There is a stereotype that Singaporeans are a pragmatic lot, and creativity is not our strong suit. However, in recent years, many local creative businesses have starting catching the eyes of fellow citizens with their relatable themes and unique products.
Among them are sisters Celine and Carolyn, the brains behind TinySupply, a ceramics studio that they started back in 2015.
Celine, a former graphic designer, is the creative force behind this venture, while Carolyn handles administrative day-to-day matters to keep the business running smoothly.
Both sisters are very involved in the actual creation of the products, from design and painting to forming and finishing touches. The handmade process makes every piece special and one-of-a-kind.
TinySupply is a brand that’s perfect for Instagram.
Its popular feed is filled with colorful, well-composed and entertaining posts that features their utterly adorable clay-made creations.
Featuring sweet animal characters, such “badass bunnies”, “curious corgis” and sloths in sweaters, their collection consists of brooches, bowls, dishes and pots.
Celine and Carolyn also offer a custom order service, where they create awesome dioramas that celebrate relationships and personal milestones, which are destined to become treasured keepsakes.
We speak with the founders of TinySupply to find out more about how they run and grow a creative business in this little red dot.
A Creative Outlet
Like other creative businesses, TinySupply originated from its founder’s desire for a project to channel her creative energy. Celine described herself as a “restless designer”, who pulled her crafty, details-oriented sister in to be part of the adventure.
“Together, we realised our medium of choice was anything clay-related due to its versatility and ease of adapting to any shape or form. To date, our little creations have been formed with air dry clay, polymer clay and ceramics.”
“Having said that, we are always restless and are itching to explore other materials and methods in our work.”
The two have been working on TinySupply full-time for two years now.
While they may have big dreams about where they want this passion project of theirs to go in the future, they are also down-to-earth and realistic about their prospects.
“We believe in starting small and putting in hard work to achieve a bigger dream. One of our dreams is to open our own little ceramics studio to explore the wonders of clay and share this craft with others.”
“We know the journey may be a long one but we are grateful now to be in our tiny space nurturing our tiny ideas and bringing them to life!”
The motivation behind stating TinySupply is not only monetary. The sisters have a genuine desire to share “happy little pieces of art” with other lovers of “the cute, colourful and curious”.
Creating Fun, Accessible Art
Celine and Carolyn believes that art should be art should be accessible to everyone instead of being an exclusive club. Neither should it be high-brow and stuffy.
This is the philosophy that inspires their creative process, and explains why their products are designed to be more or less universally appealing—because who doesn’t love cute stuff?
“We realise how cute and colourful things always attract us and put a smile on our faces and we want our creations to do the same for others. We like when art is fun and not taken too seriously.”
TinySupply has a signature aesthetic that is instantly recognizable for its fans. The illustrative style is simple and colourful, and the final products are always sweet and endearing with a tinge of humour.
“Much of our design inspiration comes from nature and animals and we try to interpret these in our own simple way.”
Finding A Balance
Like all start-ups, TinySupply has met with many challenges along the way in the last two years.
According to its founders, the greatest difficulty of running a handmade business would have to be striking the balance between financial sustainability and creativity.
“Good materials and space are expensive while appreciation for handmade products within Singapore is still limited to a small market but we hope to change mindsets by pushing on with our craft.”
“Furthermore, handmade is a very time consuming process which sometimes does not pay off but we take everything as a challenge that we need to overcome by improving some way or other.”
However, witnessing the growth in demand and appreciation for the products has been very heartening for the sisters.
“The biggest reward is definitely seeing people enjoy our work and we feel very grateful when our customers tell us they love what we do and give us words of encouragement.”
“Customer feedback means a lot to us and we often take that into consideration when making decisions.”
Despite their success, they are not content to rest on their laurels and are actually their own biggest critics. To improve the quality of their products, they have moved from using air-dry clay to polymer clay and ceramics.
Not All Fun And Cute
While they are doing something that they love,running TinySupply is definitely not a walk in the park for Celine and Carolyn.
A typical day in this two-woman show can be hectic and stressful as they have to handle all aspects of the business, from production to customer relations.
“The reality is that there is a lot of hard work, sacrifice and patience involved. It is after all a business and since there are only two of us, we often feel stretched handling all aspects of running the business.”
However, they are certainly not complaining. They are grateful for the opportunity to do what they love and also for the privilege to be their own bosses.
“Thankfully, it does not feel like just another job as we are grateful that we get to do what we love to do. Having full control over everything is definitely a perk.”
Attaining Small Goals
Having built a small but loyal following, the duo has learnt a lot along the way. Their key tip for creative who are thinking of starting their own business is to start small, and to be humble and open.
They also emphasize the importance of feedback, as this is the only way one knows what would work and what would not.
“Of course, perseverance and passion is important. Disappointments don’t mean failure, but rather a call to improve.”
“We encourage them not to be afraid of taking the first step as they will never know their potential until they try.”
Being resilient and versatile is another trait that is essential for any creative entrepreneur.
This year, there will be changes at TinySupply as Celine will be starting a new job. Despite the challenges of sustaining a craft business in Singapore, the sisters continue to be optimistic and dream big.
“We hope to one day have a studio space of our own which can also be a platform to share our experience with others. We also hope to encourage people to tap into their creative side and create works of their own.”
To find out more about TinySupply, click here.