#InConversation with Line & Honey
#BGFCommunity is our spotlight series featuring brands and businesses led by Black women and non-binary people.
we me witht Amberlee, founder of Line & honey — an illustration studio focused on minimal, mindful line drawings.
Amberlee shares more about her experience starting a business, becoming a vendor at Black Girl Festival and her plans for growing her business.
How would you describe your brand/ business?
Line & Honey has three main intentions, the first being to show up for women of colour. Our illustrations want to show we are visible, represented and owning our narratives. Often featuring women and her plants, the illustration style intentionally channels minimalism — we try to use as little detail as possible to illuminate the full picture, fulfilling our second aim, to produce a soothing, mindful experience when viewed. These two things come together for the final aim, to shed light on the softer, more reflective sides of women of colour — we celebrate the versions of us not often seen.
Why did you want to be a part of Black Girl Festival?
I went to the first BGF in London as an attendee and knew instantly that what had been created was a space I would want to be a part of. As line & honey grew from my passion project to a business in the years following the first festival, it felt like a natural progression. The thing that makes BGF so special is the presence of thousands of black women all in one space (when else does this ever happen?!). The positivity is palpable, the support is in abundance, and what was really important to me was how validating it to showcase yourself and your creative works in a safe space like this.How was being a vendor at the festival?
The experience was extremely validating and we can’t wait to do it again. The BGF team did a great job, and we met so many lovely black women and girls. We had meaningful conversations and shared lots of laughs.
How was being a vendor at the festival?
I remember the night before the first BGF I did (I did both last year and the year prior). I was so nervous — it would have been one of the first few fairs I had ever done and required me to prepare and learn things way out of my comfort zone. In fact, the second time I was also anxious because of the scale of the operation, but the apprehensiveness dissolves as soon as I step foot in my booth. Thinking more about the most recent edition of the festival last year, the whole day I was on a high. The enriching conversations, the feedback and the smiles that passed through the stall were enough to keep me on a high for weeks afterwards (not joking at all!). What is probably the most humbling, was the attendees — who in turn became supportive members of the line & honey community — spending their hard-earned money online & honey products. Considering how personal illustration is, and that I handprint all of my textiles, it still feels surreal that these women were so appreciative of my work and wanted to take them home. Selling out of items is ALWAYS going to make you feel proud that you showed up. Grateful for the BGF experience, and for all the wonderful faces I met whilst there.
What was it like being surrounded by other businesses owned by Black British women?
I can be a bit of a fangirl, so I was pretty much excitable the whole day! One thing that I underestimated is how important it is to be surrounded by your community in the flesh — there are lots of black women business owners that I have been able to connect with online via IG etc, but seeing them in their element, running their stalls and interacting with customers is so special. One of my favourite things about the festival is being able to reconnect with other business owners — not only are they inspiring, but it’s nice being able to talk about the wins & challenges that come with running a small, black-owned business. It feels like we can propel each other forwards, just with a simple understanding of the other.
What does community mean to you?
Everything! Being part of communities around me feels like such a privilege. I feel that its through community ‘membership’ and engagement that someone can truly connect with others and feel they are part of something bigger than themselves. I love that there are various aspects of one person that can belong to different communities — for example, I feel part of the black illustration community, and part of the mental health professionals or psychiatry researcher community. Whilst there isn’t much crossover between those two groups, I feel able to exist in both communities, and this permits me to accept/celebrate that I am multi-faceted as a black woman. I feel that often we are minimised and seen as one-dimensional, and the community feels like the antidote to this for me.
I spend a lot of time thinking about line & honey’s community — the response that is evoked from people who look at my illustrations is often similar. Calmness, wellbeing, a sense of visibility and space for mindfulness. This is the place my work is created from, so I am grateful that comes across and I want to spend more time developing the l&h community around these things this year. It’s important to me that serve my community by continuing to create a space where black women can see their softness and reflectiveness in art and feel able to communicate it where they wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.
