We recently connected with Veena (Vee) Aragam and have shared our conversation below.

Vee, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Probably since I was a child. I always thought I’d do something artistic – I learned music, dances, fine art..My father was very musically inclined and my mother had a beautiful voice. .and my brother (although he might tell you differently) is great at drawing – and we just lived in a very artistic household. I was molded by that growing up, but when I started into middle school, slowly and surely I was realizing it was not a reality for me culturally. I was an educator for 10 years before deciding to pursue artistry full-time under my own company and record label, xSubtlexSmilex®.

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?

So, as I mentioned in the previous question, I was an educator for 10 years before pursuing xSubtlexSmilex® full-time. It…it is an odd journey, to say the least. I became an educator because I was very interested in the Japanese language – I wanted to learn it and study it to become a translator, and it was the only thing I was willing to comprimise with my family on – I didn’t want to become a doctor or any of the jobs my family had, so I told them if I couldn’t study art and music then I would do this. It’s something I really liked, too.
I had huge dreams for it, and got through to translating every now and then through the companies I worked in as an educator, but unfortunately no one took me seriously being not only a female, but an Indian. I worked in Japan at the time, so unless I looked a certain way, no one would consider me for translation.
Most people around me had presumptions on my skill level in language, questioned if I was educated enough, and all that jazz. I knew it was at a dead-end career and deep down, I knew I didn’t want this to be my life’s work.

So around the time I came back from teaching and translating in Japan, I knew it was my chance to create my own company and be a creative. I didn’t want to live with regret now that I was living my own life. So, that’s how it started. I first talked to my grandfather and to my surprise he was extremely happy for me. Everyone else I told kind of reluctantly said okay, but to be honest, I just didn’t care. The fire in me was so strong they could have given me a lecture and I wouldn’t have listened! Hahaha. I’m so glad I chose this route.

While doing this, I was still tutoring for a couple years. Kind of doing both full time.
But after the 10th year, I decided to become an artist full-time and it has been going beautifully. I’m glad I made the jump!

Unfortunately, when it comes to careers (even art) unless you are young and fresh out of school, no one will consider you for an internship, let alone a job. So, I created my own job. I have successfully done 4 virtual art shows, sold my art at various community events, and produced my own music under my own label without any connections. If you have the will and the talent, and you are willing to give it a chance, you will be able to shine! It isn’t easy working alone, but you have to remind yourself why you do it.

At first, my drive was to use my voice and see what I had held back all these years. I had been silenced enough throughout my life to the point it changed my whole life trajectory from what I had planned for myself. But I’m not one that really stays silent for long, and I was silent for a surprisingly long time! I am quite firey. I like to live life with passion and I wanted to find it again. But as I continue doing my work, of course I will create how I see fit, but along the way I hope it inspires others and motivates others to live their best life, no matter your career and no matter your lifestyle. And I hope anyone who sees my art will know that they are not alone and we thrive together with love and support.

I mainly do art on canvas/paper, make prints, hand-paint clothing, and I do music. I also dabble in photography, YouTube & Twitch (videos + streaming), and produce various goods once in a while. I am a limited edition artist – while most are one of a kind pieces, anything mass produced is at an extremely low quantity. And when they are mass-produced, I find the most eco-friendly ways to do it at the time of production. Of course, I live and grow, and everyday I am finding new ways to be more eco-friendly and cruelty-free.
Most of my work is filled with color – I am extremely inspired by street art and music. One of my favorite projects to do is to paint while listening to music – sometimes it’s a sketch, sometimes it turns into a full on painting! Either way, music really moves me in life and I couldn’t imagine life without it. As I do make my own music, all images with my projects are taken or drawn by me!

Please follow my work if you’d like to know more!

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Oh man…this question…….

Coming from and Indian-American girl, I can easily tell you it’s this. The fact that you cannot get a stable job in the arts is just not true.

That is the most B.S. thing I heard growing up. Now, not everyone has to take, what I call, the “Rockstar” route, which is what I’m taking – creating and posting to garner followers/fans to become very well-known by all, to then get the customers and make that dough and live that life…

It’s not necessarily the way to go for everyone and that’s fine.

Most everyone who gets an education will be able to not only hone their skills in what they want to do by choosing their own classes, but to have opportunities for training, internships, and real-world experiences before they get a job just like anyone else.

I actually had a plan to double-major in music technology and music composition to, honestly, just work in studios and at live concerts being a music engineer for other “rockstar” artists. I had a whole career plan panned out for myself and even when I told my family this is feasable, because they didn’t know, they didn’t understand, and controlled my future (which, obviously in the end, back fired.)

I am happy to have something to fall back on now, but honestly if I was gonna do this anyway, I just didn’t see a reason to wait this long and have less opportunity starting out.

My advice to those who want an artistic career, to start their own business, or just to do what they want in life is this – plan it out. If you look to your family/guardian for guidance, share the plan to ease their mind. Know what you plan to do in and out and have safe guards on the side if things don’t work out in your plan.

If you sharing your plan doesn’t ease their mind (like it did in my case) and you culturally “have to listen to you family” (those who get it, get it), don’t ever give up what you are passionate about. Do what you have to do until you are stable on your own and can make your own calls in life. Once you get that 9-5, save money to do what you have to do – whether it go back to school to study what you have wanted, to take a business course, or to fund your creative pursuits. You don’t have to give up just because you put up a face for survival. I promise, when the time comes, you will know and you will be ready.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Loving my job, connecting with like-minded people around the world, and feeling “good stress” for the first time in my life.

I lived a tumultuous life growing up, and all I can say is, having my own business changed my life. Not only am I creating things that resonate with people all over the world, I love feeling this happy and motivated in my life. It motivated me to also make important changes in my life – health changes, breaking negative cycles in my habits, etc.

I didn’t much care for my life for such a long time – to the point I didn’t care if I died young like a lot of my family. I was okay with it.
But, one day it was like a light bulb turned on in my head and I asked myself, “How can I think this way when I haven’t given happiness a try?”
You can never control people and events around you, but you can always control your own actions. It takes time. It takes healing. It takes practice. Put your foot down and start controlling yourself and finding your passions again. Once you get a taste of it, you’ll realize why you had this passion in you in the first place, and it will flow naturally. Once those changes happen, enjoy the flow and ride the wave!

Follow your passions the way I did, and you’ll realize giving happiness a try is the best thing you could do for yourself.

And by doing this, I’ve met so many amazing people in my life and it’s taken such an amazing turn in the creatives I’ve met, the people who want to work with me, the fans of my work, and the overwhelming support from so many people that past me could never fathom that people like this could really exist in my life! It’s amazing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.xsubtlexsmilex.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xsubtlexsmilex
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/xsubtlexsmilex
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@xSubtlexSmilex
• Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/xsubtlexsmilex

Image Credits
Photos by Vee (xSubtlexSmilex®).