Although Karen Cheung has loved art since her childhood and started the drawing cartoon characters from the books brought by her parents, it took many years to share her artwork to the world with the brand ‘Karen Aruba‘. She believes in pursuing a happy life and wants to bring happiness to people around. Her theme ‘Travel of pencil & color’ shows the uniqueness and creativity. Excerpts from our conversations with her:
# TUB: Karen, would you like to introduce yourself?
Karen Aruba: My actual name is Karen Cheung and I am from Hongkong. I have recently developed my new brand named ‘Karen Aruba’ which is inspired by a lovely happy island ‘Aruba’ in Caribbean sea where I spent a year of my childhood there. It inspires me to pursue a happy life and bring people happiness. I worked for many years in PR and event industry and therefore my job is also related to what I am doing with art as I work closely with designers with creative ideas.
# TUB: Let us know something about your creativity. What kind of artwork do you do ?
Karen Aruba: I love to sketch. My art work is a combination of beautiful travel pics and sketching skills in creative objects and my theme of work so far is ‘Travel with pencil & color’. If you see my drawings there are already many new artworks related to ‘travel of pencil’ theme – big fish, sailing boat, Magic Kingdom, sunset, travel with umbrella, Hogwarts Castle, Mr Snowman, etc. For better ideas, you can visit my website: society6.com or visit my new facebook page named Karen Aruba Art.
# TUB: Are you doing your own work or still in job?
Karen Aruba: I am still in job but I wish to develop my art talents as a work balance of life.
# TUB: That’s great. So when did you find that you want to do something in creative art field? Any story behind it or was it a dream come true?
Karen Aruba: I always have creative mind to think of cool stuff. But I was too busy in my job and family until I went back to Aruba again in December 2014, where my wedding took place. It really motivated me to put more efforts in art. I started drawing sketches with first theme-‘Travel of pencil’ and then I created another theme ‘Travel with color’. I wish to have some unique concepts so people can recognise my work easily. Few of my artworks are on society6.com website.
# TUB: Are you inspired by someone? Any artist?
Karen Aruba: Yes, Ben Heine, a famous multidisciplinary artist in Belgium. He is really a nice person. His skills of artwork and creative ideas are very amazing. He is very professional in sketch combined with photography skills.
# TUB: Have you received any support from your family and friends in enhancing your creativity?
Karen Aruba: I always wish to create something with my own identity and related story. My husband George is very supportive and wishes that I do something good to bring people happiness and achieve support and popularity in the area of art. He really helps me a lot with the technical work related to my painting. My friends are also supportive and encouraging. They always appreciate my artwork on Facebook and share their feedback which motivates me a lot.
# TUB: I have seen most of the artist want to give happiness and smile on people’s face through their artwork. If it so, there are numerous artist in the world but still people are frustrated and not happy. Why is it so? Why artist thought doesn’t work there?
Karen Aruba: This question is a bit challenging….Well it depends on different situation. Art can be a way of expressing idea, however it also depends on how much the recipient interprets it. There are too many factors of bringing happiness to people but I trust that art is one of the useful tools.
# TUB: Are you earning through your art as a freelancer? You have mentioned society6, has any income started from it?
Karen Aruba: My main purpose is to build up profile and make people recognise my work rather than earning money. Apart from drawing, I also wish to put more effort in social media so that more people will understand and recognize my value behind.
# TUB: Please provide the links where people can find you?
Karen Cheung: I have recently opened a new facebook page. Hope more people will like my creative artwork. My email is artkarenaruba@gmail.com. My drawing is also posted on Instagram & on Twitter but I do wish more people will appreciate my work which can be made into various home lifestyle products at society6.com
# Karen Cheung: What is the objective of your platform?
TUB: We think that no one is amateur or professional; it’s just a matter of hard work and having more experience. We are here to interact with people and mention about their speciality and skills, so that more people know about them. This is just a way of appreciation and motivation from us to them.
For interaction with people of different fields, we have started featuring their work on our Instagram profile. They use our hashtag #theuncommonbox while uploading their post. We select the artwork and publish on our page with giving their credits. We have not restricted our self with photography and sketching. People who do writing, doodles, fashion blogger, food blogger, anything who are pursuing for their hobby are welcome. It is only a part of TUB as we are looking for uncommon from our common surroundings. Let’s the world know you and your talent through ‘TUB (The Uncommon Box)’.
Karen Cheung: Yes true, the more effort one puts in, the more people will appreciate. I do hope more people will love creative art and enjoy their lives filled with happiness and colors!
This is what Karen Aruba Art values – Art is a process of creation. We create happiness with the ART!
If you are interested to discuss your hobby with us mail at theuncommonbox@gmail.com
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