It has been a while since I posted on this blog...well that seems to be my go to opener in every blog post I make each time I go awol from here and trying to do a good comeback post. Ha.

Anyways, I would love to say that I have been busy creating new curiosities for myself. Most of my updates are posted on my instagram account at @marielisthename. For longer posts, I usually post here. And to be quite frank, I haven't found much to talk about hence the shorter posts on instagram and twitter. However it is not for a lack of anything to say but of not having the desire to expound much on what I've been up to or what I have been feeling lately.

When 2021 had arrived, I have been feeling quite...how should I describe this...pondersome or ponderous? Hah, none of these are even a word. Let me check. Ah well they are. What luck. So that is the summary of my feelings lately. I have been and still am a well of emotions and a deep one at that. However ponderous is the most that I have been feeling. Quite a fierce feeling to be honest, especially if I get pondersome in the middle of the night. 

Creating things has been a beautiful blessing though. Creating for myself has its perks despite being my very own strict boss who expects nothing but the best in everything that I do. Ideas have been swirling in my head and I couldn't keep up with them in a pace I would have wanted to pursue them. I've been slow in creating them, always over-thinking things and nitpicking even on the smallest of details. I need to learn how to be kinder to the process of creation. And so I did. Carefully I focus on one thing at a time, trying to understand what I wanted out of every thing I make. How do I feel about it? Something like that. 

To create something meaningful even just to my own person is wonderful and I understand that this won't always be the case. I am grateful

Matcha, my cozy darling paper doll has been the focus of my efforts and time these past few weeks. I can't help but feel giddy as I cut and put together the pieces that make her up. Like a child, I devoured every whimsical moment I have with her: cutting the paper, checking her clothes and props, loving every bit of her home I made with so much love and attention. 

In the next few weeks I shall be making more of her paper dolls.

One step at a time, slowly but surely. 

 

Residing in calm gardens and ponds is the being they call ‘The Tranquil One.’ Atop lily pads is her favorite place to be, feeling the soft lulling of the waters beneath her and inhaling the sweet scent of flowers and nature itself. In the silence, she hears every thing yet reveals none. As exposed a place lily pads are, she is rather elusive. However, if you are calm and silent in both mind and heart, perhaps you may chance a glimpse of this little being relaxing in the silence of every thing.

 

They call themselves 'The Tumbleweeds'. Apparently, not their own idea, but someone else's. However it stuck and it does sort of remind them of themselves: tumbling amongst weeds, not knowing where to go.

This is a little sneak peek of my new story about a wandering little folk who finds herself deep into the woods. That's all that I can say for now, haha! I'm planning to release their story digitally through a digital comic / manga platform in the coming near future. 

Hope you are all well! <3 

Cheers,

Mariel :)

'Take caution, my child. Humans have only been lured to the waters because of the shining moons beneath it, for they believe these will bring them fortune and prosperity.'

'Not love?'

'When has it ever been about love for them? If you are lucky, however, as the legends say...the one who loves a sea folk forever is usually lured by the song of our longing, not the pearls. But as with its nature, it is just a legend. So don't go looking for the one you're destined with up there in the surface. A sea folk's heart would never bear the pain of a human's fickle love.'

And so the young sea folk swam to the surface, not realizing the older sea folk’s tone and sighs. She waited with bated breath as the tiny moons beneath the waters shone like that of the same, albeit gigantic one up there in the stars.

'They're up here, the one who will love me forever. I know it.'

And so she sang.

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I 've been experimenting lately with things I'm not comfortable drawing. Lighting, color, perspective. I know, the basics. Boink.
This idea came to me yesterday after being frustrated of not being able to draw what I was supposed to draw. I think this is sort of a 'shake off' of some kind, something to get me back on track. A good distraction, I guess.

 https://www.instagram.com/p/CEsdsASDrYx/

 

Hello, dear reader.

I know things have changed so much recently in what seemed like a fast transition, like a snap of a finger or a lever that has been pulled; the changes had been surreal.

I feel anxious at most but I'm rather more predisposed to feeling a tad bit hopeful. So much had shaken me enough to rouse me from my sleep, anxious and troubled at what the present is and what the future may become.

But with shaking resolve, I try to pick myself up every time I wake. Being grateful is the start of my day and then off I go to do household chores and cook our food. I've been much more of a help around the house recently and I can say that at least I've improved with the cleaning aspect. My cooking, I can say but humbly so, is quite satisfactory. Day by day, night by night, I choose to set a certain sort of routine for myself.

Chores, work, down time, reflections.

They go on and on each time that these had already become a set of things to do. The monotony of things had somewhat calmed me into a mindset that things will be in order once again.

The kind of order that I hope, would mean that we will give order to our lives with the lives of other beings in mind and purpose.

For years, I've tried to figure out ways to give attention to nature's needs. We have been so focused on ourselves that we have forgotten that we share this world with other beings. I've said it before and will say it again. 'In order to live peacefully in this world, we must learn how to respect every being and learn to protect them.' And it is not just a leisurely thing to do, respect. It is our duty to do so. Sharing something with others require respect and empathy and I feel that we should follow this more often.

In light of these thoughts, this year, I've decided to dedicate illustrations and stories that focus more on flora and fauna. Well to be quite honest I have always done creations with these as the subjects but this time, it's about the ones that are endangered and vulnerable.

Following the research of IUCN and of Joel Sartore and National Geographic's 'Photo Ark', I begin illustrating various species of fauna. My hope is that by illustrating them and giving them stories, they may be given attention and care, to bring awareness to the threat that these beings face. But most of all, I yearn for others to form connections with them, empathising with their circumstances and to marvel at their diversity and wonderful qualities. I've been awestruck at the diversity of the creatures that we share this world with. My heart races just at the sight of their striking eyes, of the way they conduct themselves, of how they thrive no matter what.

Climate change and human activities have affected them so much but they try so much to adapt and to continue living.

In a way, do they not remind us of ourselves? That in the face of adversity, we still try to pick ourselves up and move on? How each and every one of us tries to be strong for another? It is the same with how a mother orangutan tries to find another place to raise her young because the jungles and forests they call home have been cut down to half its size, how migratory birds still yearn for the same sanctuaries they seek, how some would be willing to partake of what is left for them to have.

We are not far from them nor they to us.

The coronavirus 2019 pandemic had brought not just solidarity and understanding, but strength with which we share in equal measure with these beings.

They may not talk in the same language as ours, but we do have one thing in common and that is the strength to keep on no matter what.

Wherever you are, I hope you will always have strength. I promise I'd do the same. It's hard, but let's keep on keeping on.

Much love and encouragement,
Mariel

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I will be sharing them through this art blog, my Instagram, Twitter and other social media sites.

Hello everyone! 

I would love to share with you all a short coloring storybook featuring Dew the rabbit! It contains excerpts from the full version of "Rainy Days". 

It's free to download over at https://gumroad.com/marielisthename#oOKb

Just enter 0 at the price box. :)

You can print the pages to color on paper or you can color them digitally. Oh and please tag me on social media when you finish them! I'd love to see your colored work! Hope you have lots of fun doing it!

Thank you so much lovelies and hope Dew brings coziness to your hearts! <3

This short coloring book is distributed for free by me. However, this work, whether in full or in parts, can NOT be sold either through physical or digital means. Claiming it as yours or as another person's work, the removal of the creator's insignia and signature are not allowed. The story, characters, elements and overall design belong to me -- they can not be used elsewhere.

Thank you kindly, my dears!