We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lucy Phung a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Lucy, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I owe my resilience to my parents, who are war refugees from Vietnam. Despite surviving unimaginable hardships, they came to the U.S. with next to nothing—no resources, no home, no English—and yet they managed to build a promising future for our family. Their strength and determination are my greatest inspiration.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a traveling muralist and painter specializing in creating bespoke artwork for businesses, private collectors, festivals and live events. I am probably best known for my expressive hyperrealistic portraits. I find it incredibly special to have painted many memorial portraits for my clients. The fact that my art has the ability to provide comfort during a time of grief gives my craft a great sense of purpose. I’m very lucky to have a skill that takes me all over the world. In March I will be returning to Da Nang, Vietnam to teach a spray painting workshop with my partner Alex DeLarge.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Being an artist is not for the faint of heart. In order to succeed you must have business skills, people/marketing skills, and an unbreakable spirit. The world will give you a million reasons to quit, you have to want it bad enough to persevere.
How would you describe your ideal client?
People often believe that they need to have a clear idea of what they want before commissioning a painting. That’s not necessarily true. My ideal client just needs to be able to tell me their story. Be clear about what’s important to you and I’ll be able to bring it to life in vibrant hues.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Instagram.com/1ucysushi
- Other: https://linktr.ee/Aluphstudio
- Email: [email protected]
