Why Everything is Sentimental to Ruby Gold

Written by Jess Huang

Image courtesy of Ace (@/beiacemj)

Ruby Gold (she/they) is the mind behind the whimsical, maximalist art project/clothing brand, Orchard NYC (@/orchard.nyc on IG). You may recognize her designs, which feature nostalgic, poetic motifs adorned atop vintage slips, tights, and other wearable art pieces. From writing online as a tween novelist to big sister advice on staying creative and authentic to yourself, read about why everything means so much to Ruby! 

J: Hiii! For our readers at DWG, tell us who you are, what you love, what you believe in, anything!

R: Yesss! So, a little intro - I feel like this is my dating profile. I’m Ruby, and I’m the owner of Orchard. And I’m a Libra; that’s kinda apparent in my work! I’m obsessed with aesthetics, very happy and bubbly [ones]. My star sign really comes through. My inspo comes from where I grew up, in upstate New York. There's a lot of nature in my work, just the nostalgia of being part of this last generation...like my mom threw my ass outside. I was playing outside, in my yard, all day. We lived in a not super well-maintained house...I didn’t grow up super wealthy; we were living paycheck to paycheck, so a lot of my entertainment was just amusing myself outside. I was really into fairies. A lot of my imagery has to do with grass being overgrown, flowers being overgrown, all the wildlife [in that area]. I also wrote a lot, like all the writing on the shirts I made, it’s all of my poetry. I’m trying to work on it, it’s beating my ass but I really want to make a zine with just my poetry on it. I get really self-conscious sharing my writing, so printing it on shirts where they’re little secrets feels like a less vulnerable way to share. But, I’m trying to work up my courage to put my writing out there because it’s a really important medium to me. A lot of the imagery is pictures that I’ve taken and are memories to me, little doodles, open-access imagery. I love growing up with the Internet [because] we have access to so many free resources. I’ll just open up museum databases, I love Unsplash. I’ll look through and edit stuff all day. My sister is also a botanist, and they’ll send me pictures of tropical flora. Just an amalgamation of my whole life! 

[Orchard] literally feels just like my diary, and it’s just how I’m feeling at any given point! Everything means so much to me! Everything is so sentimental! You can find so much beauty everywhere, everyday is such a beautiful day, even though not so beautiful things can happen to you, they still mean so much. As artists, we’re processing information at any given point, and we’re trying to make sense of it by making something. I’m sure that’s something all artists can relate to. I’ve found a way to make it my career, but I think I’d be doing that regardless.

J: Totally - sometimes I get mad at myself for feeling too much, but I remember that it’s a privilege to be capable of caring!

R: That’s so special, to see what the artist was going through [at any given moment]; it brings us closer together. [Art] is such a good way to connect with other people - it’s so special!

Image courtesy of Dani Van Winkle (@/danivanwinkle)

J: We first met at a pop-up, and I immediately felt this welcoming and community-oriented energy that you bring when you interact with the beautiful people who stopped by. How do you feel your communities (other creatives, businesses, the queer community, the Brooklyn community, the online community) have played a role in your journey and process?

R: I’m so grateful because it's such a privilege! It’s hard to build community, and there’s so many things you can build community with. I feel that my target audience has always just been people that I would kick it with, even if I wasn’t selling stuff. I’m a very extroverted person. I love making friends. I always want it to feel welcoming and safe. [For] anyone that is interested in what I’m doing, I want them to feel comfortable and that they would wanna be my friend, and that I would wanna be theirs. I’ve started to expand that by doing the workshops; I love doing what I do and am glad I get to monetize part of it, because that’s the way I can keep doing it full-time. Having the brand and making the clothes - I love doing that stuff. But the business stuff, I’m not good at that stuff, I’m not a salesperson, I didn’t go to school for that - my accountant can deal with that. The people-to-people connection is meaningful and supportive to me. Doing the workshops, getting to hang out with people, throwing events, posting on social media - that’s the stuff that’s really special. People see me doing that, and it’s garnered a community. Also, being a queer person, I want to share that with people. If someone isn’t interested in that, they probably shouldn’t be following me. And that attracts other queer people who want that community, especially in the arts scene! [People] want to see someone in a happy lesbian relationship thriving, and [see that they] can do it too! It makes everyone closer together to see a queer person doing their thing. 

J: What’s your journey with Orchard been like? How have you felt you’ve evolved as a creative and a small business owner? What are some challenges and wins you’ve experienced with balancing these two very different roles? I saw you posted something about Shein emailing you on Instagram recently about a collab?

R: Anytime I’m posting about Shein, it’s for engagement, I’m joking about it. I’m very confident in what I’m doing. AliExpress and Shein, we all know they’re terrible. There’s a lot of debates online with business owners seeing people copy them, taking inspiration. It’s just a natural part of owning a business, and I literally teach workshops to show people how to do what I’m doing. I do that because I’m confident in my style, and when people wanna do something similar, it’s because they like it, they’re interested, they’re inspired. There’s a lot of grey area in that, but that’s not as much of a challenge for me because I understand it as a natural part of growth and a successful business. I’ve seen sublimation printing become a more popular process since I’ve started doing it; other people want to start businesses as well, and it might look similar to mine. I would rather people learn how to do it, have fun, and be creative. 

The problem for me is having a good work-life balance: I have a disabled pitbull and two snakes, I have a zoo in my house! Being a pet mom, in a long-term relationship, I have contact with my mom’s side of the family, so, [I’m] also trying to be a good sibling and daughter. Trying to create art that’s not monetized, going to the doctor, taking care of myself: I think that I can get really lost in my work. 

The collage work is popular, but trying to balance“ people like what I’m doing with this,” and naturally exploring the progression of my art [is difficult]. When you’re monetizing art, people come to buy a specific thing, but it becomes hard to navigate wanting to branch out while having finances tied to this. Some of the artistic integrity is hard to balance. It’s different than when it’s like“ I have a nine-to-five and I can buy a lot of art supplies.” [I think about]“ Do I have the money to do that?”,“ What if people don’t buy it?”, and“ What if it doesn’t do as well?” But I’m so grateful that this is my life; it’s not a hard problem to have. I love what I do! I love that I’m betting on myself! It’s hard, but it’s worth it! Anything I struggle with, well, it’s because I’m doing this really awesome thing! 

Image courtesy of Ruby Gold (@/nail__fruit)

J: Other than Orchard, I know that you also do nail art over on @/nail__fruit on ig (yes I did a bit of stalking!), what other forms of self-expression and creation do you enjoy?

R: Sooo, I have severe ADHD, I get bored easily. Art is so therapeutic for me, so I’ve done so many types of art. I love to work with my hands. I was really hyperfixated on the nail art for two months, and I haven’t done any recently. I spent more than two hundred dollars on nail supplies. [For example], the Dremel I got I [now] use for sanding stuff. There's this builder gel, which is basically just a resin clay. I use it to sculpt, I use it to make molds for jewelry. 

J: It’s all connected!

R: Yeah, I don’t care that I spent so much money on it because I end up using it. Those mediums that you get really into, and then discard…they'll always come back in some way. So, don't feel guilty for getting really, really into [something], because that skill will pop up [again] at some point, and you'll be so grateful.

In chronological order: My grandpa was the reason I've always done art and [why it’s] so important in my life. My grandpa,  Zadie – which is the Yiddish way you say it – was an optometrist, but he was also a painter. There’s pictures of me when I was three, in a diaper, painting. He was the first exposure I had to art. And then my mom saw that, like, I had a lot of sensory issues when I was growing up; she saw my neurodivergency and [saw that] I'm very sensory seeking. I was always playing in the mud when I was younger. So, she just was like,“ Okay, this girl needs to touch something.” So she had me doing ceramics camp when I was younger. And I always remember even when we were the poorest we ever were, I was at a community arts thing, doing whatever free access there was to art, or even something she paid for.

[And] I write, I've written since I was little. I was on this website called KidPub, and it was a blog for kids who were into writing. But it was this old site, it almost was formatted like fanfic sites like Wattpad, [where] people can publish stuff. I literally wrote this novella that was 200 pages, and it was called The Indigo Child, and it was about this teleporting, autistic girl (who was obviously based on me). I was so into writing when I was younger, like literally writing novels. And then when I try and write now, I can barely get a poem out. Dude, I was pouring my heart and soul into that stuff. It just comes out of you, and it's pure, authentic creativity. 

When I was in high school, we had a pretty good arts program because the area I grew up in, New Paltz, was very wealthy, so we had a great public school. And I got to do ceramics again. Then there was also a separate program that I did with my friend where I got to do figure drawing.

The way I started pivoting towards [creating more with] fabrics and stuff [was that] I got a job with one of my friends working at a textile dyeing studio. And I really loved that. [For] the first time, I was like,“ Oh, wait, I can combine something that's really in demand, like fashion, and a medium that’s [beyond] a painting on a wall.” And I was screenprinting a little, [but] screen printing is really hard because I have a herniated disc in my back. And then I went on a Hinge date with this girl who went to Parsons, and she had a sublimation printer. And I was like,“ Wait, this is so ergonomic and cool.” And it's a lot easier on [my] body. Also, I love taking pictures, collaging, writing, and I can use this [method], because it's a digital medium. 

That was how I started, but I feel all those mediums before [this point] informed this process. It's just me trying stuff. [Sublimation printing] wasn't cheap, but I invested in it. There's not much of a learning curve, which I really like. I think when there's a big learning curve with art, it really discourages me, because I want to try everything. So if it takes a long time to learn, not to master because mastering things takes forever but just to actually conceptualize how to do it, I get frustrated. 

J: What food would encapsulate Ruby/Orchard’s essence?

R: I love that. I love that question. I love food. I'm just thinking of my favorite food, which is flan. But I feel like Orchard would be something pink, so maybe a raspberry or strawberry. Some type of fruit, because I love fruit so much. We had so many raspberries growing up upstate, because the Hudson Valley is a big agricultural area. My mom would always take us raspberry and blackberry picking and stuff. [Or it would] have to be something sweet or sugary, maybe like those Peelerz gummies. Oh. Yeah, like, a mango [one]. They're so good. Have you had the lychee ones? 

J: No, but I keep seeing mukbangs of people eating them. 

R: You need to try them. [It’s] fucked up how good they are. They also taste so much like real fruit. 

J: Yes! Ok...similar question, but Orchard as a song?

R: For a while, I had this function on my website that lets you play a song; I used to have“ Par Five” by Kitty Craft. I just saw them live, and I literally started crying. I love their music so much, it inspires me so much. 

Image courtesy of orchardnyc.com

J: Do you have any advice for our readers, especially any queer, young, aspiring creatives who are looking to make more art or start their projects? 

R: I feel like a wise, big sister. Just start making stuff! And the first couple of things you make, whatever medium it is, if you're trying something new, if you're in a creative rut, you have to accept that you're going to make stuff that sucks. So you just want to keep making stuff and just create as much as possible. And if you take breaks from creating stuff, too, don't beat yourself up about it, because it's gonna come back around. That's just when you're experiencing things you can process later [through creating]. As much as you can’t control it, because you know you can't control how you feel about yourself or how you're perceived, just try and remember that you are such a wonderful person. Whatever you're experiencing, you should be proud of yourself, because you're doing it. You're taking on life, which is an incredibly complex and difficult thing to do. And you'll look back at yourself and be really proud, even if in the moment, what you're doing feels scary. 

Something that I try to do is really connect with who I was when I was younger, and what my purest values and aspirations were at that time. I [then] try and make sure that those shine through in my adult life, whether that's in my free time, with what I'm choosing to do in my life, or the people [that are] going to be in my life. 

They might love what you're doing; they might hate it. But you are doing what feels right for you, and you are hopefully choosing to surround yourself with the people who will encourage that process within yourself. You're growing and learning, things will change along the way, but you're always going to be yourself. Whatever you make is a pure depiction of who you are. So that might not look like what everyone else is doing, but again, that just means you're being true to yourself. It's so amazing that we get to be alive and experience things, and however you express that creatively, the right people are going to love it. So, don't compare yourself to what other people are doing, because whatever you're doing is unique, and it's you, so it's authentic. Really trust your intuition. Because you are the only person who is living your life. You are the only person who can truly know what's best for yourself. And hopefully, you have the people along the way to boost that. But ultimately, it's all on you to make sure that you're making the most of everything. We are so oversaturated with what everyone else is doing because of the time that we live in, not that we were never meant to be, but when we were younger, we weren’t inundated with what everyone else is doing around us, and you really had to be more introspective. [But] because we're so surrounded by what other people are doing, it feels like it’s really hard for our generation to conceive their own identity, even though everyone is hyper-independent. It's just hard to figure out like, “Who am I truly? What do I want to do? What should I do? How should I create? What should I do for work? How should I dress? [Even] me giving this advice; girl, I have to take my own advice. It's hard when you're in a big city. You see other people living in the same city [with] such a different lifestyle than you. So it's like,“ Oh, is that person doing it right?” Maybe they are, but maybe [it’s just] not for you. It's hard to be an adult and figure yourself out, and there's no wrong way to do it.