Today we’d like to introduce you to Donna Tran-Corona.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My name is Donna Tran-Corona and I’m a native San Diegan. Ever since I can remember, I’ve always had a strong appreciation for the arts and specifically paper goods. When high school came around and I was deciding to become an Interior Designer or Pharmacist, I took what was considered the “safer route” at the time and chose to major in General Biology in hopes of going into pharmacy school afterwards.
During my undergrad years at UCSD, I switched from wanting to be a pharmacist to something in the medical field, a geneticist, medical researcher, nutritionist and then finally an Optometrist. However, during my days that I volunteered at the student health clinic in the Optometry department, I discovered that science wasn’t my calling as I would have more fun decorating the windows than any of my other duties. After graduating with a B.S. degree in General Biology, I decided to take a different path and went to Mesa College to try out my first Interior Design class just to see what it would be like. One thing led to the next, I never looked back and graduated with a certificate in Interior Design in 2009.
The next seven years was spent working for a firm in San Diego where I specialized in designing kitchens and baths. I was a member of the National Kitchen and Bath Association, was published in various magazines (including 2 award-winning kitchen projects) and was also named one of the top 30 Under 30 designers in 2013 by NKBA.
Choosing to step away from the science field to pursue the arts was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made but will be forever grateful that I took that leap of faith. One of the biggest life lessons I’ve learned is the importance of listening to your heart and choosing your own path in life, no matter how different it may be from what everyone else is doing or what is considered to be the “norm.”
Please tell us about your art.
Although I was a successful kitchen and bath designer, my love for paper goods remained strong throughout my adult life. I had always thought of creating my own line of gift wrapping paper and eventually Paper Ave was started as an Instagram account to share my gift-wrapping ideas. When the side business officially launched in October 2015, it focused on gift wrap embellishments (mainly flowers made from scrapbook paper) that are meant to be used as a keepsake for all the care and time that goes into wrapping a gift.
In 2016, Paper Ave started to focus more on crepe paper flowers where each petal is individually cut, sculpted and glued to create these colorful and cheerful handmade blooms. The time it takes to create one bloom can range anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 or more hours. Having a not-so-green thumb myself, these paper flowers are a great way to savor the whimsical takes on mother nature. As someone who loves working with color, a lot of the inspiration for these flowers come from mother nature, traveling, and my previous experience as a kitchen and bath designer.
My goal with my flower-making is not only to help spread cheer to my clients, but also creating these low-maintenance paper flowers that would allow anyone to have the green thumb that they’ve always dreamt of (myself included). With paper flowers growing in popularity, I hope to continue inspiring others to help keep the art of handmade goods alive as well.
Now onto my second year as a full-time artist and business owner, many of the blooms created by Paper Ave are used for weddings, celebrations, large wall art installations, store window displays and various markets throughout the year. A number of workshops and private events throughout Southern California are also offered. Workshops are extremely meaningful to me as it allows the opportunity to gather a community together to learn something new and make new friends. It has been fun to bring back the element of gift wrapping into my business as well by hand-packaging each kit for every workshop.
Paper Ave has also been gracious enough to have its work featured by Martha Stewart and LOCALE magazine in 2017.
As an artist, how do you define success and what quality or characteristic do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
Growing up, I never thought that one day I would have a business of my own and be my own boss. As an artist, I feel like what defines success is being able to translate my message into my work and having my clients see that without me saying anything. My goal is to always create colorful and cheerful blooms and the best compliment that I can receive is to hear how happy the paper flowers look and make my clients feel. Having a good relationship and understanding of what my client wants in a custom project (no matter how big or small) and working together with them to achieve what they want are all essential to being a successful artist.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
Most of the work by Paper Ave can be seen on the Paper Ave website (www.paperave.com), Instagram (www.instagram.com/paperave) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/paperave). Although the majority of the work through Paper Ave are custom projects, there is also an online shop as an introduction to the product line.
Paper Ave also participates in various market events throughout Southern California where the blooms are featured as a paper flower shop, allowing customers to choose from a pre-made bouquet/arrangement or to create a bouquet of their choice. Information on upcoming events can be found on the Paper Ave website on the Event’s page.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.paperave.com
- Email: donna@paperave.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/paperave
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/paperave
Image Credit:
SamErica Studios
Rachael Smith Photography
Eric Hiyoshi Chan Photography
The Light and Glass Photography
Alison Brynn Photography
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
