Well friends, this was such a fun conversation! In Episode 104 of Joleen’s Happy Time Craftcast, I had the pleasure of chatting with Priya, a Thai illustrator and content creator living in New York City.
Priya creates the most delightful whimsical artwork filled with characters, nature, color, and tiny details—and I absolutely loved hearing about her creative journey, her sketching practice, and how she makes time for art while working a full-time job.
And, of course, we talked about one of my favorite things: why making art is good for the soul.
🍄 Finding Your Own Creative Path
Priya’s journey into illustration has taken some wonderful twists and turns. She loved painting from a young age, studied painting and oil painting at university, explored photography, and eventually began bringing traditional and digital techniques together.
I especially loved hearing how she combines the feeling and texture of traditional painting with the flexibility of digital illustration. Her whimsical characters and little worlds have so much personality!
And New York City gives her plenty of inspiration. Priya carries a small sketchbook with her, takes photos, and makes little sketches as she goes about her day.
Sometimes inspiration really is everywhere—we just have to notice it!
✏️ You Don't Have to Be "Good Enough" to Begin
One of the things I loved most about our conversation was Priya’s advice for anyone who wants to draw or paint but is afraid their work won't be good enough.
Her answer was wonderfully simple: start.
Your first drawings might not be what you imagined. That's okay! You learn by doing, experimenting, practicing, and trying again.
Priya encourages artists to try different materials—pencil, paint, markers, crayons, color—and pay attention to what feels good to them.
I couldn't agree more. We can spend so much time worrying about whether we're "artistic" or whether we're doing something the right way that we forget the most important part:
Just try it and see what happens! 💕
And sometimes, when we're drawing or painting, we get into that wonderful place where we lose track of time. That's a pretty happy place to be.
🌈 Making Time for Creativity
Priya is also building her creative business and online community while working full-time, so naturally, we talked about finding time to create.
The creative work itself isn't necessarily the hardest part. Sometimes it's all the things around the creative work—emails, clients, administration, and trying to keep up with everything!
Her online community has grown to more than 30,000 people, with many discovering her through her relaxing, no-talking coloring and drawing sessions. She also creates tutorials based on questions from her community.
I love that idea of letting your audience help guide what you create.
We also talked about where Priya wants to grow next, and she shared that she'd love to explore visual storytelling and illustrating a children's picture book.
Oh, and we may have dreamed up a tiny person exploring a miniature ecosystem in New York City. Wouldn't that make the cutest story?!
📚 A Little Inspiration from My Crafty World
I also shared a few of my favorite sources of inspiration during this episode—old catalogs and tiny vintage nature books!
I have an old Sears catalog from around 1936 that I picked up at an antique store for just a couple of dollars. It's filled with wonderful little illustrations and vintage images.
I love using these kinds of old books for inspiration and collage, especially the little nature guides with their small illustrations of birds, plants, and animals.
They're also wonderful references if you're working digitally in Procreate or painting with watercolor or colored pencils.
And don't worry—I’m much more likely to photograph or scan those old pages than actually cut up a nearly 90-year-old book!
☕ What Makes Us Happy?
Near the end of our chat, Priya shared something that really stuck with me.
Her idea of happiness is wonderfully simple: a peaceful morning in her sunny apartment studio, a cup of coffee, a favorite book, and sometimes a little drawing.
Yes, please!
It reminded me that happy time doesn't have to be complicated. Sometimes it's sitting quietly with your coffee. Sometimes it's making something with your hands. Sometimes it's simply noticing something beautiful.
Those little moments count.
And that's really what Joleen's Happy Time Craftcast is all about—finding those little bits of creativity and happiness wherever we can.
💖 Keep Creating!
I hope this episode encourages you to pick up that pencil, paintbrush, sketchbook, or whatever creative tool is calling your name.
Don't worry about whether it's good enough.
Start. Experiment. Practice. Play.
You never know where your creative journey might take you!
And be sure to follow Priya to see more of her whimsical artwork, tutorials, sketchbook inspiration, and upcoming events. ✨
Until next time, friends…
I hope you do all kinds of things that make you all kinds of happy! 💕
Happy creating,
Joleen
PS: 🎥 Watch the full episode below:
Guest Bio
Priya is a Thai illustrator and content creator living in New York City. She creates whimsical character art, sketchbooks, and educational art videos while building her art business. Her work blends traditional painting, photography, and digital illustration, with a goal of one day illustrating a children’s picture book.
Follow Priya
Episode Chapters with Timestamps
[00:00–06:30] — Joleen’s Happy Things at Mom’s House
[06:30–11:30] — Meet Priya & Her Creative Journey
[11:30–17:00] — Finding Time to Create While Working Full-Time
[17:00–23:00] — Traditional Art, Digital Illustration & Procreate
[23:00–29:00] — Building a Creative Business & Online Community
[29:00–35:00] — Overcoming the Fear of “Not Being Good Enough”
[5:00–40:30] — Starting a Sketch Practice & Trying New Mediums
[40:30–45:30] — Vintage Books, Collage & Creative Inspiration
[45:30–50:00] — Happy Time Questions & Finding Simple Joy
[50:00–52:04] — Stay Connected with Priya & Goodbye!
Quotes from the Episode
“Just start. It’s going to be bad, but that’s okay.” — Priya
“You improve through the journey.” — Priya
“Try everything and see what feels right for you.” — Priya
“Once you have the skill, then you can find your style.” — Priya
“When I’m drawing or painting, I feel like time just stops.” — Priya
“Art is a way for me to express myself and it really helps my mental health.” — Priya
“My favorite word is whimsical.” — Priya
Resources & Calls-to-Action
🎨 Procreate — Priya’s primary digital illustration tool.
📚 Vintage catalogs & nature books — Joleen shares her love of finding old catalogs and tiny nature books to use as collage fodder and artistic reference.
🐦 Golden Nature Guide: 129 Birds in Full Color — One of Joleen’s fun vintage thrifted finds.
🌿 Big Raven Farm — Learn more about upcoming creative retreats and the 2026–2027 schedule
📖 Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt — A book recommendation mentioned during the conversation.
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