Air & Ink Studio combines my love of teaching music and art under one umbrella. I’m incredibly excited about what this new phase of my business will bring. Read on if you’re curious about how I got here.
The Voice Studio of Christina White
The Voice Studio of Christina White happened somewhat by accident. I joked with my boss about teaching voice. He offered me space to do it. I was between jobs and a new mom, so I decided to give it a whirl until I figured out what to do next. That was sixteen years ago. Since then, I’ve taught hundreds of students – as private voice students and in group music classes – and reinvented my business more than a few times. My business changes were generally small and incremental, though.
Then the pandemic happened.
Moving the Studio Online
Like everyone else in March 2020, I had a lot to figure out in a short amount of time. Thankfully, I was in the position to pivot to online voice lessons. Just before the shutdown, I started an application to teach on Outschool.com – an online learning platform for kids and teens. The pandemic spurred me into finishing it.
Once accepted on Outschool, I expanded my teaching from one-on-one voice lessons to group art and music classes. Art was a hobby mine and I had several things that could be easily translated into an online class. Between my private studio and Outschool, I discovered my love of teaching online. In May 2021, I took the leap and became a Certified Zentangle Teacher® (CZT) so I could tap into the rich resource of Zentangle.com and expand my teaching further.
The pandemic forced me to completely reinvent my business in a short amount of time, but many aspects of it – including the name – remained mostly unchanged. I dropped the “Voice” from the name when it became clear that my business was almost 50% art. My website was still all about my offerings as a voice teacher while my socials focused a lot more on my art. My business had a split personality and it became increasingly more difficult to make it clear what The Studio of Christina White as all about.
Enter Air & Ink Studio
Air & Ink Studio embraces both sides of my studio. Air represents the music and the air we need to sing. Ink represents my art which is predominantly created using ink pens.
Fancy new name and website… now what? More music and art, that’s what!
I will continue to teach private voice lessons online as I have been doing since March 2020. I love the ability to teach students from all over the world from the comfort of their own homes. Helping people explore their voice and gain confidence with their singing is one of the coolest jobs I could ask for. I will also continue to teach Zentangle® art classes as well as music composition and arranging classes. Of the many class ideas that I’ve tried over the last two years, these are the topics that I am most passionate about teaching.
I also have a lot of new stuff in the pipeline based on requests that I’ve received. Starting with the launch of this site, I am offering some of my art for sale through Society6 and RedBubble. Over the coming months, you’ll see more patterns and products become available. Also, this Fall, I will launch adult and family Zentangle® classes and clubs.
Over the coming weeks, watch this space as I launch a YouTube channel which will become home to my art videos. This Fall, I plan to start selling some of my music arrangements while posting my own performances and covers on my channel. This website will also become a resource for music students, parents of music students as well as artists of all ages and abilities.
Beyond that, I have some longer term plans that I’m cooking up – stay tuned! In the meantime, welcome to Air & Ink Studio. I’m so glad you’re here with me on this journey.