I am writing to you from home at the beginning of this week to share with you my experience at the Paris Fair.
Writing about my emotions is always a bit of a worry for me. I try to find the right words and not make sentences too long. "Less is more..." as Frank Lloyd Wright said, but as he also said, “Less is more only when more is too much.” I think I will never be limited by my emotions, but only by the words I use to describe them.
First of all, I am extremely grateful to have been invited to lead watercolor, drawing, tattoo, and henna workshops to highlight Asian culture. Being Franco-Chinese, it was an honor for me to respond to Rosalie's invitation and promote my passion and my origins.
An Incredible Encounter with Rosalie
I met Rosalie, the founder of Bubble Fever, in January this year through Instagram. One of my videos about how I went from architecture to watercolor and drawing came across her feed, and I was lucky enough to join the Bubble Fever Around Asia adventure.
Rosalie has already made me cry twice this year. Once by Zoom in January, the day before my opening, and a second time at the Foire de Paris on May 8, just before tattooing. I admire this person enormously. I feel so aligned with what she does and thinks, and she does it with incredible energy, passion, strength and desire to undertake! She is an exceptional entrepreneur of Chinese and Khmer origin who has achieved her dreams without ever stopping. She understands me so well when I talk to her about my dreams and what my parents think, about the bond and recognition in the traditional Chinese family... This connection has left a huge mark on me and has given me faith in entrepreneurship and the pursuit of a dream that can become reality!
We met in person in March at the Bubble Fever offices. I learned how her small workshop in her garage turned into a large warehouse and how she works with her team. I met Titi and Linda, and I was very impressed by Bubble Fever's investment in the Paris Fair. I shared with Rosalie everything I knew how to do and what I liked, which could be interesting for the event: drawing, watercoloring, tattooing, henna.
Bubble Fever Around Asia: An Enriching Event
Before May, we exchanged several times about the long-awaited event of the Paris Fair. Bubble Fever Around Asia is hosted at Pavilion 2.2, highlighting the richness of Asia through cultural, culinary and martial arts events and activities. From May 1st to 12th, 2024, Bubble Fever invited more than 130 artists to present their art, taking us on a journey to a new country every day. I participated in 6 days out of 12 at the fair, for the days of Taiwan, Japan, India, Cambodia, Hong Kong and Thailand. I had the chance to visit 5 of these countries and so I was confident enough to represent them better.
Program:
May 1, 2024 - Taiwan Day : 10:30-11:30 traditional shanshui painting
May 2, 2024 - Japan Day : 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. watercolor inspired by the ukiyo-e movement
May 4, 2024 - India Day : 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. henna tattoo
May 5, 2024 - Cambodia Day : 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Angkor Wat landscape watercolor
May 8, 2024 - Hong Kong Day : 10:30-11:30 tattoo event
May 12, 2024 - Thailand Day : 10:30-11:30 Thai architectural drawing
Workshops and Feelings
To be honest, I was very stressed when I saw the schedule, because I didn't expect to lead so many workshops. I had to prepare, organize, communicate and assimilate the topics to be taught, which was not easy at first. To better organize myself, I created communicative posters with my drawing style, integrating my little characters. I had a lot of fun with it.
Before the workshops, I often felt moments of doubt, I didn't feel up to it. Even after the workshops, I had imposter syndrome. Although I was there to lead art and watercolor workshops, I didn't always feel like I was in my place because I didn't know as much about the cultural or historical details of shanshui, Angkor Wat architecture or ukiyo-e. I learned everything before leading the workshops!
Ultimately, despite these moments of doubt, I had a great time. With each workshop, I learned to manage time and to facilitate in a more interactive way while remaining myself. At the end of each session, I felt very grateful and impressed by the work of the participants. They are often people who are passionate about drawing or painting who come to participate.
Today, we are lucky to be able to keep memories with a click. Photos allow me to remember moments, because everything happened so quickly. I still need time to take a step back.
Challenge: It's the Fair!
The biggest challenge and stress came from the fact that we were at the Paris Fair. You always need more! It's impressive, captivating, and it must make you want to. All the workshops were more or less full, but I also had to continually talk and do. I realized that I don't know how to explain well while practicing and that I don't draw well while explaining at the same time! Haha. I thank Saline and Rosalie for helping me lead these sessions when I was too focused. Gradually, I let go and had fun... except for the tattoo, because that requires concentration!
My activities were placed in the morning or early afternoon, because it was quieter and it attracted a small crowd. I was equipped with a microphone each time, and I think it's really cool, it's the first time I gave a class with a microphone.
The crowd didn't scare me as much. There were days that were much quieter than others, but there were times when everyone was talking at the same time, passers-by were looking behind me very closely, and it looked like a market or a primary school classroom, which made me laugh a little.
Acknowledgements and Thanks
I am extremely happy to have participated in this event. Despite my doubts about my abilities and my fear of crowds, I did well and I am even proud. Usually, I draw alone at home, and suddenly, I am asked to share my passion at the Paris Fair while highlighting my Asian culture! It is truly beautiful and I am truly grateful to have been there with Bubble Fever.
Thanks to my family, my parents, my sister, my brother, my cousins who were there to support me and help me carry the equipment. Thanks to my friends, my subscribers, the lucky winner of the tattoo that I met on site, and also to the former students of the watercolor workshops. Thanks to the entire Bubble Fever team for your help, support, kindness, and all the bubble teas I had during these six days.
I came out of this experience feeling better and I am so happy to be able to say that I spoke about my passion and that I was on stage myself at the Paris Fair in 2024!
