Gina Perestrelo
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Gina is the creative behind Mien Design, a Calligrapher and Lettering Artist based in Jersey. After successfully owning her own creative business prior to her daughters birth, Gina decided to pursue her passion and officially launch “Mien Design Jersey” In 2015. You will find Gina creating many hand lettered pieces, from Wedding Invitations and ‘On the day pieces’, Stationery, large scale hand created Wedding and event Signage, Place name cards, Wedding Vows, Poems, Phrases, She will not be phased, writing her beautiful designs on Mirrors, Wood, Acrylic, Leaves, Fabric, Pebbles, Tiles and Slate. As long as it is relatively smooth, Gina will create a work of beauty, in words for her clients. Further interest came for Gina, in creating her own bespoke hand lettered Fonts, so this is another creative area she is developing.
Gina also creates the specialist nib holder writing tools that are required to create many styles of calligraphy. They are hand turned from wood by Gina's skilled husband, and then individually hand painted and embellished, to create a one of a kind piece to be treasured for years to come.
In November 2017, Gina launched her first Modern Calligraphy workshop, enabling her to educate others and share her passion for beautiful penmanship, and this love for educating and guiding others continues with regular workshops to develop your skills in the lettering field.
“I get to do what I enjoy on a daily basis and for that I am truly grateful."
Tell us about your path to setting up your business and what motivated you?
Gina’s journey into Calligraphy began after a wish to become a positive role model to her daughter, whilst she was beginning to learn to form her letters and writing at school. It wasn’t long before Gina’s interest in creating letterforms developed into a love for the Art of Calligraphy and all aspects of Lettering Design. ‘I began getting a lot of requests from friends and family to create pieces for them to gift’, and so Mien Design Jersey was born.
“Mien” is a French word meaning “Mine” and really thats why Gina creates, pieces that will be important to people, that will be cherished for many years to come, and that will create a sense of belonging in their families memories.
How do you work and what is a typical day like for you?
Her Studio is based in her home in Trinity, which allows Gina the flexibility to work around her family commitments. There is no typical day for her, every project is variable, but it can be a sit down with a coffee and catch up with her emails first thing, then a daily warmup nib and ink session to exercise and develop new lettering skills. Many people do not realise that there is a daily commitment to Calligraphy and if you don’t use the skill you do loose the fluidity of being able to create in a controlled and beautiful manner. Then she will concentrate on her current project timelines and she can find herself doing anything from addressing 200 envelopes, pencil drafting a beautiful poem, to creating delicate line drawing floral illustrations to embellish a project, using watercolour, to creating digital designs. When she is using her calligraphy nib and ink she is in her most favourite place, but must have ‘peace and quiet’, She simply cannot be disturbed, as this is her final stage of creating a piece and she requires a serious level of concentration, to prevent catching a paper fibre in her work. Gina’s day is always varied and fun and she invests a lot of time in her continued professional development and training so she can continue creating the perfect piece to exceed her clients vision.
What are the best parts about your business?
It has to be when a client receives the final project, and to see their ideas come to life. In a world that is so digital, I love being able to work creatively in my business, to create by hand, unique bespoke pieces. I have always been a creative soul, and enjoy learning new skills in many areas to satisfy my creativity. I get to do what I enjoy on a daily basis and for that I am truly grateful. I love how varied my days can be, and I love gaining inspiration from everything around me.
What has been your greatest struggle as a business owner so far?
By far for Gina her greatest struggle as a business owner has to be working as a sole creator. Her calligraphy skillset is her business, so she cannot just pass work onto others when it gets busy, it must all be hand created by her, and this takes time. Gina will never jeopardise a project she is working on to squeeze another project in. Beautiful calligraphy cannot be rushed, and she will not take on more work, than she can physically do. The result of this is beautiful bespoke pieces created for her clients. But a few more hours in a day would be helpful!
What has been your biggest a-ha moment so far?
The biggest A-H-A moment for Gina is that you must create slowly, its a process and it takes time, sometimes you need to gather your thoughts and take time out to be fresh and ready to create the perfect piece. ‘You cannot create your finest work if you rush, and this definitely goes for Calligraphy. When I create each ink mark on my page, it makes up the letters that become the words of the piece. Calligraphy is not written word by word, it is created by each line and curve and this takes time, and precision. "You cannot just whittle out your best work straight off the bat, it needs to be designed, centralised, balanced and embellished, to create" and only when Gina is totally happy will her pencil versions make the stage to be finalised in ink.
Do you have any advice for other small business owners?
My advice to others is to give their idea or concept an opportunity to grow, work hard on developing their business in their free time. You need a supportive family. Being Self employed is not for everyone, If you cannot invest the additional hours of work to do this alongside your regular job, you may find being self employed is not for you, however, you will never know if you do not try… Ask any self employed person and most couldn’t give you an exact figure for how many hours they work a week, but it is the most satisfying thing. As the saying goes, ‘Find something you love, do it as a job, and you will never have to work another day’.
What currently inspires you?
I am always inspired by everything around me, florals, photos, shop fronts, typography, fonts, other professionals. When you work within the very visual world, you develop inspiration from everything that you see. I am always thinking of how I can incorporate a word and develop its design, what details work, what creates balance, or not as the case may be, my creative brain is never resting!
You can contact and find me here
