art pieces that anyone can wear on their ears. Each piece that I make is my own little “building,” only it’s much easier to make and more fashionable to wear!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Managing my social media has definitely proved to be more difficult than I had ever anticipated. It’s hard because sometimes I get these creative blocks (as one normally does) where I can’t come up with any new designs and my brain feels like an empty, gray box. The Instagram algorithm rewards those users who consistently and frequently post new content with more attention and impressions, but I often find it incredibly hard to keep up with it. Sometimes I feel like I NEED to push out more stuff out of fear that people will no longer see my posts. I hate that sometimes I let the social media aspect of it override the creative aspect of making earrings. It’s hard to not let the numbers affect the way I feel about my progress, but I’ve been reminding myself why I even started in the first place: to make art.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Adnil Studios?
I make handcrafted wire and sometimes clay earrings! I’m known for my whimsical art style, and I draw a lot of my inspiration from everyday objects and line art. I’m mostly proud of my ability to stay authentic to the brand that I’ve created. Even if a design that I really enjoy that I make doesn’t sell as well, I still feel incredibly proud of it. Every earring I make I absolutely adore, and there is not a single earring that I make that I am not proud of.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I like to describe my mind as “Colorful, and sometimes crazy.” Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always been involved in something artistic. When I was in elementary school, I would make little cards and pictures using ripped notebook paper and pieces of glued construction paper for my parents telling how much I loved them. In fact, I’m pretty sure my dad kept some of them, and to this day these are probably still stashed somewhere in his car. I’ve also always had a particular fondness for music. I started playing the violin in the fourth grade after hearing the Nutcracker for the first time, which I then switched over to cello in middle school after being intimidated by the large swarm of kids in the violin section. I continued to play up until I left for college, where I picked up the electric guitar after being disappointed that my cello was too big and bulky to bring with me. Music and making earrings may not seem related, but actually my best creative moments come to me after jamming out on my guitar after hours on end on full overdrive.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.adnilstudios.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adnil.studios