the origin of doodlesnplants

I’ve always loved to draw.

I’d doodle in class to pass the time (it oddly helped me retain information) and would draw every once in a while when I got some inspiration. I never thought about selling art because I never had the confidence in my abilities (the only art class I have taken is a 6th grade art elective haha).

Few years ago, I began playing rugby for a USA National Development team, the Santa Barbara Rugby Academy. Just last year we made it to Nationals, where the top teams in the country compete. Things with rugby got pretty serious, as we had to travel a lot. Problem with rugby is that there is no money involved, even when I was playing semi-professional. Everything is self-funded by each player and by team fundraisers.

View fullsize

This is when I first created @doodlesnplants (formally @pencilpawtraitsbykim) on instagram and began selling my art. I was mostly selling dog portraits done in graphite, but it was hard finding the time between work and rugby to get all the orders done that I eventually had to stop.

Fast forward a year, I ended up re-injuring my neck during Rugby Nationals and had to go to the ER out of state. In March 2020, I got the neck surgery I was trying so desperately to avoid for the last 3 years (cervical disc replacement surgery). All the CT scans, X-Rays, ER visit, lab tests, physical therapy, check ups, and the surgery itself put me in tens of thousands of dollars in medical debt.

View fullsize

Recovery was and continues to be rough. As an avid hiker, weightlifter, and athlete, it killed me to sit around for months not being able to do anything physical or remotely strenuous. I needed something to put my anxious energy into. I started sketching again, cultivating veggies for our home garden, and propagating my succulents. I had so many propagations that I had to buy a bunch of little terracotta pots. I figured I might as well paint some fun designs on them so I ordered some paint, and alas, the hand-painted pots were born!

I would post all my artwork and projects on my instagram stories and they got so many positive responses. Friends kept encouraging me to sell my art, and I thought why not? It wouldn’t hurt to showcase my artwork and maybe see if I can pay off some of that debt while I’m at it.

And here I am today! Phew, that was a long post and I’m sorry about that. I just wanted to tell my story and hopefully inspire other budding or self-conscious artists that it’s okay to put yourself out there! Who knows, maybe you can turn your hobby into something more or maybe you just have a creative project you want to share with the world.

You’ll never know what you’re worth until you put yourself out there!