MARALOVE story begins in a confusing phase of my life within the years of 2013-2014. My mind was running wild, I could not find any meaning and I had a great confusion about what I desired in my life.
Luckily I had one thing straight, I always knew that my job would encompass some sort of creative atmosphere. I knew this because since I was a little girl, I always had a strong attachment and affection towards art. I began to take art classes from a very young age and my Mother had a flower- home decoration shop in which I helped her make decorative home accessories which further enlightened the creative and artistic side of me. I spent most of my young developing years with her, witnessing her work her magic, decorating the beautiful floral pieces. As I discovered how much I enjoyed creativity, I began to notice an affinity towards clothing, accessories, and anything that can be used to elevate my attire.
While I worked as a preschool teacher for ten years, I decided to give painting classes to children and teenagers within a ceramic café in San Diego. After a couple months I used to showcase the student's art pieces within an art exposition at the end of every semester. This was a great way to raise my student's creative qualities, but was not enough to quench my creative and artistic thirst. After giving art classes within San Diego and Tijuana for a couple of years, I decided to take a leap and do something for myself. This was something that I had wanted and planned for so long in my life, but the paths that my life had taken had not made it possible for me to fulfill. This was definitely a leap of faith in which I decided to jump into the wind and let my wings fly. This happened one day when I felt this strong urge to do what I most wanted, what I most liked, and what I most greatly desired. With uncertainty I launched MARALOVE in 2014.
I planted this idea in my mind as something feasible and attainable. I strongly believed that nothing is impossible and this feeling filled me with great joy. I set aside and ignored all critics and negative comments because these are what stops us many times when pursuing our goals. I performed according to my personal opinions and feelings without regarding how I appeared to the “public” or what they thought of me.
This is how MARALOVE was born. By not thinking too much of success nor failure. To be reborn and letting my soul fly. By starting tracing faces of girls in my sister's balcony. That was it, being myself, freeing myself from boundaries and showing everyone about what I was doing. That also has brought me to opportunities, in reality, I showed my artwork everywhere I went. Until this day.
Every day while drawing sketches of girls, I noticed they had facial expressions depending on how I was feeling at that moment of creation. After realizing that each girl was taking personalities, I decided to named them "Moody Girls". Thankfully, there were people who supported me and pushed me through my comfort zone. My brother helped me with creating my social media accounts which was a great step for me to overcome. Every time I would make a post on my social media, I would get very nervous and did not want to share my art. Even though I loved and enjoyed my art, it was difficult for me to portray this publicly.
I now decide to take leaps of faith because they are what is needed for me to achieve my goals and so far they have paid off. I realize how many people take inspiration from my actions when they may be in a similar position as I was in.
This thought of inspiring others helps me move forward and I realize everyday how we can all have a great impact in each others’ and our own lives. My artistic path does not consist of many academic diplomas but rather possesses a lot of feeling. I did not attend to any official art school for an art career or bachelor's degree but I believe that my experience is more emotional in labor related. All the projects in which I have worked on related to high end department stores, fashion brands, The United Nations, and more have all been thanks to my persistence in contact, consistency and work ethic. I have always believed that there is no greater talent than being persistent.
Every day is different and some days I may be inspired and in others I may not be, but this is what makes me be the "Moody Girl" that I so love. I constantly work on completing my goals without frustrations. My main focus now is being happy and enjoying the process because the journey is key to arriving at the destination. Giving my best effort towards every project is the only way in which I have worked and will continue to work in this way in my future endeavors. There exist no limits within my mind and we all possess great abundance that must be shared for all to enjoy.
- Mariel Méndez / MARALOVE
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