Hello, friends!
I'm Wanda, an italian-polish illustrator, currently based in Italy. I work with both traditional and digital mediums, to tell and create many different stories.
I grew up watching anime and fell in love with their sceneries since age 4, my work is highly influenced by japanese pop and traditional culture, but takes inspiration from everything that surrounds me: music, places, emotions, books, thoughts... I want to create a peaceful world with my art, a nice hideout that gives both escape from reality and food for thought, a safe place for everyone.
Do you want to know my story?
Hanakotobahime is officially born in 2018, but I've been drawing for almost all my life.
I grew up in a family made of people who truly appreciate art and who always encouraged my interest in that by spending time drawing with me or watching art books together, and sometimes even by taking me to art exhibitions. They were so enthusiast about my passion for drawing, but I can't say the same when it comes to anime... And maybe that's one of the reasons they became so important to me! I don't have lots of memories from my childhood, but the first true fight against my parents was probably about me absolutely wanting to watch anime. I won, but the thing that really made me happy was that they started to like them too, and sometimes we still watch anime together. Why am I telling you this? Because this is where the whole story started! The first time I ever saw Japan was through CLAMP's Card Captor Sakura: the image of that little girl standing before the Tokyo Tower really touched my heart and made me think "I want to go there, I want to see that place". They say you never forget your first love, and so it is. My childhood dream was to become a mangaka, I had a real fixation on that point. I did nothing but draw and watch anime on TV, I was always looking for the opportunity to create something, even at school, and I started to make my own short comics when I was 10. I kept drawing and drawing, then, after one year at the Language high school, which I really hated, but probably would have taught me English better than this, I got to attend an Artistic high school. As many of us experienced, teenage years are not an easy phase, but my passion for drawing was always by my side, even in the worst moments. When I was 18 years old, something broke, still don't know how, nor why. I'm not saying that I stopped loving art, but I couldn't draw like before anymore. I've tried photography and got very fascinated by it and eventually started to take lots of pictures, especially at live concerts. I've studied Photography for three years at the LABA Academy in Brescia, in Italy, then graduated. I still like to take pictures at concerts and festivals and sometimes collaborate with my friends from Versus Music Project, but when I was studying I quickly realised that it wasn't the right path for me, that I've never dreamed about working as a photographer, it was just an hobby. For multiple reasons, college years have been even more difficult than the teenage ones, but thanks to that I had the opportunity to stop, think and literally be saved by drawing, again. I worked hard to start my small business and then studied for another couple years at the LABA Academy & graduated in Fine Arts in 2022.
We all go through difficult times in life, but they can teach us many useful lessons. I think I've learned and I'm still learning a lot, and all these things reflect in my illustrations, which are a mix of japanese/anime-like aesthetics, songs, dreams, nightmares and a desire of serenity, which is probably the hardest thing to gain nowadays.
There is this beautiful japanese technique called Kintsugi, do you know it? It consists in repairing ceramics with gold, and it's also a metaphor that I really love and tend to put quite everywhere. Wounds are important, they can make us better, they can make us shine, it depends on how we try to deal with them.
If you'd like to, you can always follow my journey on my social medias, such as Instagram, Facebook and TikTok .
Thank you so much for your visit! I hope you have a peaceful day.
This doesn't concern your orders from my shops on SuperGeek and RedBubble.
At the moment, I'm using postal services to ship my items. Orders are usually shipped on mondays.
ITALY:
Posta1 - il prezzo parte da € 2,80 e può variare a seconda del peso. Non è tracciata. La spedizione avviene solitamente in 1-4 giorni lavorativi.
Raccomandata - il prezzo parte da € 5,40 e può variare a seconda del peso. Tracciata. La spedizione avviene solitamente in 4-6 giorni lavorativi. Consegnata direttamente al destinatario con firma, in caso di assenza, rimarrà in giacenza presso l'ufficio postale della tua zona per 30 giorni.
ZONE 1 - EUROPE AND MEDITERREAN COUNTRIES:
Postapriority Internazionale (PRIORITY MAIL) - price starts from € 3,50 and may vary depending on the weight. Tracked only from the postal office to the International Exchange Center. Not tracked outside of Italy. Usually takes 3-5 working days.
Raccomandata Internazionale (REGISTERED MAIL) - price starts from € 9,50 and may vary depending on the weight. Tracked from start to end. Shipping times may vary depending on your local postal service.
ZONE 2 - AFRICA, AMERICA AND ASIA:
Postapriority Internazionale (PRIORITY MAIL) - price starts from € 4,50 and may vary depending on the weight. Tracked only from the postal office to the International Exchange Center. Not tracked outside of Italy. Usually takes 5-9 working days.
Raccomandata Internazionale (REGISTERED MAIL) - price starts from € 10,85 and may vary depending on the weight. Tracked from start to end. Shipping times may vary depending on your local postal service.
ZONE 3 - OCEANIA:
Postapriority Internazionale (PRIORITY MAIL) - price starts from € 5,50 and may vary depending on the weight. Tracked only from the postal office to the International Exchange Center. Not tracked outside of Italy. Usually takes 7-8 working days.
Raccomandata Internazionale (REGISTERED MAIL) - price starts from € 11,90 and may vary depending on the weight. Tracked from start to end. Shipping times may vary depending on your local postal service.
Click here to check your PRIORITY MAIL zone.
Click here to check your REGISTERED MAIL zone.
Registered Mail can be tracked from start to end when shipped to the following countries:
If your country isn't mentioned and you need to track your package, write it to me in your e-mail and together we'll find the best solution for you!
Do you want to make an unique gift? Do you need a logo, or maybe a catalogue? A cover art for your book?
Whatever you're looking for, choose your fighter and write to me!
Please consider that the final price may have a slight variation due to taxes.