Meet Gloria Ing | Artist, Curator, and Jewelry Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gloria Ing and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gloria, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Growing up my family didn’t have much, but I had access to pens, pencils, and paper. As a kid, I never thought of myself as an artist, since I was just doodling here and there. I used my creations to escape my reality and tell stories I couldn’t really put down on paper. As I got older I began to focus more on my art, even though my family was unsupportive. I was determined to follow my passion and prove them wrong. Pursuing a career in the arts definitely had its struggles and challenges, but it also taught me so much about life. Art got me through many challenging moments, taught me patience, and to look at things and situations from various perspective. I am fortunate that art found me and continued to be a part of my journey. It gave me a voice and strength to express myself.

Through my journey in the arts, I learned to grow with the process and not limit my creativity. Art forced me to branch out and created a way for me to connect and network with people from various walks of life. Art helped with my anxiety of being in crowded social settings and push my boundaries to share my creations with various communities. It’s exciting to witness peoples smiling faces lighting up when they see a piece being produced. There are times when I would invite passerby to create along side me no matter their age or skill level. Allowing people to be a part of the process aside from witnessing art unlocks more creative possibilities to the piece, changing the dynamic and direction of the artwork. It challenges me, create conversations and allows others to express and tell their own story through the piece.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
A lot of my artwork is inspired by people, nature and stories. I don’t always have an idea in mind when I attend a chalk festival. During my travels I’ll read, talk to people, and in ways it’ll inspire and spark a creative idea for my next piece. I usually draw a rough sketch the day or night before and refine the artwork during the festival. There are many times when there is no sketch and I would wing my designs on the spot. And times when I would let the audience lead the direction of my piece by telling me what they’d like to see being created. This will take the piece in various directions since various adults and kids will make recommendations, and I would allow them to assist me with altering the artwork. Many fear that they might ruin the piece, but when there is no real reference, the piece is unique in its entirely and actually blends seamlessly together. Many times, I do not plan ahead for my chalk events because there is not enough time in the day to do everything I’d like to do. Plus I tend to change my mind a lot. So having to plan a piece 3-4 months in advance and sticking to the idea is tough. I enjoy the flexibility in the pieces I create.

I tried being a full time artist and did make enough to get by day by day living in Los Angeles, CA, but there was not much left for anything else, including emergency. I pushed myself back into office culture, now working a regular 8 to 5 processing payroll Monday through Friday. After work, I either find time to sleep, work on small projects like: painting commission pieces, create custom jewelry or accessories that were ordered through Instagram. I am most creative at night and I do spend most of my night being creative. Prior to the pandemic I drove all over LA County after work to various art walks and pop up locations to set up my art and sell my jewelry or accessories. I sold mostly prints of my art and a few originals. Most of the jewelry and accessories were created on the spot for the client with a 15 to 30 minute turn around time based on what the client is requesting. Most of my design are wire wrapped and made from recycled leather. I saw the pop up as an opportunity to not just showcase my work or talents, but a way to self advertise and network and see what others create as well. I now keep my art, jewelry, and accessories business on the side.

I am most excited about traveling for my chalk art and seeing my chalk family. Many of my weekends will soon be filled with upcoming chalk festivals around the US. Last year, I was able to create 23 chalk murals.

My journey in art was a rollercoaster, it had many ups and downs, but I pushed through. It stemmed from self belief, as well as, moral support from amazing people who enter my life and encouraging me to not give up. Going against my family was the biggest hurdle. There were many times of self doubt, since I’m clumsy and accident prone. I had many moment of thinking my art career was over, due to my many injuries. It felt like the world was also against me. Since it was one incident after another. The moment I recovered, I was injured again because of some other accident. The accident that affected me the most was injuring my dominant arm and struggling to get movement back. For that period I taught myself to do everything with my non dominant arm while seeking medical help from doctors and specialist. I am eternally grateful to these doctors and specialist who worked with me through the years until I regained movement in my arm without surgery. I was told to focus on my fine motor skills. My need for a creative outlet at the time, as well as hand therapy led me to become a self taught jewelry designer using found materials. I started with plastic bottles, moved on to wires before I started using leather. That is how Missing Treasures is born. I was lucky to be alive and just walked away with an arm injury and is extremely grateful that I am able to continue to share my art journey. The incident taught me there was more to life and how important it is to surround yourself with supportive friends. Life presents you with challenges and obstacles, but it up to you to choose the path of where you see yourself. By never giving up on yourself and continually learning along the way. Believe me, I am still learning and figuring everything out as I go. Nothing is set in stone. While I was injured I never stopped creating chalk art, it was my opportunity to learn new tips and tricks to achieve what I was trying to create. It also kept away many of my negative mental thoughts about my useless arm at the time. Every time I create a new piece I teach myself something new and the more I can create the more I can practice and improve my skills. It’s a continually learning process. I’m extremely grateful that I got my arm back even if it’s not at 100 percent it’s actually done more than what it was capable of when it was normal. So in other words the injury was a blessing and pushed my creative boundary’s to another level.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There’s so much to do and see in Los Angeles.
I would take them on hike trails to various waterfalls around LA, grab a bite near the location and dessert (shaved ice or boba) Check out beaches with sea caves and tide pools then grab yummy seafood nearby.
If they’re up for other activities then bowling, kayaking, archery ranges, batting cages, and indoor rock climbing. Depending what their preference is or what the weather is like. Also can do art mural scavenger hunts all around town. 
I would also take them to various food halls and speakeasy in the area for food and drinks.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to thank my high school art instructor, Dorothy Lee for pushing me to see my art potential, introducing me to art scholarship and sidewalk chalk art. I also want to thank Ryman Arts for classes that developed and honed my art skills, as well as, giving me access to art materials I would never be able to afford as a teen. I want to shout out to some of my amazing friends: May Wu, Stephanie Mongkolsiri, Mela Fung, Jenny Eav, Nick Tolentino for their continuous support over the years, Thank you! I can’t forget the organizers of Pasadena Chalk festival for giving me a place to experiment, explore my art within the chalk community, supporting and encouraging me and introducing me to many other talented artist I can call my chalk family, Chalk Mafia. We can’t choose the family we are born to, but we can definitely choose the people we want to stay in our lives and call our families. Finally, I want to thank my mom, because without her, I would not be here right now. Yes, she was not very supportive and very much against it in the beginning. She finally came around a few years ago and accepted me when she began attending my art festivals, traveling, and witnessing the art creations and conversing with other artist in my circle and passerby. There’s magic in art. It connects us all.

Website: www.gloriaing.com

Instagram: @missing.artist

Linkedin: www.linkedIn.com/in/gloriaing

Twitter: @MsIngArtist

Facebook: www.facebook.com/gloria.ing

Image Credits
Gloria Ing