Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Daniela Hoyos. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Daniela, appreciate you joining us today. One of the toughest things about progressing in your creative career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

I wasn’t the most disciplined artist. Most of the things I’ve created were born through intense rushes of inspiration that would hit after midnight, but once they were gone, the project was left as is, abandoned for months and even years, hanging on the illusion that one day I’d get it together and sit down to work on them for hours until I finished.

This situation was of course unsustainable and it didn’t only affect my art but my capabilities to respond appropriately to having and keeping a job. It wasn’t until I reached 29 years of age that I became aware of the fact that I had ADHD and had to get started on medication.

Thanks to this I am now better at finishing things and can perform my job while working on my art when I’m free, even though sometimes it can be hard to deal with the business-oriented aspects of life. I am still driven by emotion, sometimes to the detriment of things that I’m supposed to do within time boundaries. Thankfully, this emotional drive also nurtures me, and I have learned to canalize it in a way where, instead of blocking myself with the pressures of immediacy, I’m more at peace with my rhythms and timing, giving my art the benefit to incubate and to carve its way into the world as lovingly as possible.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am Daniela, aka. Arumuela- animator at The Simpsons, illustrator, maker of “Headgardens”, and dancer by passion. Everything that I do begins as an expression of something I desired for myself.

I started writing my personal stories and creating fantasy characters as a pre-teen, inspired mostly by a crush I had on a character from a manga called “Angel Sanctuary”. From there on, I continued to build a universe that to this day has no end in sight for me.

I intertwine my own myths with surrealism, and birth a bunch of creatures and beings that move through dances, love each other and exist intensely. My masks, or ¨headgardens¨ as I call them, are some of the shapes these creatures take in this realm and that become animated by our humanly body (hopefully through dance). Sometimes they are rivers, clouds, birds, insects… although they usually become an amalgamation, like a garden or little ecosystem sitting on your head.

I have also recently started to delve into jewelry, with each piece being a little extension of the headgardens.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

To me, creativity is like the philosopher’s stone- it allows you to turn the seemingly ordinary into something precious. There is no such thing as a boring life when you tap into the forms of expression that bloom from your humanity, even if you have to teach yourself certain techniques in order to translate them as you see them inside you. This motivation to bring forth my inspirations has allowed me to experience the world from a space of curiosity and playfulness that in return nurtures my passions and fills my life with meaning.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

To create a universe of characters and stories where everyone and everything is loved and deathed holding a sort of tender beauty.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.arumuela.com
• Instagram: @arumuelas_headgardens

Image Credits
Whiskey Shotz Photography