Chinese artist earns up to 1 million yuan a year making innovative pushpin paintings

Huang Jiameng, a woman artist from Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu province, has turned the production of innovative three-dimensional paintings made from pushpins and threads into a profitable business that can generate up to 1 million yuan (about $150,000) a year.

After graduating from her university in northeast China's Heilongjiang province in 2012, Huang started to work as a designer at an institute in Nanjing. However, she gradually became weary of the traditional nine-to-five office routine, and finally decided to quit her stable job and start her own business two or three years later.

Like many others, Huang also encountered setbacks in the initial stages of her entrepreneurial journey. Before becoming a painter with some accomplishments behind her, she had previously engaged in children's training and succulent plants cultivation. Neither endeavour turned out well for her.

"I have always taken a keen interest in doing crafts," Huang said, explaining her original intention in establishing a workshop producing handicrafts with decorative plants.

In 2019, Huang started to make paintings by using threads of various colors and large-headed nails, after she saw similar artwork online.

On one occasion, when a customer approached her and placed an order for a special gift for a friend's wedding ceremony, Huang came up with the idea of designing a painting featuring the Chinese character "double happiness", a traditional symbol for an auspicious wedding, against a red backdrop.

When producing this art piece, Huang first created the shape of the Chinese character "double happiness" by knocking nails into a wood board with a red background color, and then twined the yellow thread around the pushpins, making the work more three-dimensional and detailed than other ordinary paintings, she recalled.

This handicraft not only won over the customer who ordered it, but also garnered Huang a total of 70,000 fans on the first day after video footage of her making the painting was posted on Douyin, China's TikTok.

Today, Huang runs a workshop with four employees, including her husband, as well as more than 20 part-timers comprised of stay-at-home moms and handicapped persons. Stay-at-home moms are allowed to complete their pre-designed work at home, Huang pointed out, adding that most part-timers can pocket 2,000-3,000 yuan a month.

As for her future plans, Huang revealed that she will continue to concentrate on designing more innovative works and hopes to help more people increase their incomes by making these innovative paintings.