Today we’d like to introduce you to Marisa Avelar

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?

I’m Marisa Avelar, a graphic designer and mixed media artist based in Brooklyn, New York. I started out as a student of art and design. I loved to draw and sketch growing up and was always doing something creative. I was fortunate to have parents who supported my interest in the arts. I studied piano as a kid and also took drawing classes. I have always been very drawn to music and visual art. I got my start in design interning with a very talented illustrator in Houston named Chris Lockwood who gave me great advice and allowed me to work on pieces to refine my portfolio while connecting me with the Houston arts scene and wonderful organizations like the Aurora Picture Show. Shortly after that I got my first job working in design. I have been steadily doing graphic design as a profession ever since and have been fortunate enough to work at great cultural institutions like the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Smithsonian, and design agencies. I also love to work on my fine art and mixed media work. I also have an Etsy where I love showing my small handmade and decorative creations. It’s been very rewarding to see people go home happy with pieces that have become parts of their annual traditions and I have gotten to connect with so many wonderful people all over the country who have been so kind.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

It has been a journey and not always smooth. As the Rolling Stones say, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, well, you might find you get what you need.” There have been many times on the road of a designer’s life where we have been through bad economic times and company layoffs, and I have had to look for something new. Our industry is very much in a flux, as it has been many times before. There were several times that opportunities came up that I thought I wanted, but realized that the doors that were closed only gave way for even better doors to open. There were times I thought something would be the best thing for me, realizing later it wasn’t meant to be and it might have been for the better. I don’t have regrets. In the journey of finding your way, it’s great to get advice and feedback from people you admire and respect. It’s also important to surround yourself with a good support system and people who will give you a reality check when you are surrounded by negativity or find yourself in a toxic situation. Lastly, surround yourself with your peers and connect with fellow designers and artists. We have to stick together in our struggles and our triumphs.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

I’m a Graphic Designer and Mixed Media Artist. As to what sets me apart, maybe I’ll share some feedback from friends and peers who have told me what they like about what I do. My work is colorful, bold, fanciful, surreal, feminine but with an edge. I had a friend say she finds my paintings comforting and would like to sleep in one of them. I found that to be a nice compliment, ha! I think what might set my work apart is my melding of mixed media, collage, paint, pattern, and fabric. I like bringing these colorful elements together and the use of texture in my pieces. I am also inspired by the great Dada artists like Kurt Schwitters and his Merz constructions, which were scavenged scrap materials he nailed together. I liked the idea of nailing a painting together. When I saw works like his it made me see that anything is possible in art; it was so fun and playful. I try to follow my own path in my work while being inspired by the greats and definitely believe in experimenting with my work. In my graphic design, I would say I am doing some things similarly in the sense that I am not afraid to experiment and move things around, and I love playing with color and type. My work tends to be more minimal in design and not as maximal as my collage and painting, but that is the fun part. I am playing with a balancing act of elements and it’s a fun problem to solve. I have a design portfolio website and a website of my art and I remember a graphic design mentor who is very respected in our industry telling me to never get rid of my fine art site. She just loved it. She told me it really reflected a melding of my collage/fine art and design vision beautifully. I think she felt my fine art site shows what makes me stand out and is unique about me the most.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?

There are many people who deserve credit for getting me to where I am today and continue to help me keep going. I have been very lucky to have people who believed in me, took a special interest or gave me advice or opportunities. I am going to first give credit to two people who gave me my livelihood, Peter Smith and Pat Walker who were my Graphic Design Professor and Painting Professor at Georgia Southern University. Both have since passed away and have memorial scholarships in their names at GSU. They were very special to me and gave me advice I use to this day, every day. They were important to me as a young student and as a human. They gave me great life advice and advice to be a living artist. I also want to lift up Andrea Grover (Executive Director of Guild Hall), my first big client! When I was a young intern working with Chris in Houston, I was doing design and illustration for her nonprofit the Aurora Picture Show. She was so kind and open to me and let me be creative with my work for her wonderful organization. She also allowed me to continue to do freelance work for them from time to time and I had so much fun as a young designer getting involved with the Houston arts scene. As a female run nonprofit, it meant a lot for her to tell me she found my work feminine but with an edge and she was drawn to what I did. Now she and I live in New York, on the same island but a little further away and doing different, exciting things! Very fond of Andrea and still admire her. I also want to lift up a couple of more names like Marian Luntz, Tracy Stephenson, Diane Lovejoy, Robin Tooms, Orlando Castro, Chris Lockwood, Susanna Stieff, Peter Brill and my wonderful family and husband who I couldn’t do this without.

Pricing:

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Contact Info:

• Website: https://himarisa.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marisaartdesign/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hellotheremarisa
• Other: https://marisaavelar.com/

Image Credits

Photo of me by Scott Howard