A Bit of Me~

Where It All Started

I’ve been an artist for as long as I can remember. Not always in title, but in spirit~ in the way I saw the world, in the way I picked up fallen leaves like treasure (or a box of rocks I still keep), or tried to draw the feeling of rain. My earliest inspirations came from family: the quiet strength of my mother, the nurturing wisdom of my A-mah, and the deep cultural roots of my Taiwanese heritage.

Even now, those threads continue to shape what I create. Whether it’s a watercolor painting, a digital illustration, or a mixed media piece layered in found objects, there’s always a piece of my past tucked inside~ sometimes visible, sometimes whispered beneath the surface.

Growing Through Mediums

I work across many mediums: watercolor, gouache, acrylic, oil, stained glass, ceramic, ink, digital painting~ and each one holds a different part of me. I love the slowness and process of printmaking, the glow of colored glass against sunlight, the immediacy of pen on paper. I don’t limit myself to one path, because I never felt like I had to choose between forms of expression. My art reflects my evolution, and I let it grow with me.

In college, I gravitated toward process-heavy works~ printmaking, lithography, and installations that demanded patience. One piece, mapping a Taiwanese sunset in fractured glass, was given an F by my professor~ but it remains one of my happiest works. Because to me, it wasn’t about the grade. It was about what it meant.

The Heart of My Practice

At its core, my art is about connection. To memory. To nature. To culture. To others. I believe art is everywhere~ in food, in language, in how we dress or speak or show up for each other. And I believe art should last, not just physically, but emotionally. I want my work to feel like something you’ve seen before in a dream, or something your soul recognizes even if your mind doesn’t yet understand.

There’s a reason so many of my series carry themes of weather, time, and transformation. I don’t always know where a piece will take me, but I trust the flow. Sometimes it leads to temples floating on the sea. Sometimes to star-forging creatures in the cosmos. And sometimes, to a moment of quiet with a cup of tea and a brush in hand.

I aspire to light constellations not matches. 

A Life Lived in Layers

I’m not just an artist~ I’m also a cook, a gardener, a son, a husband, a friend, and someone who’s survived more than I often share. There have been times I’ve had to fight for my safety, for my truth, and for my space in the world. Those battles shaped me, but they didn’t harden me. They made me more certain of who I want to be: someone who lives with compassion, speaks with honesty, and creates with purpose.

Art isn’t a luxury for me~ it’s a language. It’s how I process the world and how I offer myself back to it.

Why I Create

I create because I can’t not create. Because it’s how I breathe through overwhelm and celebrate joy. Because I want to make something meaningful, even if it’s only seen by a handful of people. Because stories deserve to be told~ even the quiet, imperfect, or angry ones.

A Bit of Me is in everything I make. In every brushstroke, solder line, sticker cut, and caption. This blog, this studio, this collective~ none of it is polished to perfection. But it’s real. And it’s a part of me. And I’m so glad you’re here to share in it.
~Hansheng