Hi Everyone,
My name’s China and I wanted to share a little bit about myself so you can get to know me and hopefully I can get to know you! :)
So, I live in London, and I’ve lived here for around 12 years. I studied Fine Art at Wimbledon and honestly, I think it was a waste of time! They didn’t help me to learn how to paint or draw, or even about art history! It might have been a good uni if you wanted to be an abstract painter but not a realistic one.
After Uni, I had a studio for a year, and I didn’t really know what to do with my life. I felt like I had no skills after art school, and I couldn’t get a job anywhere. My studio was pretty cold and lonely so honestly, I had a rubbish time. Eventually though, I managed to get a job at Halcyon Gallery where I learnt to be an art technician. I loved this job. It was hard, challenging and long, long hours, but I got to work with the most amazing artists and handle rare and collectable artworks. We went to install in people’s houses, the galleries and sometimes we were sent abroad!
At some point, I wanted more and eventually I was promoted to assistant exhibitions manager. I finally got to wear office clothes and send out emails. Yippee! I ended up being a bit of a cross role as I just couldn’t get away from the practical sides of the job. Being desk bound just wasn’t for me.
After just over 4 years, I moved on to Unit London and was their gallery manager for a year. I learnt a lot there. At some point we decided to part ways and I took some time off to figure out what it was exactly that I wanted to do with my life. What was I good at and how could I make a difference?
My good friend sat me down and started to explain to me that I had a business right under my nose and I just didn’t realise it yet. I never considered myself to be a business owner, and I think I was a little rebellious at first. I’m an artist, not a business owner! What could I possibly do?
After many meetings, lots of hard conversations ArtistAnd was born and I began to see the potential. It was first created to painted old style replicas for brands and sell paintings, but it soon became apparent that I could do so much more. I wanted to start teaching art to people for several reasons. To improve mental health and also to get away from this fear of the art world which a lot of people seemed to have. It always shocked me how people’s instant reaction to me being an artist was ‘I can’t even draw a stickman!’
It took me a long time to fully believe in ArtistAnd and here we are nearly 3 years later! We host a number of things now, retreats, corporate workshops, drop in public classes and videos. It’s mainly me running the show and I hire contracts when I need them. I absolutely love it. I love being able to show people how to get in touch with their inner artist and I love that I get to create things all the time. Bring creative is incredibly important for my own mental health and if I can help others by using art, then I know I’m doing my job well.
If you want to get to know me or my journey more, feel free to ask and I’d be happy to share For now, keep on drawing and keep making art! I love seeing what people get up to. check us out at www.artistand.co.uk
