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

Alright, Nicole thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

Drawing has always been a constant in my life. Throughout school , between jobs, spanning relationships, and navigating growths and declines, art was there for me. It was there in the margins of my notebooks, the sticky notes on my desk, on the back of receipts, all over takeout napkins… I treated my sketchbook the way most people treated their journals and diaries: it was where I expressed and decompressed, but something I rarely ever shared.

A single semester in a high school art class led me to realize that art as a career was not for me. The prompts became uninspiring and the deadlines took all the light out of the creative experience. I was so clearly and intrinsically motivated to create for myself, how I could possibly stay afloat as a professional artist creating on demand or on commission? So I dropped it. I collected my mediocre grades, and, aside from a few fleeting “what-if” moments, never really thought about it again.

Fast forward twenty plus years.

I’m in my thirties, suddenly lightyears diverted from the typical flightpath towards picket fence and nuclear family, and still quite shaky from the landing. A chance meeting with some members of my local art community and the continuous encouragement from family and friends landed me in my first art show in 2024 and an artist grant later that same year. Since then, I’ve been trying to figure out my place in the art world and art’s place in my professional sphere. I still struggling with prompts and deadlines, but I’m sharing much more. I’m proud of the style and brand I’ve created for myself. It’s something that would have been impossible as a meandering and eager-to-please twenty-something spending all her waking hours behind a screen as a corporate project manager. I also think my specific brand of aging (curmudgeonly) helped to solidified my stance against commissions and giving in to “trends.” I just make what I feel and I hope you like it.

With that said, I don’t believe that “everything happens for a reason.” I believe that things happen when we are ready to take them on.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Artist. Aunt. Happily introverted. Mildly weird. Curiouser and curiouser…

I’m a self-taught traditional artist from the Bay Area. I create pen and ink drawings.

My art is unapologetically feminine and inspired by nature and the otherworldly. I love playing with textures and negative spaces in my drawings to create a sense of depth and
I attempt to capture the duality and, at times, contradiction between the internal and external self through my art. As a first generation Chinese woman, I often find that I stifle my intuitions or put on a facade because of various external (stigma, societal standards, etc.) and internal (self-doubt, shame, anxiety, etc.) pressures.

My artistic path began at an early age as a fascination, but quickly became an outlet for me to explore that conflict and to remind myself of my potential.

I hope my art will serve as a reminder to others that we are beautiful, ultimately powerful, and always magical.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Go. See. Art.

Likes, comments, and shares are great, even necessary for online businesses, so keep doing those things. But if you can, go to that art show. Go see that performance. Go walk through that exhibit. Keep galleries, collectives, and art shows alive by physically walking through their doors. See what your local gallery or collective is doing and participate in a few workshops or projects. Go to street fairs. Creating art yourself! Your participation and presence contributes to a lively and thriving creative ecosystem.

Let artists know that real people, not just screen names, are engaged with their efforts. Social media literally give us the world at our fingertips, but there’s nothing like in-person support.

As an individual creative, there is nothing like seeing people connect with your art in real-time and being able to engage and connect on the spot. While I usually avoid networking events and “small talk”, the caliber of friendships and connections I’ve made from real-life interactions is hard to deny.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

It’s not just about making money.

Yes, I think most of us would love to be able to make a living from doing something we love to do, but for me it’s art is something I need to do.

There’s something stubbornly intrinsic about my drive to create. I can’t stop it. I wouldn’t even know where to start.
I think many people have trouble understanding the idea of making something because it just felt good to make it. Of feeling something and just wanting to know if others feel the same from time to time. I think it is true what they say about creatives and the tension between wanting to communicate and wanting to hide.

I often think about a time while walking through the city with a friend. We came across an impeccably well-dressed man playing his violin on the street. He was clean shaven, cashmere sweater, crisp trousers. We listened to his music and felt the sincerity of his performance. My friend commented how the man didn’t appear to *need* to be busking. I contemplated this and thought about the needs that are not monetary.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/missng.art/

Image Credits
Victoria Allison (@ccrownvicc) & Marie Metran (@metmuh_ersan), Neighborhood Plant Dealer (@neighborhoodplantdealer), Dash Hair Salon (@dashsalon707) & Faultline (@faultlne_artspace @faultline_gallery)