Mrs Sneha Suzanna George, a Bangalore-based Writer, saw much scope for creating clay products! She completed her journalism from the Asian College for Journalism, Chennai. She then settled in Bangalore with her husband after their wedding. In conversation with Feba M Abraham for the #VoLocals campaign, the soft-spoken Mrs Sneha opens up on discovering her skill in an area which is not explored by many.
It all started back in 2018, when she had gone to babysit her niece. Some clay was lying around and voila! She made a pizza! Then the idea struck her. With the wholehearted encouragement from her parents, she conducted a ‘clay-making’ workshop’ in the same year. She went on to make various items, such as:-
- Food-based earrings;
- Geometric shapes;
- Contemporary earrings;
- Magnets;
- Coasters;
- Key chains;
- Curios
In December 2018, she launched her very first Christmas-themed jewelry and curios. In 2019, she started modelling her very own earrings to see how the people would respond to the same. Her husband (back then, her fiancé) is a lover of sports. “I was very keen to gift him something made by me, instead of buying something for him, whenever he visited home.” She put on her creativity cap and made a ‘Formula 1 Car’ (her husband is a big Mercedes fan!)
“I am extremely grateful to my parents for supporting me and my husband who keeps me motivated and helps me make the clay items,” said Sneha.
When asked how she came up with the name ‘iinkha’ for her cute boutique, she said that she posed the question to her husband. After thinking about it for a while, she remembered that her husband was fond of Inca curios ‘Inca’ is an architectural style created by the Incan Empire. Hence, she settled with the name ‘iinkha’.
Upon asking, why there are two ‘i’ in the boutique’s name, she replied, “The double ‘i’ denotes the double effort-my put in by my husband and me.” Such an unexpected answer and after all, we do agree that ‘two heads are better than one,’ right?
Sneha never fails to create a list containing all the necessary details to guide her along and keep track. “I am a content writer by day and a clay artist by evening,” said Sneha.
When asked about the logo of ‘iinkha’, she said that she had created the logo herself and she implemented the ‘cursive style of writing’ as the font indicates a continuity in progress. She is also picky about fonts.
She draws inspiration for her creativity from the random shapes she sees throughout the day. She is now more focused on creating curios and coasters, which require a reasonable amount of time just on the sketching. “I get to use a pencil and eraser after a long time!,” said Sneha with a giggle. Her husband’s interests are also inspirations for her to work on curios.
Were there any unforgettable incidents during the course of this artist’s journey? Sneha said, “Undoubtedly, in fact, two.”
The first incident took place in 2019, when she hit the gym, ‘Strength System’ (her husband also played a major role in motivating her to stay fit and healthy). The trainers had followed her Instagram page and came across a clay model of a ‘gym hippo’ which she made earlier. They too wanted the same. She recreated the ‘hippo’ curio, and this went on to become the gym’s mascot!
The second incident was when she discovered her potential to make ‘race cars.’ “I never thought I would be able to do that. I am happy with how it finally turned out.”
All the orders are carried out by the proprietor, Sneha and her backbone, her husband. “He always steps in whenever I need help.” They do not resort to any professional help for making their products.
When asked how her customers place orders, she said that it is mainly through Instagram. Through this means, she is able to keep track of her orders easily. For delivery of the final products, she relies on apps like Dunzo, with the delivery charges having to be paid by the customers or by directly couriering to the customers. An excellent preventive measure undertaken by this artist (especially after the pandemic) was dipping the products in the sanitizing liquid before sending it out.
‘iinkha by Suzanna’ gains its followers mainly through the Instagram page and by word of mouth. This boutique is known for its ‘Christmas giveaways’ for all sort of Christmas-themed clay products. Recently, an ‘Onam giveaway’ was launched to which many people responded out of which two winners were randomly chosen, and the results were announced through the official Instagram page. The winners wasted no time in taking to their respective accounts the joy of receiving Sneha’s cute handmade gifts!
Of all the items offered by ‘iinkha by Suzanna’, earrings, curios and coasters are the most demanded ones.
Before concluding with the interview, she shared her plans for her business, which is to start creating ‘Christian-themed’ products. A few of her ideas include the Holy Bible, the Cross and the Burning Bush. Sneha mentioned that “There is no point in carrying on a business without glorifying GOD! Otherwise, all this will just be for money-making.” She also plans on creating customized clay cutlery for her customers. Placing her trust in GOD, she is all excited to see all that is in store for her business.
Want a sneak peek into the incredible works of this talented Clay Artist? You can visit their Instagram page here.
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