CHENNAI: A beautiful blue envelope opens to reveal a thoughtful handwritten letter. The words, penned gently and beautifully, leaves a warm feeling in your chest, and the piece of paper finds a special place in the receiver’s heart and home. It is this feeling that 21-year-old Yakshi Chouhan wishes to tap into, through her company Nibs and Tools. The BBA graduate from MOP Vaishnav College for Women started the custom card company in February 2018, and despite having no prior education in art, her hard work and dedication have earned her over 3,000 followers on Instagram. “Ever since I was young, I had a creative side but I never really explored it.
I started practising drawing and copper plate calligraphy during college. In my final year, people asked me about my work and requested for handwritten letters for their loved ones. This became the turning point for Nibs and Tools. I was so happy for the fact that people were appreciating and valuing my work,” said Yakshi. They flock to see her place cards, envelopes with wax seals, bookmarks, watercolour wedding cards, greeting cards and more. Before her brand took off, Yakshi spent her second year of college learning how to write calligraphy and brush lettering by following tutorials on YouTube. Her love for the art grew, and she ended up turning down a job she secured through college so that she could work on Nibs and Tools full-time.
“Calligraphy has become a form of meditation for me. It has made me a much calmer person. This kind of artwork requires a lot of detail and attention. I didn’t learn calligraphy in a day, it took me a month to learn the entire style and art of each letter, and can’t say I have perfected it. New styles come up every day and we follow, create our own styles purely based on our skills,” she said. Sourcing the materials needed for her art is difficult to procure in India, she said. When travelling abroad, Yakshi buys all the materials she needs for her job. Each client request takes a lot of brainstorming and time to make a happy product. Yakshi began conducting workshops on brush painting from April 2018, with smaller session sizes to focus on each participant. In March this year, luxury stationery company Mont Blanc invited her for a copperplate calligraphy workshop at their luxury festival in Palladium Mall, Velachery. She also received an offer from Micheal Kors to produce handwritten letters for customers on Valentine’s Day. “What I do now is not related to what I studied.
I have learned that you don’t need a degree to follow your passion. You can start something and can go to a whole new level from there. You should follow your passion and listen to your heart rather than worry about the future. People should find out what makes them happy in life and make an income from it. It also depends on how one takes it forward. If I had stopped learning, I wouldn’t have come this far,” she said. The artist has enrolled for an online course for flourishing calligraphy and she is planning to launch an online store this year with the rest of her customised products. The charges are based on words, inks and designs. Bookmarks are priced from `150 to `300, and floral cards range from `500 to `600. Each word costs `8 to `10.For more details, visit her Instagram page: Nibs and Tools