We were lucky to catch up with Vita N recently and have shared our conversation below.

Vita, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the toughest things about progressing in your creative career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

I started seeking out a professional career in visual art at the beginning of 2020. I was only about six months out of high school and had a good roll going. Eventually I started selling my art on Etsy (stickers, art prints, clay sculptures, etc). I also began developing my social media presence using primarily TikTok. I then began posting long-form content on YouTube. I hadn’t felt so connected creatively since I was a kid. I could feel the excitement about all the opportunities coming my way. However, the past couple years have changed the trajectory of the foundation that I had built. This isn’t a bad thing. Let me explain:

For the first time in my life around the beginning months of 2022, I started to face the reality of generational trauma. It was extremely difficult to unpack but once you start to see things a certain way, the way with truth, there’s no looking back. In 2023, my mental health was on a gradual decline as I went through life changes and experiences I thought would never happen. I wasn’t mentally prepared. I was also involved in some other artistic projects that I lost focus on, in which I let people down. This created a really unhealthy perspective towards myself as person and I’ve struggled with actually loving myself enough to make better choices and a better effort towards changing my mindset. I was consistently biting more than I could chew or I just didn’t try to “chew” hard enough. Self doubt, pessimism, and laziness took over. Now we’re reaching the end of 2024 and I’m only just now starting to fall in line with genuinely fixing the damage done.

I ultimately believe this was for the best when I look back at where I was and where I am now. The knowledge I’ve gained that I’m trying to ingrain even further into my psyche, so that it can become consistent behavior, I believe, has made my artistic endeavors that much more concrete and thorough. For example, my own art project “Raspberry Gloom” (which is still mostly under-wraps and being developed before an official launch) has grown so much in my mind over the past 3-4 years and I’m glad I haven’t put anything super official out yet. The ideas that took time and experience to obtain were worth unknowingly waiting for, in order to put it all together in the most “proper” way. I know we all need to start somewhere but there’s a bigger, more imaginative idea I have to start this out. I wouldn’t have been able to think of it a few years ago.

I mean, don’t get me wrong; I’m definitely still trying to figure so much out, both in my career and personal life. They overlap a lot of the time when so much of my art is about personal struggle, specifically struggle surrounding denial, fear, pretending, self sabotage, etc. So there’s this interesting relationship between creation and I, because many of the unexpected problems that got in the way of progression these past few years was due to so much self destruction. But I know from the debris, I can create something new. I try to remember to be faithful and in the moment.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a visual artist & creative director from the San Francisco Bay Area in California and I’ve been developing my career over the past 5 years or so. My creative project, “The Sentimental Hummingbird”, that I refer to as my creative “home”, serves as a host to all my artistic ventures including “Raspberry Gloom” and three other concepts that I don’t want to reveal the names of just yet. I mostly draw digitally using Photoshop or I traditionally paint on canvas with acrylics! I also sculpt with air dry clay. One goal of mine currently is to make more video content with my art pieces and combine the fun of filming with painting and such. More of this is to come for sure.

I also take commission based projects and have worked mostly with musicians and bands by designing/drawing a few album covers. As of right now, I’d say I’m most proud of the work I’ve done for the band “Nested For Rest”. I’ve worked closely with the founder and lead singer of the band, Jay Payne, and have designed social media posts, merchandise, CD art, and more. We made this really cool 33 page digital booklet alongside their album “Realign” and it is magnificent.

What I always enjoy doing with all of this is documenting the process of everything and then sharing it with my audience/community on YouTube, Instagram and/or TikTok. I think there’s great value in the “behind the scenes” of where all this art is coming from and to me, “The Sentimental Hummingbird” is the idea of showcasing that. Whether it be a video about how I made this one clay sculpture or a long caption of what I went through mentally and how that it inspired me, I like to share the heart and soul of the art that sits in the forefront. Of course, it can speak for itself and there’s death of the artist, but from another perspective there’s a whole healing journey intertwined that I aim to share with people.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

BE CONFIDENT, BE YOURSELF; CONSISTENTLY.
It seems so obvious but it can be hard for so many to achieve this. While still maintaining general privacy, of course, remaining authentic to your audience will build trust and will deem you reliable to potential followers that come across your account(s). When I started posting my art on TikTok and YouTube, I wasn’t thinking about what people would think, how many likes I’d get, what it could gain me. I wanted to post it because I just felt like it was fun to share my ideas with a widespread audience. I loved it and still do. Eventually, this did give me some traction and I was able to stand out to some people who still follow me to keep up with me artistically to this day. I don’t have a huge following whatsoever but I’m building a community of people who actually care about what I am sharing.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I’m passionate about bringing awareness to mental health and the importance of taking care of the mind to live a joyful and fulfilling life. It’s a major human issue that still goes dismissed and I want people to remember that they can create something out of the destruction that can come from mental struggle that can completely change their life! Much of my creative journey is defined by healing myself so I can lead a more peaceful life and I share that with my audience because I hope to inspire them to do the same.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesentimentalhummingbird?igsh=NGVhN2U2NjQ0Yg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@thesentimentalhummingbird?si=Bx-RnwboEhpEMlgz
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sentimentalhummingbird?_t=8ndkgpi0yts&_r=1

Image Credits

Chai Miller