Crossroads of Creativity with Regina Linke

Creativity through the lens of an author and illustrator

"Being a creative person, you can just do whatever you want."

I’m Regina, a Taiwanese American author and illustrator specializing in contemporary Chinese gongbi-style painting, an ancient form of brush painting that depicts narrative subjects in colorful high detail. Using traditional ink and wash techniques in digital painting, my illustrations deliver classic subjects through a modern lens.

I did not go to art school! Born and raised in Texas, I’ve always enjoyed the creative arts, but I didn’t learn traditional Chinese painting until after I moved with my young family to Taiwan in my mid-thirties. Holding management degrees from Washington University in St. Louis and Cornell University, I’ve worked in marketing technology and information systems for the travel and tourism industry. Now, I create stories that celebrate East Asian folklore and philosophy in an accessible way.

My most notable creations are the characters from The Oxherd Boy, an inspirational webcomic that started on Instagram. A young boy, his family ox, and a rabbit living in his garden convey the three core schools of Classical Chinese thought: Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. The collection of these inspirational pieces called THE OXHERD BOY: Parables of Love, Compassion, and Community released as a bestseller in 2024, and was followed in 2025 by an award-winning original story for children called Big Enough. Its companion book Little Helper, which expands on the themes and message of community, comes out in May 5, 2026.

I’m currently working on The Tao of Nature, an illustrated collection of meditations sharing examples of Taoism found in the natural world.

I’m happy to live in Rhode Island with my husband, kids, and our rescue, Yuki.

https://reginalinke.com/

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/regina-linke/little-helper/9780316531252/?lens=little-brown-books-for-young-readers

https://www.instagram.com/reginalinkeart/

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Helper-Regina-Linke/dp/0316531251/ref=sr_1_1?crid=BIG0S5LGH86Z&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.StdbX6LzRDwysizeKRnaicEFd1iO9FRyTxknbwF7KBwuWWUve1--byqyGluwDPSHZQ6Og5bbopJVAt7nBQEMY3midUZk3kMGWIJmhkaaWXDqIVGRIqmxod3tFkZpke6eHZGx2OHPQBsf7xOMBA1CeQm2dPafZ7bn4ODkUluJQnH07_VkwSsU0boGG92i0iGJVPwcnFXktKzqfFmHglHiOUvqjwcZXVfJOkEE6ZQDbSs.ronwEfZ7Y_a-A6_K6_K6ud3WIWO6CQ039gQsG1efabU&dib_tag=se&keywords=linke+little+helper&qid=1780427700&sprefix=linke+littl%2Caps%2C974&sr=8-1

Transcript

Mari 0:20

Welcome to the Sustaining Creativity Podcast. I'm your host, Mari Reisberg. Over the past several years, I've combined my degrees in acting and somatic psychology to share my sustaining creativity techniques with performers. And now I've decided to share with a bigger audience that includes you. I believe we are all creative, and this podcast is all about that. I'll be interviewing people from all backgrounds, ages, and creativity experiences to share just how creative we all are. Today I'll be chatting with Regina Link, author and illustrator. Please enjoy Regina Link. Welcome to the Sustaining Creativity Podcast. Today I'm chatting with Regina Link, author and illustrator. Welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Thanks so much. I think we're gonna have a fun conversation today.

Mari 1:17

I agree. I am really looking forward to creativity and the conversation of how it shows up in your work and your life. Before we get there, why don't you take a couple of moments and let our listeners know a little bit more about who you are and what it is you do?

SPEAKER_01 1:34

Sure. Um, so I entered into the creative career space pretty late. So I didn't actually start learning how to paint until I was probably 35. And I was already a mom and I already had a career prior to that. Um, but since then I have uh basically worked on an online webcomic that combines East Asian philosophy with traditional Chinese painting, which has then pivoted into um three uh traditionally published books. Uh a fourth one will be coming out in a couple of years. And so it's been really interesting to develop this side of my life, personality, career later. And um, it's just been such a wild and uh wild journey, a lot of growth, a lot of just self-discovery. And so I'm excited to share um exactly how that happened and unfolded.

Mari 2:31

Amazing. I I love the kind of coming to creative output or creative expression later, later in life. Because I think oftentimes we it does start early and then maybe we step away from it and come back to it. But that experience for you, why don't you take us a little on that journey from what were you doing before? And what was that pivotal moment where you decided I'm stepping into this more creative career space?

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Yeah, um, it's really interesting because as a kid, uh it's like you said, you know, I drawing and painting as a child was something that I could lose myself doing, you know, up until I was maybe eight or nine. And um, my parents were definitely very encouraging of me. They would sign me up for art camps and things like that. And so I did a lot of like really random things like base relief and uh, you know, pottery and you know, kind of the usual visual arts um of like painting and sketching. Um, but uh I was also I really like wanted to follow in my older brother's footsteps, and he was very just like logical, rational, very engineering-minded. And I was like, I'm gonna do the hard sciences and I want to be just like Jade and he's awesome. And uh, and I think like it was one of those things where I I was I did well enough academically where a hard hard science career or hard math career was still within the realm of possibility for me. And so I I I just like kept pursuing that and um and it it it just didn't figure into my life as a young person that having a creative outlet, even even if it wasn't professional, like could still fit into my world, you know? Yeah, and um, and so I I ended up not going into engineering, but uh I I did end up doing uh I ended up getting a business degree, which uh was was was interesting because I felt like I was at a crossroads in college where I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, and business just seemed like the thing to do when you don't know what you want to do, because everybody everybody has to make a living somehow, right? And so um, so I ended up doing uh uh international marketing. I worked in finance for a bit, uh, and uh I was just kind of like jumping around, uh saving money, you know, which which is great. And then um I remember working at a defense contracting company, and I think it was celebrating like some like 50th anniversary, and they like gave all the employees like this commemorative mouse pad with like five different missiles blowing up in different directions, and it was like we're keeping peace around the world, and like I I I had this like crisis of identity where I was like, what am I doing? And uh and so I ended up uh completely changing tack and I joined the Peace Corps and and so I was like, I'm gonna use my business skills for good and not evil, and so I my parents were like, What are you doing? And I I ended up moving to Peru for almost three years. Um incredible um experience because I was working with basically an association of women artisanal weavers and helping them with their business to get them kind of more export international market ready. And uh, we ended up starting a microfinance arm so that these women could basically become more um financially independent from their husbands. Excuse me. Um so that was like a side of the business world where I feel like it had this human quality to it. It wasn't divorced from um the people who are actually uh using business in order to um gain some kind of financial freedom, independence, um, and uh to be able to ha kind of build their own self-esteem in a certain way. And so yeah, it was it's it's been kind of a circuitous journey where you know, afterwards when I came back, I ended up going into the travel and tourism industry and started working at a nonprofit kind of similar where you know it's business, but you're also working with locals and uh helping them manage their own kind of uh tourism experience and and what does what does bringing in international money actually look like for a local population? Um and then uh I had a kid and and that took me out of uh the the nonprofit world for a little bit. Um, and my husband at the time also started working remotely, and so um my son was about two years old, and we had the chance to basically live abroad again, and I was like, oh, like this is the perfect time before he starts school, that we can, you know, just go somewhere. And so that's when we moved to Taiwan, which is where my parents immigrated from. And uh we specifically picked it because like one, like the cost of living was a lot lower. We were actually living in my parents' house, so we were lucky that like we had a place to live and you know we wouldn't be like you know, at each other's throats all the time. We actually get along quite well. Um and uh we we could you know survive on on a single income. And I don't know that we would have been able to do that in the states, you know, like there's sure there's some math that just doesn't work out, right? Um yeah, and so while I was there, that's when I started um taking Chinese painting lessons and kind of having the time to rediscover the things that you know used to help me just pass hours and hours of time. And um I I think that approaching uh art and art lessons as an adult was very different than as a kid. I think as a kid, I was just like, this is just for fun and I wasn't taking it seriously. It's not like I was applying myself very methodically to the craft. But as an adult and as you know, a parent to a young child, I think just having knowing that I had limited time to dedicate to this, I just I knew I wanted to do it well and I wanted to use the time to learn as much as I could. And so I approached the academic rigor of being in kind of this at lier um setting where this this kind of painting that I do is called Gombi, and it's um it's very meticulous work and um and it takes a lot of time to render basically a single painting. And uh so working with a teacher who was familiar and you know a master of this craft and um really took the time to I guess force his students to go through the ropes and jump through all the hoops and you know, yeah, it was it was very grueling, but um, I think it for him it was just like it's foundational, you know. And I think as a kid, if I had learned it, like I would have just been like, eh, no thanks. Right, right, yeah, yeah. Um, but uh at some point, um, you know, he he did say, like, he was like, you know, Joy, uh, like Regina, like it's it's interesting that someone who grew up in the States in the West is still able to, you know, master a fair amount of the technique that East Asian painting um offers because um it's just such a different style. Um and then he also went on to tell me, but at the same time, like you're you're never gonna be like this like fine artist in the Chinese painting space, because in in Chinese arts it's it's like a combination of like Chinese philosophy with the Chinese painting with Chinese poetry. And so it's it's this like confluence of different art forms coming together, uh in addition to Chinese calligraphy, which like I'm practically illiterate in Mandarin, like much less I can't even learn like Chinese, traditional Chinese calligraphy. And so he was like, you know, it's it's possible that you might be able to master this in like 25, 30 years. But you have to work really hard and you have to be honest about how much time you're willing to sacrifice from your family, from your other interests to actually apply yourself to that. And you know, I grew up in the States in the 90s, you know, when everyone was getting participation trophies and everything like that. And so, like for my teacher to like basically say, like, this isn't gonna happen for you unless you make some really serious sacrifices, I was like, oh, just sniff me in the heart, right? Yeah, oh my goodness. Um, but you know, like and so he was right. And um, he said that, you know, you can take what what I've taught you. You have you've picked up enough skills, um, you can take your understanding and perspective of you know, Western style composition, what do you understand from uh the American marketplace, what people gravitate towards in terms of art and illustration, and you could still make a career for yourself, but you just have to figure out your own way. Um, and there's no one who's gonna be able to do that for you. And so he did give me an out. It's not like he was just like, no, you're you're done, you're washed up. Um so yeah, so in the end, um, you know, my son was around that, like around this time, he was probably four or five. And um I don't know if you spent a lot of time with young kids. I never did, I never babysat or did camps or anything like that. So for me to um kind of be with my son during this age when he's like coming of consciousness and like asking questions about like life and death and friendship and what's fair and everything. And so um this it kind of became this crucible of like both um this kind of working with a young child, Chinese philosophy, Chinese painting, and it all kind of came together um in the webcomic in The Oxford Boy, which is uh it takes um the three Chinese philosophies of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, and you know, there's three characters that basically dialogue about certain life questions, and um this became an Instagram account uh I don't know, maybe during shortly after the pandemic, and and kind of was able to take off because everybody was online and waiting for inspirational, like feel-good messages to help us through the tough times. And uh, and then once that happened, um I I was I was like, hey, like maybe this could be a traditionally published volume. And so I started looking for literary agents, got connected with one who seemed to understand um kind of where I was going with it, and she recommended um basically since it started with my son, like why not make it more child friendly? And so she helped me develop some picture books, I picture book ideas, and we were able to um basically pitch it to uh like yeah, publishers, and it just yeah, it's been wonderful to be able to work on the books with different editors and art directors because I think before it was kind of just isolating work, I was just working on my own, and to be able to share that with um an entire kind of team now who also have their ideas and uh you know uh recommendations on what might be more appealing to an American kid versus like uh an older adult, um, which is how the Instagram kind of started, has been really interesting to kind of put myself in different kind of shoes and see how stories might be different than just kind of a philosophical little chat, you know. So it's taken on different forms, but it's definitely um been an evolution, and I'm curious kind of where it will end up, because it's really only been like five or six years since um I I like yeah, the books have kind of started taking off, and um, but yeah, that's kind of uh where I'm at now.

Mari 16:18

My goodness, that like such a journey to have gone on and to be where you are today. I'm so curious. Because of this kind of seemingly non-creative into creative journey, what does it mean to you to be creative?

SPEAKER_01 16:39

I guess um if you had asked me before I switched to this um career, I would have thought that being a creative person meant that you could just do whatever you wanted. Like I love that. Yeah, and to a certain extent, I think that it still can be. It still can be like very playful, um, very just free and very um open. And I think that's important to incorporate in kind of the the creative process uh and to kind of feed the the creative potential. Um I will never say that that is not part of it. I think I guess what I did not expect was um how integrated it is with other things that um might be viewed as limitations to creativity. So um, for example, uh just I I would have never expected like being a mom would have led to a creative career. Like being a being a parent is like it's I don't know, I I find myself like, oh, like you you have to watch what you say around kids, you have to watch what you do, you have to have like strict, like or like you know, more strict routines, you have to it's like it it it I don't know, like oftentimes like being a parent has felt limiting in certain ways, and then but then at the same time it's like without having gone through being a parent and having these conversations about life with my son at the time, like when I don't know that that I would have had the chance to think about these questions. Like, there are so many of the philosophies that I've been forced to consider um that I probably would have just taken for granted and like you know, never even reflected on. Um and so it's been interesting that you know these things have gone hand in hand, part in parcel, uh, which ultimately became something creative, but it wasn't like I just like pulled it out of the air, you know. I was kind of like forced into a situation in into a perspective, which then, you know, from there grew a potential to actually like do something creative with it. Um, and so uh yeah, I don't know. I I would say that is kind of the the surprising thing that that I've experienced myself.

Mari 19:22

Yeah, I I appreciate the kind of pondering of what would creativity look like had you not been a mom, had you not had those conversations with a young young child. Yeah, how how it might look different or show up in your life today. But I can appreciate that that you took the time to really dive into those questions because I think so often people dismiss children's curiosities as I'm saying annoying, but like oh yeah, there it is a hundred percent annoying. Children ask, you know, 144 questions a day, adults ask four, right? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Difference, but uh you know, kudos to you for like digging into it and saying, Oh wow, I hadn't thought about it in this way, and being able to turn it into something.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

And yeah, I think I think if it had been a different kid, it might not have worked out uh so so seamlessly. My my son is a very cerebral kid, and he will not settle for just like a blow-off answer, which has its pluses and minuses. I mean, even now he's almost 10 and he's still like, why are we here? I'm like, dude, that is like that's life's work the question. Yeah, yeah, like, and I wish I had a more solid answer for you, but like I just I was just quoted the prince, so I'm just like, we're just here to discover this thing called life, man. Like I love it, I love it, yeah, but I don't yeah, I don't know if that's any any more comforting to him.

Mari 21:16

Well he has a lifetime to figure it out, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm curious, having worked with this traditional Chinese painting style and instructor, and and then you know, working with editors and art directors and all of these things, how was that for you to, you know, take your work and then kind of allow others to tease it apart, make changes, you know, how was that experience for you navigating I call it challenge, but maybe it wasn't for you? I'm just curious what that was like.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Yeah, so um I think that it's definitely trying to strike a balance between what is I guess technically considered canon in the East Asian art tradition, and then what is a little bit more flexible in terms of appeal, consumer appeal, uh commercial appeal. And um I think that uh the the art form uh which is called Gombi, it's it I I think that it does lend itself to uh a more western um uh I don't know how to call it, like a like western tastes, I guess. Uh because it's it's colorful, it it's it's detail-oriented, um there's there's a lot of potential to like, you know, to have people, have nature, have animals. So it's it's a flexible enough uh tradition where um it can be applied relatively well in in a western space. Um the where it gets a little bit more um um difficult is the negative space uh side of the of Chinese art because um I do think that Western style illustration really is about like filling up space um often with color, uh often with very bright um kind of uh I don't know, color palettes. And uh, you know, and I think like East Asian art forms, there is more of a tradition of trying to strike a balance between light and dark and negative space and positive space. And um sometimes uh negative space should dominate in a particular scene or um um but it it it just looks a little weird, I think, to uh to a to a maybe like a kid who is used to seeing everything just like filled up and blah blah blah. And um, and so I I think the the balance then is in the story, um you finding the opportunities for negative space to appear when it makes emotional sense to what is happening to the character. Um so in um the the first children's book Big Enough, it's um it's a story about largely about being afraid of doing something and then um discovering your own way to through a problem. And so uh some of the illustrations that I then was able to sell and get my editors and art directors on board with is like the negative space is reflecting kind of an emotional sense uh uh that the character is going through. And so finding those opportunities to match what the visual tradition is with what the story is portraying uh is is was kind of my ticket out. Um yeah, and then uh let's see. Yeah, I guess uh the yeah, like that that's probably the biggest spot. And then um uh also just uh like from a writing perspective too. Um uh kind of traditional Chinese stories might not be so on the nose. Even with kids' books and folk tales, it's like a lot of things is like subtext and undercurrent. And um especially for kids in the States, I think I feel like a lot of children's books are very direct, you know, you you what you see on the page is what you get. And so um trying to strike the balance where not everything is spelled out in the words and the dialogue, and letting a child actually infer certain details or discover certain details on their own is also like a source of, oh yeah, like you said, like a challenge to convince that, convince the editors or the you know, the readers uh that like, hey, like, you know, kids aren't actually like that um dumb. Like you don't need to smell everything out for them. Like they can they can draw context clues and and and infer their own meanings from from what you're presenting them. And even if they get it wrong, it's not the end of the world, you know, like it's sure it's gonna be okay. And uh yeah, so I think um uh being able to work with like my editors have been great and and and the art direction has been wonderful. Um, but I think it's just like you know, we're just coming from different perspectives and just trying to find a way to meet in the middle is um has been a really good opportunity for me because it also tests my understanding and um you know, like things that I'm like, yeah, it's fine. And it's just like, wait, well, like, is it really like why is it fine? Yeah, yeah. And and so I think like having that kind of second look has has also been helpful because once you know we settle on something, like it just gives everyone more confidence that it's gonna work out.

Mari 27:39

That makes sense. And and that what you were saying about you know, children being allowed to infer and make their come to their own conclusions about things, like that in in my world of creativity is actually allowing them to be creative within the story and figuring things out for themselves. So yeah, I really appreciate that that interweave of what traditional Chinese story fairy tale slash art allows in that regard. Well, for people who are maybe just starting their own writing journey or illustration journey, what are the things that you would have liked to have heard when you were first starting on this journey? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 28:33

Um, so I think that um one thing that I probably would have liked to have done earlier is just to just to start, just to start somewhere. Um I think that um getting over that initial hump of just putting a pencil to paper or whatever, just start typing um is like there's never gonna be the perfect moment to begin. And so it might as well be now, and it might as well be total can I curse? Okay, okay, and it might as well be like totally shitty, it's going to be, and it's gonna be shitty for a really, really long time. So you might as well like start now, start being shitty now so that you can be better later, right? And and I don't think that anybody ever told me that. And uh and I think that as someone who discovered that for myself, that I was just like a terrible artist, or you know, I just terrible at drawing, I was terrible at at painting, but um, and I think that, you know, it would have been really easy for me to just stop because I was just so terrible for the first a hundred posts that I did on Instagram, you know, or whatever. And I think it's really easy to get discouraged, but it's just like you're never gonna get to that 101st one where you look at it and you're like, hey, that's actually not bad, unless you get through the first a hundred shitty ones, right? And so um I think that if if someone had just told me like it's okay to have a hundred terrible things, it's not a reflection of who you are as a creative person, as an artist, it's just something you gotta get through. Um, I think that I would have felt, you know, just a little more motivated, a little bit more relaxed about sharing things publicly. Sure. And so I I hope that, you know, as as as someone now telling telling people who are starting out, it's okay to suck for a little while and then and then you'll be fine.

Mari 30:45

Thank you for that permission. I think that's something everyone needs to hear. But yeah, it and it's okay. Make bad art and make a lot of it. And within that, something can emerge. And sure. Yeah, but we do have to keep keep going and keep at it. It's not make the one shitty art piece and say no more. Yeah, yeah. I've made one, let me make five more and see where. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Well, this has been such a treat chatting. I have one last question.

SPEAKER_01 31:20

Sure.

Mari 31:20

What does it feel like in your body to be creative?

SPEAKER_01 31:25

Hmm, it feels like I'm just connected. Um, I'm connected with my life, with the people in it, with the things that I do with my hands. I'm connected with what I see. And I think that the lack of connection is really what is painful to many people these days. And so to be creative, I think is just an opportunity to feel connected with so many things. And so that's I just feel tied to and um integrated with the world, and it feels great.

Mari 32:07

I love that as you're talking, just recognizing that when we feel that lack of connection, how painful that can be and how to tap back into connectedness with ourselves, with others, the greater world. Yeah, I can appreciate that a lot. Well, Regina, thank you so much for taking the time to join me. If people want to learn more about your work, your art, your books, how could they go about doing that?

SPEAKER_01 32:35

Sure. So uh those who are interested in kind of the Chinese painting philosophy, uh, it's oxhardboy.org. Um, and uh there's also regina link.com, which is more kind of like my author or artist um information. Um, but that's really where you can find all the info. And you know, I'll be sharing, you know, some behind-the-scenes media and uh other things for Mari. So you can also just go directly to her podcast page.

Mari 33:06

Perfect. Well, I will put links in show notes so people have super easy access. And thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me. This has been such a wonderful conversation. It's great, yeah. Thanks for listening to the Sustaining Creativity Podcast. We'd love to keep in touch. So follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We are at Sustaining Creativity. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts like your friends and family so they can listen to. We love to hear from you. So leave your reviews, comments, and questions. Check out our website, sustainingcreativity.com, for upcoming Oswald.