Hello friends! Thanks for visiting “my story” page. I’ve always been inspired by tigers. I was born in South Korea in a Year of the Tiger. Siberian or Amur tigers were plentiful on the Korean peninsula before Japanese colonization, and by the Korean civil war, sadly, tigers were extinct in Korea. Korean folktales often begin, “Back when tigers smoked…”
I began Tyger Tyger Jewelry in November of 2020, during the first year of the pandemic. Like many people who were not frontline workers but who were privileged to have employment, I was doing a lot of my work — teaching, speaking, etc. — over Zoom. I craved doing something tangible and creative, and that wouldn’t take weeks and months or years to come to fruition, like much of my other work, such as writing and editing books. I am self-taught, with the help of some YouTube videos, of course! I started selling on Instagram and then in 2022 launched Tyger Tyger Studio’s online store, with the help of Christine Rousu, web designer of So It Goes Design. I source my supplies mostly from Etsy sellers and also locally at my neighborhood bead shop, Beadhive on Nicollet Avenue and 54th Street in South Minneapolis.
Thank you to all my customers, friends, community, and everyone who has supported this tiny business! I’ve had the pleasure of doing a handful of pop-ups (thank you, Midwest Mixed, Modus Locus, and Summit Avenue Artisan Festival) and have had pieces sold on site by Chicago Fire Arts Center and currently have pieces at Jupiter Moon Ice Cream in St. Joseph, Minnesota. I’m always looking for new venues, opportunities, collaborations, and partnerships! Please contact me with any ideas!
Why Tyger Tyger and not Tiger Tiger?…