A New Chapter

"Art is the highest form of hope." - Gerhard Richter

I've loved to create things with my hands since the wee years of my life. Art, writing, design, and photography have always been central parts of my life. In elementary school, it was drawings hung up in the hallways and macaroni murals lacing the classroom shelves. In middle school, it was clay and pastel and the feeling of used brushes in an old can. In high school up until my junior year, it’s been growing as a Photojournalism major, working on yearbook and newspaper and meeting the most interesting people in my life through photography. I love telling the stories of strangers around me, and what's more, creating for the people I love.

It wasn’t until this year that I considered selling my homemade creations, which has led me to make some jumps. I saw a need for personalized holiday gifts last winter and decided to paint mugs for my friends and family. I learned so much about business and serving consumers during those months, and I loved seeing their reactions when I presented them with a personal gift. It was magic to see how much it meant to them. And I learned patience. You’ll never know patience until you’ve stippled Harrison Ford’s face with a paint pen (below).

I’ve had an itch to expand that has been going at me for a while, and it’s about time I let it bite. Open the floodgates, right brain - I’m ready! :)

Life has also given me some lemons that I wasn’t expecting. But if it's brought me closer to unleashing my creative leviathan, I’m more than thankful for all of it. I've seen a need for creative works that combine faith, personality and style and I want to contribute to the cause as much as possible!

I’m still working on some technical elements of sales (pricing, shipping costs, etc.), but my little shop will soon be open and the works I’ve been creating available! Wowza!

I’ll be posting all updates, musings, moments of this journey and more here on the blog and on social media (you can see my Facebook page here and my Twitter page here ). I can’t wait to share my projects with you - really, I'm over the moon :) Here’s a sneak peak:

One of my first cards!

The man himself.

Up close and personal with "Emma" - more of her to come.

Remember the mugs? They're back!

Feel free to tell me what you think! If you have any questions, ideas or suggestions, please leave them in the comments below or on any social media page.

Much love, India