I love Lanterns, Marmalade, Sunflowers and Van Gogh! I am a sucker for Yellow
We interviewed Divya Thallap whose love for illustration, graphic design and mixed media prompted her to start her very own brand of handmade gifts, Yelling Yellow. A graduate in Fine Arts from Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Divya has been practicing art and design for 15 years now. Her youtube channel has more than 6000 followers from all around the world .
Let’s find out more about her work and the philosophy she follows to make exquisite stuff.
How did this journey begin?
I always loved giving gifts to my friends and family. And as a child, I was encouraged to make handmade gifts, cards etc. A store-bought gift never felt personal to me. And making something with your hands is very empowering. I wanted my brand to reflect my love for everything bright, cheery and yellow. A brainstorming session with my father resulted in the name and Yelling Yellow was born in 2013.
If not decoupage, which other art form would you be doing?
I paint, sketch, journal, sculpt. I design art supplies. This is something I do for a living. Its a full-time job and takes up all my free time as well.
Which is the most fulfilling part in the entire process?
Product photography! I shoot with my phone and style my products with things lying around. It is challenging but I absolutely love and enjoy it. There is so much I learn with every photo I take. I eagerly wait to finish the project so I can shoot it. My photos let me show the world the story I want to tell or the mood I want to convey.
What compels you or drives you to transform a piece?
I read a book by KonMari which really resonated with my life’s philosophy. The KonMari Method is inspired by a single question: Does this item spark joy? The answer points the way to a life filled only with the items we truly cherish. I have always done that with my work. I have taken my time, enjoyed the process and the end result just sparks joy 🙂 I truly enjoy what I do and I think it shows. I am also trying to adapt this method in my everyday life and the things around my home.
Your workshops are quite popular. What is your secret-sauce?
I work very hard to make my workshops fun, memorable and most importantly worth the participant’s time and money. I strongly believe that knowledge should be accessible to all. I have taught over 800 creative folks and a lot of them have gone on to teach further or make this a serious business for themselves. I have made some really good friends along the journey as well. It overwhelming and rewarding at the same time. Even now, I create a lot of detailed content for my Youtube channel and spend a big chunk of my day answering questions I get from all over the world.
What do you love to do more- make and sell pieces or conduct workshops?
I love sharing knowledge and the more you share, the more you get. I started this journey making free tutorials online and giving free demo workshops. I was new to this and had no agenda. But I was sure a lot of creative folks would show interest. So I shared whatever I knew. The process, tips, mistakes, best practices, supplies. etc. Consequently, I got a lot of requests for detailed, in-person workshops. Today people travel from all over the country to come work with me. My class is filled with just word-of-mouth recommendations and I have never needed to advertise a single class. So personally workshops are a blast. And from a business point of view, workshops and designing art supplies helps support my work.
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A big Thank You to Divya for her time and letting us in on her world filled with all things bright and beautiful.
Check out Yelling Yellow’s facebook page and instagram handle.
The Handmade Co. 