Amy Liu: On creativity, changing direction, and finding your way back to making

Amy Liu’s creative journey didn’t start with a plan to become an artist. Born in China and raised in San Francisco, Amy spent more than a decade working in tech before moving to Amsterdam. Along the way, she found her way back to creativity through gardening, embroidery, drawing and, eventually, watercolor painting.

Today, she teaches gardening, terrarium and watercolor workshops, while continuing to develop her own artistic practice. Her journey is a reminder that creativity doesn’t always arrive in a straight line. Sometimes, one hobby leads to another, a career change opens a new door, and something you once thought “wasn’t your thing” becomes an important part of your life.

We spoke to Amy about following curiosity, changing careers, learning to trust yourself, and why you shouldn’t wait until you feel “good enough” to start something new.

You were born in China, grew up in the US, worked in tech, and eventually moved to Amsterdam. What brought you here?

I was born in China and I moved to the States when I was 14. I was always kind of academic, and when I was young, my parents were always like, “You need to study well”. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and my degree was in pre-law, so I was planning to go to law school, working as a paralegal first. But then, I decided to try something else, and I ended up working in tech for more than 10 years.

I moved to Amsterdam 8 years ago, mostly because of love. My husband is American as well, and was already living in Amsterdam. I was feeling a little burned out, but in the US there's no burnout leave, so I just took a long trip in Europe and met him through friends during the sabbatical. We stayed in touch, dated long distance, and I decided to move to the Netherlands to be with him. I ended up finding a job also before arriving. I was still working in tech at first in Amsterdam and enjoyed it. But a lot has changed since then.

When did creativity and art first enter your life? Was it something you grew up with, or something you rediscovered later?

I was always a musical kid, but my parents never really encouraged me to pursue a career in arts because they think that art and music cannot make money, right? They wanted me to be academic and strive for something that can put food on the table.To be fair, I grew up in a country that is very competitive. So even though I was always musical and played piano for years and years, the goal was never to be a musician. That said, music has taught me a lot, such as discipline, which I believe is very important for any kind of craft. I am very grateful that my parents have provided me the opportunity and space to be exposed to music and performance art.

I was also never convinced that I can draw or was interested in getting better at it. After moving to the States, I didn't do a lot of creative stuff, aside from playing piano sometimes. Mainly because I was just so focused on getting integrated into a new culture, getting good grades, getting into a good university and working toward my career. The interest didn’t come until I came to Amsterdam and quite a few years in. I started drawing in 2022, so four years ago. By then, it’s been decades since I touched drawing, when I was a little child.

Tell me a bit about how you first discovered watercolour.

It was at the end of COVID. Most people say, “Oh, I discovered my creative hobbies during COVID.” For me, it was at the end of it. I remember finally being able to go out to restaurants and drawing there, which was really funny.

I actually first started with embroidering - that was a COVID hobby. I still keep it as a hobby because I just enjoy it. . I bought some patterns online and started wondering oh, these patterns are great, but can I also make one in the future? Then I thought, I'm not good at drawing, so maybe I should take some online classes and see what I can draw. In the videos, they recommended using watercolor to color your drawings. I gave it a try, and fell in love with it immediately. It’s funny to think that embroidery has led me to watercolor, and the last time I touched watercolor was probably kindergarten.

Gardening isn’t necessarily the first thing people think of when they think about creative hobbies. How did you get into it?

I actually started gardening before painting. When I came to Amsterdam, I made a friend that is really good at taking care of indoor plants. She gave me one spider plant and said,“ it's fine if you kill it, I have a million of these, just do what you can and have fun with it”. She also taught me some tricks like repotting. I remember really enjoying observing the plant, and the feeling of my hands in the soil when I was repotting it. One plant led to another, and I had so many indoor plants, since we only had a balcony back then.

After that, I was hoping to gain more knowledge about plants, and found this course about permaculture gardening for vegetables and fruits. That’s how I got into outdoor gardening.

I think art and gardening are kind of similar and are interrelated. On the surface they couldn't be more different, but for me a lot of the philosophical aspects are the same: letting go of control, the beauty of imperfection, etc. When you design a garden, what is beautiful to one person is very different than to another - same goes for art.

You now have both gardening and painting as part of your life. How do you balance the two?

I am still trying to figure it out actually, also as a business owner, which adds another layer. It's been 2 to 3 years now that I do both, and I think this year is starting to feel a little bit clearer to me.

In terms of my own rhythm, I try to do both every day, especially during warmer months. But permaculture gardening teaches us to observe nature and work with nature. That means a lot of times it’s better that we don’t intervene. So honestly, I try to “lazy garden” - I only do the work that’s necessary - the rest, I leave it to nature. That also frees up time for me to paint and do other creative things.

In terms of the business, gardening is a niche hobby. Not everybody has a garden or wants to garden. A lot of people don't see it as a creative practice. It is also very seasonal. So from March to July, I would be busy with gardening workshops, because people feel more inclined to spend time in the garden when the weather is warmer. This year I'm also starting to realize that the gardening side of the business is going to be more part-time. I will never stop gardening, and will continue offering terrarium and gardening workshops since I enjoy sharing everything I know about plants, but I'm going to focus a lot of my energy on the art side. There's so much there that I can improve and I would like to share the joy of painting with others - it’s very exciting.

What made you decide to turn these interests into workshops? Was there a moment when you felt ready to teach?

I think the inspiration is that I would like to share all the nice things I learn from gardening and painting with others, and hope to encourage more people to try these hobbies. On top of that I needed a change in my career. So I asked myself: How do I make sure on a day to day basis, I spend most of my time doing these things that I enjoy?

My transition from tech was not immediate - I first quit my job and started my own consulting business in tech, but I felt that I still needed a bigger change, something more drastically different. I was already gardening as a hobby and love sharing plant tips. My confidence came over time, and I decided to explore doing this as a living. The very first workshop I taught was a terrarium class, it was of course nerve wracking: I wanted to make sure everyone was enjoying it. And they did - they were all very encouraging and gave me very good and useful feedback as well. So to answer your question, no I didn't know if I was good enough to teach. But if I never tried, I would never know. The more I taught the more confident I became.

I also joined a collective called Cityplot where I am part of a very nice community that’s passionate about gardening. They have been very supportive and encouraging throughout.

Was there anything that helped you feel more comfortable before you started teaching?

To me, gaining confidence is like a little battle that I have every day: regardless if it's about my art or teaching a workshop, I have to fight my inner critics and imposter syndrome.

I am a bit of a perfectionist, and to me, gaining confidence is like a little battle that I have every day: regardless if it's about my art or teaching a workshop, I have to fight my inner critics and imposter syndrome. It sounds intense, but think of it as self-talk. I heard from someone describing something similar in Chinese. While there is no exact phrase for it in English, it means self-love and almost like hugging yourself every day and saying really nice, sweet things to yourself. It's not an easy thing to do, but if we keep thinking , “I'm not confident enough and too scared to try”, it's never going to go anywhere. Don't wait till you feel like you're good enough to do some things. Do it when you feel a little scared and that's how we challenge ourselves to grow.

Don't wait till you feel like you're good enough to do some things. Do it when you feel a little scared and that's how we challenge ourselves to grow.

One thing I want to highlight and am grateful for is that my friends really supported me. They really encouraged me by giving me the chance to try out classes on them. They also commissioned me to do paintings - those are my first commissions ever. They gave me a safe space and I felt they would never judge me. So I think if someone would like to try but is really scared of teaching, tell someone that you feel safe with and ask if you can try the workshops with them. You would then realize you're actually ready to teach or not and more importantly, if you enjoy teaching or not.

After doing workshops for a while, is there anything you would do differently now?

I would tell my brain to slow down a little bit during the launch of my workshop business and focus on what I can handle. I would also try to be less of a perfectionist. Because I am a one-person maker and a business owner, I cannot possibly do every single thing great at the same time. I learned throughout the years to start jotting workshop ideas down. It’s also been helpful to bounce ideas off someone, such as my husband or friends. They have been very honest and it was nice to have someone say to me, “hey, you are being a bit more ambitious than you can take on. Just focus on 1 or 2 workshop topics, and if it goes well, you expand.”

You’re based in Amsterdam Noord. How would you describe the creative community there?

What I like about the creative scene here in Noord is it’s not trendy or viral, and is very community driven. Not a lot of people necessarily know about them, but there are actually a lot of great events and initiatives going on in this neighborhood. I would say cool is the word that describes Noord best. I find it fun to explore, bump into little pockets, and discover cool events that’s happening near me.

What I like about the creative scene here in Noord is it’s not trendy or viral, and is very community driven.

What is your favourite part about teaching and what do you hope people take with them when they leave one of your workshops?

My favorite part of teaching is when I see somebody get excited about what they learn and they take home information that they can use. I love sharing the joy of growing plants and making art. I want to let people know that there's something outside of work.

I would also like to see people relax and just use the workshops as a chance to unplug and relax. It makes me really happy if I see people leaving with a smile, and hear them say, “oh, I learned so much”, or, “I'm really excited about this, I'm going to read more about this”.

And then of course, if they send me a photo of their garden, vegetable harvests or artwork, it will make my year.

I want to let people know that there's something outside of work.