In her childhood, Girija Sarfare used to keep scribbling on every piece of paper that she could lay her hands on. The old telephone diary had no space to write new numbers in her house because she had filled it with drawings of ‘The Powerpuff Girls.’ Watching cartoons was a vital part of her routine, but only because she drew them on screen.
Girija Sarfare – Her Story
As you would know by now, this story is of an artist. Girija had a passion for art and drawing right from her childhood. Born and raised in Mumbai, Girija’s childhood comprised shifting locations and schools due to her mother’s health and work. She did not like the process of adjusting to a whole new place after every few years. But reflecting, she thinks that she has grown a lot because of her experiences of diverse locations. Girija’s father is a cricket coach, and her elder brother and sister-in-law work in the corporate sector.
Drawing is always seen as a ‘hobby’ and is never seen as someone’s primary source of income. On the same lines, Girija was encouraged to opt for the most common career path. Graduation, MBA, and then a corporate job. Girija pursued her MBA in the field of marketing. She worked for a corporate for almost a year after her post-graduation. Sadly, she didn’t enjoy the experience much. Her heart was stuck in drawing, but she faced hesitance from her family because they were from a typical middle-class family.
Even though Girija didn’t take the route of her passion, she decided to keep her self-learning continued. She kept learning through various books, workshops, and videos on YouTube. While she was working in the corporate firm, she couldn’t wait for the weekends to arrive so that she could pick up her pens and escape into the world of her scribble pad.
Girija recollects that she took a break after her graduation to prepare for her entrance exam for MBA. During that break, she and her friend created customized painted T-shirts and sold them through social media and their friend circle. The happy reactions of their customers and getting paid for something she loved doing made her ecstatic. Girija started creating customized greeting cards for her MBA classmates and eventually earned them through the break. That’s when Girija realized that she could use her drawing and art skills to make a living.
Slowly, life took over, and she got busy with her corporate job. She couldn’t get much support from her family because hers was a simple middle-class family. But Girija found her pillar of support in her elder brother. Also, her best friends supported her through her decision to quit her high-paying and secure job to pursue her passion. She credits the immense support of her loved ones, which helped her start her initiative ‘ScribbleGiri.’
Other than support from her friends and brother, achieving her childhood dream and proving to herself that she could do it drove her every day. Most of all, the happiness of her clients when they receive their customized orders from her works is the most significant source of motivation for her.
Being a self-taught illustrator, Girija had to research and learn many things on the go. Right from the basics of drawing, learning software, pricing, accounting, etc., she had to balance many departments of ScribbleGiri all by herself. Slowly, she came to terms with it and is still learning every day. Currently, Girija creates a plethora of custom arty stuff, such as office desk slates. Wedding art and invites, baby books, artworks, and illustrations.
As a parting thought, Girija says that “I was fortunate enough to decide to leave everything and jump into drawing full time. I’m pretty sure many creative souls out there wish to do the same, while some may want to take time off and unwind from their busy lives and let their creative juices flow.
I plan to make a series of beginner-friendly and fun tutorials to help individuals with their creative journeys. Also, a blog is in the pipeline to help people like me who want to start something of their kickstart their journey and avoid the mistakes I made.” If you, too, are an aspiring artist or love collecting customized artworks, follow this successful scribbler’s Instagram handle Scribblegiri right away!
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Brave step. All the best to her. Would love to see few pieces of her drawings