Photo by Krystal Patrice Rhaburn
BERKELEY, Calif. — “There’s a lot of art out there that’s too expensive and cannot cater to everyone, so I want to provide art that everyone can enjoy,” said Joy Sui. This is her driving motivation for what she does, as well as her main reason for joining the Downtown Berkeley Farmers’ Market.
Sui is a 24-year-old Berkeley resident who has been an artist since she was young and has always enjoyed drawing both for herself and for others.
Recently, Sui attended a wedding for a friend who requested on-site portraits for her guests. “Everyone loved them,” said Sui. “So I decided I wanted to keep doing that — drawing pictures for other people.”
She started her company, Ink and Joy, specializing in custom calligraphy, illustration and portraits, in June. Sui publicizes her work on social media, including Instagram, and Facebook, and on her business website.
On her website, Sui writes, “I am passionate about both beautiful letterforms and animal forms, which extends into my love for calligraphy and animal illustrations. I am fond of the beauty of simplicity, vibrancy of colors and the power of singularity. I believe that art can change us, remedy us, and provide us a space for peace.”
Sui didn’t always plan to have art as her career. In college, she studied political science and anthropology, and joined a law firm soon after graduation. “I was in a law firm right out of college, but it wasn’t for me, so I decided to go with art instead,” she said.
The simplicity of art is one of her hallmarks. “My favorite piece is a simple watercolor bulldog I painted years ago. It’s so simple, and that’s what I love about it,” she said.
At the weekly market, vendors sell fresh fruits and vegetables, and shoppers can see street performers play instruments and colorful clowns create balloon animals. Sui set up a table on Aug. 3 for the first time, where she offered to draw miniature portraits for free. The simplified line drawings resembled a cartoon version of the person.
One of the people she drew was Berkeley resident Divya Patel. Patel is an engineering student at UCB who attends the farmers’ market every week. “I usually come to buy vegetable produce for meals, and enjoy watching the performers as I shop,” Patel said.
She, like the many other people that made up the line in front of Sui’s booth, were excited to have a souvenir of themselves to take home.
