We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cristina Link a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cristina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I was adopted from Guatemala and raised in Montclair New Jersey by two moms. As an adopted person who’s heritage is rooted in another country, I struggled with many feelings that I couldn’t express in my younger years. As a business owner, my mission is to help all people learn how to use intuitive art journaling to process and express their deepest emotions with nonverbal artistic expression.

During my time at a therapeutic boarding school in Vermont, I was very close to signing myself out of high school and walking down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, when my art teacher came running after me. Robin helped me believe in myself, and apply to the School Of Visual Arts in less than three months. Robin taught me everything that I know about Intuitive painting and helped me build an art journaling practice that changed my life for good. With this new way of creating, and seeing the world, I was able to make huge leaps in my life that I never thought was possible.

As an adoptee, and having this ‘strange’ connection to my birthmother who I did not have a relationship with, something inside me was screaming for a way to express what was inside my body. I needed a way to express my feelings around adoption and that is when art journaling and intuitive painting saved me from the mental whirling in my head. My mission is to share this process with the world, and help others have an outlet of expression when words do not come easily. Through this journey of intuitive painting, I have begun writing my book which then turned into an Altered Book. I have taken a heavy textbook and began to rip it apart and turn it into a piece of art. There is something about deconstructing a book and reconstructing out own narratives that gives us a healthy outlet for rebellion. This has become a process that I teach in my business to help other people feel safe in deconstructing their own stories to find their truth in words, and in art.

Being adopted came with many mixed feelings, and a sense of loss that I could never explain. But my altered book became MY story, with no ones judgements, and no ones influence. It is my art and writing in one book that is now a work of art.

We all deserve a place to express what we can’t normally say and feel free doing it. There is no artistic experience involved, because it is the raw truth of what is inside us. When I see others taking their self-judgement out of the practice and fully creating, I can see magic happening inside them. That magic of self expression, is what is behind Inner Link Artistry. I am on a mission to help others connect their inside and outside worlds with intuitive painting and art journaling for authentic expression.

Cristina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

There was a point after I received my BFA and I was going into my masters of art education program that I knew I needed to change my lifestyle around. It took everything inside myself to work on building a healthier lifestyle. After finishing my second degree and teaching art in public school I found myself starting my first business as an entrepreneur and teaching physical fitness to women in New Jersey. This was the start of my love for creating something new. I was still dabbling in my own art but I took a big break to start my health business. As time went on, I knew that there was something more inside my soul that I had to face. I took a year to take mental health counseling and art therapy credits in hopes of getting a third degree but quickly realized that my heart was in my art teaching and helping others in a creative way.

I tracked down my birthmother in 2023 and came face to face with the reality of my adoption from Guatemala. This reunion was tough, and it did not come with a happy ending of having a meaningful connection with my birthmother. This experience drove me to begin my therapeutic art coaching business to help other people have an outlet to express what we can not normally say. Adoption comes with a lot of unanswered questions and feelings we do not know how to navigate and I realized that there are so many of us out there that need to benefit from what intuitive painting can do for us. In this journey of teaching art journaling around New Jersey, and working on my Altered Book at the same time, I became drawn to teaching altered bookmaking for other adoptees and people looking for ways to express themselves.

My method of teaching is bring lessons that have been taught to me from some wonderful mentors and helping other people let go of the judgement to express through color, collage, and creating writing. I help my clients dive into their art journals by giving them thoughtful practices that invoke introspection on a different level. One of the most magical things is when a client has no idea what they are thinking, or what they will create and they let the color or images speak for them. As time goes on, they build a transformative meaning behind their work and they are now looking at things differently from before our sessions. This is what I am most proud of. Seeing the transformation in other people, and seeing them finally become comfortable in processing their emotions is why I do what I do.

I want other adopted people and anyone who feels like they have thoughts, feelings, words stuck inside of themselves to know that we need to get it out somehow. Art can be your link to what is going on around you in the outside world, and what is going on inside of us. I love when I see a client of mine come with a full art journal that is filled with months of turning to the page at the end of the day. It is a beautiful sight.

Have you ever had to pivot?

There was a time when my health coaching business was doing well and I was working closely with women on a daily basis. I thought the next step for me was to become a mental health counselor so that I could provide these people with more. But during the first year of taking classes for mental health counseling and art therapy, I realized that my vision was more creative than becoming a counselor. I have always been an artist at heart and something strong was pulling me to go down that path to share my art journaling methods in a way that had no boundaries.

During this realization I was terrified to tell my husband and my parents that I was shifting my focus AGAIN. But at 35 I knew it was time to do what was right for me and what really spoke to my authentic self. Navigating my adoption and tracking down my birthmother had a huge role in the shift I was making in my life. I knew that I wanted to do something meaningful for other people and I think I saw too many boundaries when it came to being a counselor. Owning a business is hard, but being the CEO of my own art business is something I have wanted since I was a young girl. Bringing my life experience as a transnational and transracial adoptee to the table is what is going to help more young adoptees who needed the same connection I needed during my terrible teenage years.

This decision was the best decision I could make for my life going forward and I have never been happier to share this with the world.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Right now one of my biggest focus’s is devoting my time to creating daily, painting, and art journaling for my own body of work and finding new ways to connect with clients and other followers. I have decided to open a Patreon as I find it is the best way for me to create and share with others in one place. I have been teaching in person for along time, but there is something about the online space which brings connection to people I would not normally meet. I have known about Patreon for a long time and it has evolved into a wonderful platform for creators. So, aside from teaching workshops in person, writing on my blog, and connecting on social media, I will be working on creating for Patreon and youtube to share this intuitive art journaling process with other creative people.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.innerlinkartistry.com
• Instagram: @inner.link.artistry
• Facebook: Cristina Link
• Youtube: @inner.link.artistry

Image Credits

Nicholas Link