Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Samantha Tang. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Samantha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

It was a gradual and slow journey of daring to discover more about myself. The first ‘ah ha’ moment came when I returned back to my corporate job after my honeymoon and I felt a heavy weight on my heart as I stared at the 535 unread emails and uninspiring excel spreadsheet and I thought to myself, is this going to be for the rest my life?

I knew something had to change, the most exciting thing of my 40 hour work week had to be more than what my colleagues’ cat/dog/baby did on the weekend. My work gave me financial stability, and wonderful colleagues but I was not passionate about my work- it didn’t “Spark Joy” as Marie Kondo would say.

Fast forward to a yoga retreat and several Tony Robbins podcasts later, I took a deep dive back to my childhood and honestly ask myself what I truly loved to do as child. The moment I picked up my paint brush again, I felt the release, the joy, the peace, the feeling of freedom. It was then that I began to unlock the path to my creative journey.

I knew my creativity was something worth investing in, and it is such an honour to be able to create beauty and connection as professional artist.

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?

My name is Samantha and I am a visual artist behind Samantha Tang Studios. I was born in Montreal, Canada but I moved across the ocean to Utrecht, the Netherlands for love.

My intention is to create warm and joyful art that invites balance and harmony into your homes. One of the common themes that I find myself chasing is the concept of light. To find the light that guides you and set you free. I finally realized that I had the power to give myself permission to be free to do what I want. I have been living in fear without even acknowledging it. Fear of being judged, fear of not becoming successful and fear of just failing.

In my work, I use textures and colors to bring the light into my paintings. I like to use bold intentional brushstrokes to remind us to not be held back by the fear that often lives deep within our unconscious. We are enough and can find beauty and connection in the world around us.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

As a first generation Canadian born Chinese (CBC) to immigrant parents, I feel pressure to fit in with both the eastern and western cultures, but not belonging to either. I had to unlearn and let go of my core belief that I will never be good enough for my parents and that I need to please them to earn their respect and love. And most importantly that making money equals success.

I thought choosing my passion would mean that I am a disappointment; that wanting to make a living as an artist is naïve and unrealistic.

I was so busy waiting for external validation and permission to claim my own voice, I never practised tapping into my true self. Choosing to let art, beauty and creativity be my vehicle to connection has been one of the most courageous things I’ve done and evidence that I am already on the path to success.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I believe waking up every day to making art work (as a practise and a business) and to pursue my passion despite my cultural up bringing is a true testament of my resilience.

Stepping back into my creativity was my calling, but the hard work begins with healing my traumas so that I can finally express my true self. One of the hardest part is to show up consistently for my art and business even when I cannot see the results, but knowing that I am already living the dream keeps me going.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.samanthatangstudios.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthatang.studios/
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/samanthatangstudios/ https://www.pinterest.com/SamanthaTangStudios/

Image Credits
Liliane Smith from Soulful Stock and Samantha Tang