Artist Spotlight: Honeyberry Studios

Yuko Miki is the artist and designer behind Honeyberry Studios. Yuko grew up in a rural town in Japan, where she played in her family's rice paddies and vegetable gardens. She moved to Seattle, WA in 1996 to attend college, and never left. She worked for a non-profit domestic violence organization for 14 years before transitioning into a full-time artist in 2015. 

Tell us about the birth of Honeyberry Studios!

I opened my very first Etsy shop in 2010 selling my hand-crocheted wares(!) It was definitely a hobby and I did it on a whim after posting a picture of my crocheted fingerless mittens on Facebook and a friend said I should sell them on Etsy. So I did without thinking too much. The first day I posted my gloves, a customer bought them right away and she sent me a really sweet message. It was such joy to create something with my hands and being appreciated for it.

I kept making and putting things out there, but after a couple of years, I was tired of crocheting the same things over and over, so I started selling my drawings and prints instead.

In 2013, I changed my business name and Honeyberry Studios was born as a stationery/paper goods business. In 2015, my partner, Dave, and I sat down and crunched some numbers and decided we would be ok with just his income for a while. So I quit my non-profit job to grow Honeyberry Studios full-time. 

Did you always want to be an artist, even in childhood?

I did like drawing as a child and wanted to be a comic artist when I grew up. But I didn’t do anything with my creative interests in my teen and 20s. I only rediscovered my love for art in my mid-30s as a hobby. I didn’t even dream of becoming a working artist then as I thought it was reserved for a select few.

What is your favorite medium to create with? Describe your process.

Watercolor is my first love. I love how easy it is to work with (and clean up!) The way the paint moves and merges on paper is pure magic. Gouache is also a go-to. I like the flat appearance of the paint a lot. It works really well with the simple aesthetic of my work. 

I’ve also been making art for my products almost exclusively on iPad Pro with Procreate app and Apple Pencil. I gifted it to myself for Christmas 3 years ago and got immediately hooked. It’s so fun to play with different brush sets - I often use Gouache and colored pencil brush sets by Lisa Bardot. It saves me so much time since I don’t have to scan the art in and clean up before turning them into a product. “Undo” button is also my best friend :)

Where do you find your inspiration?

Mostly in nature. I love drawing flowers, plants, vegetables, and animals. I’m also a believer of self-care and self-acceptance. I’d worked for a non-profit domestic violence organization for 14+ years before transitioning to my business full-time, so my love of humanity and human resilience inspire me. My customers often comment that my encouraging messages are like therapy!

What's your solution for combating “creative block” and maintaining productivity?  

I have a daily morning journaling habit - it’s mostly stream of consciousness writing but it trains me to just create something without thinking. My creative process for visual art is very similar. I often start drawing or painting without thinking too much, just to get the hands moving and creative juice flowing. Oftentimes random shapes I draw or words that come up in my brain lead me to something beautiful. 

What does a typical day at your studio look like? How do you manage your time?

Since quarantine began, my routine looks the same from one day to another. When I get up in the morning, I meditate in my home office/studio for about 10 minutes and then do morning pages (3 pages of stream of consciousness journaling, inspired by The Artist’s Way) and then I write my 100 Brighter Days email.

I find mornings to be the best time to get the most brain-heavy creative work done, which for me is writing. Then I have breakfast and I usually package orders in the morning. I try not to check my email or social media until after 11. After my post-lunch walk, I spend time writing/responding to more emails, marketing, and organizing the office etc. I’m also a volunteer on the Board of Directors for a local non-profit, so that takes up a lot of time out of the day. My art-making time often doesn’t happen until after dinner when I sit on the couch and draw on my iPad Pro.

I’m a naturally very structured person, so having a routine helps me. When I feel stuck on a task or I’m overwhelmed, I lie down on the floor and close my eyes for 10 minutes to clear my mind. Good ol to-do list and Google calendar help me manage my time.  

What do you enjoy doing in your “free time?”

Haha, making art of course! I’ve been taking a pottery class for the last 2.5 yrs before the pandemic hit, so I would go to the pottery studio every Tuesday and make whatever I wanted to make… without wondering if my fans will like it or if they sell. Pottery is for me and for my enjoyment only. Since class has been cancelled, I’ve been painting with watercolor and gouache on paper more. I’m so used to making art on iPad Pro nowadays, making art on paper is so refreshing and magical.

What are the biggest challenges you have faced to get to where you are now?

My biggest challenge has probably been my lack of confidence. I don’t have an art degree or business degree, so I doubt myself and my decisions sometimes. It’s easy to second guess yourself and try to do what other people are doing (and seem to bring success to them) so it’s taken me a while to believe in my own path and my voice.

How does the culture of your city contribute to the development of your independent business?

I find Seattle to be really supportive of small businesses. When the pandemic hit and I lost almost 90% of my income stream (which were in-person shows and markets), I had to pivot really fast to selling my wares online. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the transition went and how much support and love I’ve been getting from my online customers, who are mostly local.

We hear you are working on a new email series called “100 Brighter Days”. Tell us more!

I started my “100 Brighter Days” email series in mid-March when we collectively started struggling through the unknowns of the pandemic. Our lives were turned upside down almost overnight and we had no idea how things were going to turn out.

So I decided to send an uplifting art and message to my email subscribers every day for 100 days (it started as “60 Brighter Days” but I’ve recently extended it to be 100 days) The responses from my subscribers have been really positive, and I get several sweet messages every day.

With the recent uprising with Black Lives Matter movement, my message has shifted slightly from purely self-care and self-acceptance to more call for action. Honestly, I've been struggling to come up with positive messages to send every day for the past couple of weeks, but I feel it's a concrete action I can take to make the world a better place.

Sign up to receive Yuko’s “100 Brighter Days” email series HERE.

Follow @honeyberrystudios on Instagram.