日本語バージョンの記事はこちら
Hello. It’s been a little while since I’ve blogged.
Today It marks exactly 3 months since we’ve moved to Seattle.
I’ve been traveling back and forth between Tokyo and Seattle several years, so I’m already used to the life here .
I wrote an article before about how my daughter started going to preschool here and had lots of surprises, and I then started an online store for paintings.
Oh, paintings? Yes, watercolors, which I used to paint as a hobby. Recently I also started doing line drawings.
https://www.etsy.com/jp/shop/StudioAmigo
I named it Studio Amigo.
Why did I start it?
(1) From the point where I was very depressed due to my stillbirth, I came back to life and am now living happily. Ups and downs in life are normal, and I wanted to do something to support those people
As I have written in this blog, my stillbirth was the most painful experience in my life.
But fortunately, I recovered rather quickly.
Then later I was blessed with a child.
(*I didn’t bounce back not because I got pregnant with a child. I’ll write another post about what I did at this point!)
I was just so heartbroken that people who were going through the same thing were suffering and not being able to tell others and also not being able to do anything about it.
・・・・
Coming to the U.S., I found out that this is the same all over the world.
Many of my friends here also told me that they had no idea about stillbirth or miscarriage until they or their best friends went through it when they were over 30 years old. It is still a taboo to talk about it.
・・・・
In my case, it was a stillbirth, but there are many forms of painful “loss” that occur in life.
Losing a loved one is sometimes quite gut-wrenching and takes time to recover from. I wanted to do something that would help people when they come back from such a loss, something that would encourage them to take a step forward.
(2) I want to help people without being restricted by time zones as well as location, while still being able to spend time with my family.
In order to accomplish 1), I thought of various business ideas, such as mental support and counseling.
At the same time, I have a daughter whom I had a hard time giving birth to, and I may want to have a second child in the future.
I love to work as a consultant supporting corporate communities with my experience as a community manager, but with the time difference now, it is not easy unless I cut back on family time.
In our case, “living in multiple cities” is something we both wanted to do, so much so that we agrees before we started dating, so that is also non-negotiable.
We would like to try and do the trial and error to see how we can achieve 1) without being restricted by time zones and locations.
How do I do it?
https://www.etsy.com/jp/shop/StudioAmigo
For now, we are considering the following
Running an online store to sell paintings.
At the same time, we would like to document how we spread our activities and help others who are starting a small business with the same limitations of time, place, and time difference (ambition!).
What do I sell?
Right now, I mainly sell watercolors that lighten people’s hearts and line drawings that warm their feelings (custom orders) portraits of people.
For portraits, I receive a photo and create the portrait digitally.
My friends are amazed at how inexpensive they are. This is because we sell them in printable format, which means that we sell them as data, and you download and print them.
(However, there is a possibility that the price may change in the future!)
Tears of joy at the response from customers
I’m just getting started.
Especially for portraits, I have received many comments such as “the person was so happy that he/she almost cried” or “I never thought I would get a picture for myself.
How you can support me
You don’t have to buy them, just a small support would be great!
If you would like to support my future activities in any way, I would be very happy to hear from you! If you would like to support my future activities in any way, please visit the store and press the “♡Follow” button next to Studio Amigo. That alone would be a great support!
Other than that…
Follow @Studio_Amigo_ on Instagram (I’m uploading daily!)
Follow @Studio_Amigo_ on Tiktok (I started this for this reason, but what can I do?)
Favorite your favorite art on Etsy.
Purchase art you like on Studio Amigo on Etsy., or order custom orders (line drawings are popular!).
Or Tell me your request “I want something like this! ” or your general advise. I am all ears to grow my new business now!
https://www.instagram.com/studio_amigo_/
