For the Love of Art and All Things Pretty
Passion for art and admiration for all things pretty compelled our Spotlight Artist of the week, Paige Thammavong, to leave her job as a graphic artist and pursue her personal artistic dreams as a successful freelance artist. Let's get to know more about Paige's inspiring story of courage and passion.
What are 3 weird/interesting facts about yourself?
Here are three interesting facts about me:
- I am deathly allergic to peanuts.
- I used to be the Senior Graphic Designer for a toy company and lived in Hong Kong with my husband for 2 years while working closely with our production team at the China factories. We then moved home to the U.S. to have our now 2-year-old daughter, Halle.
- I was in a hip hop dance crew and we opened for America's Best Dance Crew's tour back in 2008.
What inspired you to make what you did with @versachalk?
I love making pretty things. After leaving my job at the toy company and starting my own freelancing career, I was drawn to the prettiness of weddings, mainly because I was so burnt out with zombies and sporting goods!
Florals was a natural transition and I love the challenge of creating florals with pens and chalk markers. I also am a sucker for a good serifed type and I am always trying to perfect my lettering. Combining the two only felt right, especially with all the gorgeous VersaChalk colors!
What’s your artistic process like? Are there any routines you stick to in order to stay or get inspired?
My artistic process is constantly changing, that's what helps me stay creative. If I am always working through each project the exact same way, then each project will end up looking the exact same—and that's not what I want. Sometimes I can sketch out a project, then choose the colors, then execute it. Other times, I completely wing it from start to finish without any sketches beforehand. It really just depends on how I'm feeling that day.
What makes good art? How long did it take for you to get “good” at it?
Good art is all in the eye of the beholder. When I started, I was so proud of my work and thought it looked perfect ... now looking back, I realize how far I've come and how much better I've gotten—specifically at lettering. But I'm sure a year from now, I'll look back and say the same things about my work now.
The nice thing about art is you can never stop changing your style, and never stop learning from others. Right now I have a pretty distinct look, but I may get inspired in the next couple weeks and change the way I draw my florals, or change the way I draw certain letters. I make what I think looks pretty and I think I'm good at it, of course, this took time and a lot of practice, but it also takes the passion for continuing learning and wanting to be better.
Words of advice for up-and-coming artists?
Stick with it! Being in an artistic industry (especially in a world where social media runs everything), it's easy to get overwhelmed, I think everyone in the industry has felt that way at one point or another. But art is supposed to be fun, you started doing this because you enjoyed it, you had a passion for it, and you were pretty good at it. Always be a student and remember that everyone has been in your shoes starting out, so there are a lot of people who are willing to give you any advice you need!
Are you an artist or entrepreneur who uses VersaChalk markers for your art or business? We would love to hear and share your story!
