We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mariery Young a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mariery , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

“Messy never Straight” is how I like to describe my creative journey as an artist and entrepreneur. There is no one path, checklist, or one-fit-all timetable for me. It’s about learning to trust the process and find the joy in it, knowing that mistakes will happen, and that bit of fear you get in making a choice it’s a good thing: it’s your body telling you that choice matters to you.

my skills are self-taught all thanks to blogs, youtube, google strong wifi, and a fresh pot of coffee.
Day one? there have been so many of them, it’s hard to pin it to that original day 1.
A big step is always self-discipline, consistency is key. consistency is fueled by passion, passion will push you to move forward even when you are not sure about yourself, don’t let yourself get haunted by your mistakes.

Mariery , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi! I’m Mariery a Chinese Latina artist and designer from tropical Panama. With my design studio Mezclao I work on branding identity, illustration, and limited edition collaborations. My art can be best described as bold color combos, the 80s-90’s referents meet tropical lifestyle.
my portfolio is focused on projects for entrepreneurs, brands, community-focused, and limited edition collaborations.
Celebrating your identity, farm to table, sharing more about your story, connecting to your roots and community, and democratizing education are some of the themes found in my projects.
an illustrated identity to connect to your community. Celebrate your story, the things that shape you into who you are the stories I tell through my art/design projects.
I’m most proud of the like-minded passionate clients that have been part of the mezclao studio portfolio.
From sharing more about being Latino, connection to nature, rich biodiversity, and local flavors.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

this can be a whole essay in itself. It’s personal and at the same time, the community mostly comes on its own to the same point of conclusion. We are professional, we are passionate about our work, and it’s also a job. Creativity is just one more ingredient combined with passion, drive, discipline, skills, knowledge, and experience that makes us who we are and creates the art we share.
art takes time, mistakes, explorations, and a lot of days and nights working on something that might just seem to be right in our mind, and still, we are trying to figure out how to communicate. art is our main language sometimes.

the culture of not giving credit to the artist that put in the work has to stop. Give credit when credit is due. projects most times is more than 1 person behind, there is no reason to “forget” to mention and credit.
If you like an artist’s work: tell them, if you really want that piece and connect with and can afford it: buy it, if you can’t afford it yet and really like that artist’s work: share their art, tag them, send a DM. it makes the difference on a gloomy rainy day when we are questioning our choices about being in this industry.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

yes, always be hungry to research, and look for those hidden connections in the stories of others. Sometimes the answer you are looking for will just show up. We share our stories to connect, to find a common ground, to maybe give someone that push/confirmation they are on the right path.

My favorites are Chris Do – The Futur, Creative Pep Talk, Inkygoodness Collective, creative boom, and the jealous curator.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mezclaostudio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marieryyoung/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marieryyoungart
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariery-young/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/marieryyoung

Image Credits
Juan Lee Lui