Giselle Mariel Ibarra, better known as Sincerely Art, is a Mexican self taught surrealist artist. Ibarra specializes in acrylic painting, merging a world of dreams and reality in one. Giselle’s transparency and vulnerability combined with influences of nature with a twist of magic, allows for her paintings to come to life as she brings a new style of surrealism into the art industry. Giselle has also turned her art into a business as she turns her artwork into various products such as prints, stickers, hoodies, phone cases, and even purses for all to enjoy! Her creative work emanates hope, healing, and the movement of finding one's voice through passion. This Latina’s art takes you to vibrant and magical dreamscapes saturated with color and surrealist motifs.
Follow Giselle on Instagram @sincerly.art and Twitter @sincerlyart
Check out her website sincerlyart.com
Naibe Reynoso is the Host and Executive Producer of Latinas Take the Lead.
Production Assistant is Anna Sophia Monzon
Follow Latinas Take the Lead on Instagram
If you loved this episode please follow us, subscribe and leave a review!
#LatinasTaketheLead #LatinaFounders
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
And there was a lot of wounds there regarding how
I wish my mom would have showed up for me
in more ways than she did, and my dad and
feeling like we were always fairly surviving because the money
that he was making was so limited and that as
(00:27):
a little girl impacted the way I viewed myself and
what I could make out of my life.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Welcome once again to Latina's Take the lead. You just
heard Gisel Ivara, better known as Sincerely Art. If you
don't know Giselle, she is a self taught Latina surrealist
artist who specializes in acrylic paintings that depict colorful and
magical dreamscapes. Using painting as a creative outlet for her
postpartum depression, Gazelle has now turned her art into a
(00:59):
full blown business. In this intimate conversation, Giselle talks to
us about her entrepreneurship, her transparency on motherhood, her upbringing,
her first professional exhibition in Europe, and so much more.
This is an episode you don't want to miss. Let's go.
(01:20):
If you don't know Jisel Ivarrashi is an artist. Yeah,
she's obviously an entrepreneur and she is a mob So
talk to us a little. I want to talk a
little bit about everything. First of all, I think and
I understand that you started your art because of postpartum depression.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Is that correct? Yes? Yes, that is correct. In twenty sixteen,
when my son was born, I went through a period,
I want to say, of like five or six months
where I had really bad postpartum depression. I just completely
lost my sense of self where I was as a
person aside from a mom. And I was only twenty
years old as well, so I was very young when
(01:59):
I had him, and I kind of needed an outlet
to feel like I still had something for me. When
I was going through that period, I had a basket
of paint that I had never played with that I
got gifted, but I started using them and it just
really fueled this inner sense of peace that made me
feel so good about my life. So I kept pursuing that.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
And the kind of painting you do is acrylic.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Yes, I do only acrylic paint. That's my medium.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
And is that what you started with right when you
discovered this love of expanding your art. Was it acrylic
immediately or how.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Did you transition? I had the gift of watercolor paint
and I started playing with watercolor paint, and for a
while I was painting like very abstract, trying to find
my style, and then I and I found acrylics, and
I really really loved the consistency of them and how
(02:58):
it allowed me to kind of build on them and
them not be so wet, And that's how I got
into a credit painting.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
You know, I just got an aha aha moment right
now because you said that postpartum depression kind of pushed
you into challenging yourself and really finding what is it
that's going to make me happy? Right? And I've talked
to other women that have had similar epiphanies, so I
kind of think it's a beautiful thing that, you know,
(03:25):
first of all, that we're talking about postpartum depression, because
it's not a subject that we would talk about in
the past. God forbid, you said that you're depressed right
after you had a baby. God forbid, You're the.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Like, how dare you right? Like?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
How dare you not feel joy all the time and
on cloud nine all the time when it is the
most difficult but also the most beautiful and the you know,
just the same the same way they break our bodies
it's it's a beautiful break because they break our soul
and they open it up to other possibilities. What else
is going to fill me as a human? Because I
(04:04):
think the more we are filled as women as humans,
the more we're going to fill our children.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Right, So I agree, I agree with that.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Did you seek therapy or how did you besides your art?
What other tools and resources did you use at that
time as a Latina because a lot of times it's
Latina's did you use to get over the hump?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Well? I didn't start therapy up until about a year ago,
but when I was going through postpartum depression, I would
journal a lot that was like my form of soothing
myself because, like you said, you know between I don't
know if it's just like the Latina community, but when
you talk to other women, especially like my mom telling
(04:48):
her I was depressed and stuff, she didn't quite get
it or understand because she's like, well, you have a
baby now, like you don't matter anymore. And it's like
that's kind of what gives you that doom? Like where
am I in this equation?
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Now?
Speaker 1 (05:01):
My whole life is now this child's life, and who
am I aside from this child. Then you get kind
of lost. But I would journal a lot. I would
write every single morning when I would wake up about
my feelings, how I was feeling, and art was a
very big outlet for me. And I also started reading
and googling a lot of like articles regarding what I
(05:25):
was feeling. So like, I'm feeling sad after having my baby.
Is something wrong with me? You know? Is that's generally
the question we have. And I fell into a Facebook
community of women back then who were also experiencing the
same thing, which made me feel a lot less alone.
For anyone who is listening to us and you know,
(05:46):
discussing or feeling like they're going through postpartum depression, there's
so much help and so many resources and so many
places you can go to, but it does start with
you wanting the help and realizing that it's okay to
ask for help. And just because you are going through
postparliament doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you, or you know,
(06:07):
you're a bad mom, or you're a bad person, or
you weren't prepared. It's such a natural part of birth
for a lot of women that is untalked about, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, well, thank you for talking about it. And the
reason I knew about it was because you talked about
it on your website, right, yeah, then it on your website.
So I applaud you for being transparent things and for
showing us all the parts of you. Because your art
is beautiful, right, thank you. Sometimes what we feel like
on the inside isn't so beautiful.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
It's not. Yeah, I definitely feel like my art on
the exterior, I guess when you visually, right, Yeah, visually
it's very beautiful, but it's so a lot of my
pieces that I have are so deep and they carry
a lot of pain. I just use art as a
(07:02):
way to transmute my pain into hope and healing for
myself and for my audience and the people who come
across it.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Right. Yeah, there's one piece about miscarriage that really I
think a lot of women are gonna cry and relate,
you know, including myself.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And I saw it.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
I'm like, oh my gosh, you know that's how I
felt right when that happened to me. So thank you
for doing this. You're putting on a canvas with the
soul is trying to express.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Yes, and what the soul needs to express, and for me,
I mean I went through miscarriage myself and that painting.
When I was painting it, I was like, oh, this
is a lot darker than my other work. And I
don't know how it's going to be received or you're
no interpreted, but I feel like it reached so many
(07:55):
women that needed to feel like they were less alone,
because in my case, when I had my miscarriage, I
didn't really speak on it for years, I mean, and
it took me ten years to paint that painting and
finally be able to express all of the pain and
the hurt that I had inside that needed to come out.
(08:16):
And it was just beautiful watching how it connected so
many women to each other and in my comments and stuff,
like women were just sending love to each other and
boosting each other up, and that was I was just
so thankful to be a vessel for that.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Definitely, who inspires you as an artist? Do you have
a artist or a few artists that have inspired you?
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Yeah, definitely, I mean I think the most basic ones
you know that we all as artists really look up to,
like Salvador Lali. He was amazing. Aside from the person
he was, he was amazing as an artist. Pretty that Gallo.
I loved her as well, But my biggest inspiration, I
don't know if I don't even know how to say
his name in English, I say it in Spanish and
(08:59):
then ma a grite. He was a surrealist as well
back in the day, and I would say he is
my biggest, biggest inspiration that has passed on and living
right now. I don't know if you've heard of her.
Her name is Sue Si. She's an artist from New
York City. She's incredible. Her work is just it's beyond,
it's beautiful. That's my that's my big inspiration.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yeah. And like I said, there's so many different topics
I want to touch upon. I don't even know what
order to get into. No, let's do them all.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Let's do all of them.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
So let me start with your You know, your your
pain growing up. You know, I believe that that your
parents were immigrants, correct, and that you had a lot
of painful experience. So so if you can share, because
a lot of our audience I think will relate to
your journey as well.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Oh, I appreciate that. So I was born Okay, I
have four siblings. I'm the second oldest out of four,
and my mom and my dad are both from Mexico,
and my dad and my mom migrated to Tijuana, Maha,
California when I wasn't even thought of, but they got
married there and they had my older sister, and then
(10:11):
they had met. All my other siblings are born here
except for me. So my dad he always is like,
but you know, we were a family of six, and
when we migrated here, I was about I want to
say five or six around that time, and my dad
(10:32):
and my mom, I don't come from money or you know,
resources or finances, so it was my dad being the
main provider of our family, and growing up I saw
how that really put a pressure on him, which led
him to be a certain way with my mom, which
then affected their parenting with us as their children. And
(10:56):
there was a lot of wounds there regarding how I
wish my mom would have showed up for me in
more ways than she did, and my dad and feeling
like we were always barely surviving because the money that
he was making was so limited, and that as a
little girl impacted the way I viewed myself and what
(11:20):
I could make out of my life, like I'm not
biting more than I can chew right, and I would
say I was the ugly duckling of like my siblings.
I was always the one that was in trouble, like
doing stuff I was yeah, okay, when no permission I
(11:43):
was going to do. I had no there was no
limits in my mind. And I also feel like that
side of me came from the lack of love that
I felt with my parents. But now that I'm at
this age, you know, I'm able to offer them grace.
And I'm a mom as well, so I'm able to
see that they did the best they could with what
they had.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
That doesn't excuse the trauma and like the hurt that
I still carry to this day, but I'm able to
give them the space to also be human, and a
lot of that pain has transmuted now into some of
my greatest works. So everything happens intentionally, right.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
I love that you're breaking cycles because I feel as
first generation latinas we inherit these traumas and it's so
awesome that you're able to connect the dots and go, yeah,
it wasn't about It wasn't me. They weren't treating me
like this because of me.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
It was because of.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Their situation, and I'm going to break the cycle for
my children. Yes, is that something you discovered through therapy
or just self discovery on I.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Think self discovery on my own. I've always felt like
there was since I was little. I can remember feeling
like there was something bigger than me. But in a way,
in order to discover that bigger than me essence or
like God or the universe or whatever, I had to
go deeper within myself to like figure it out.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Time for a quick break, will be right back. Now
we're going to transition into the building of a business.
You are not only an artist, but you're you have
to be an entrepreneur because you are selling your art right. Yes,
I feel like it's so new to the modern times.
(13:35):
I don't think Picasso or Leona Little Da Vince you
had to worry about being entrepreneurs. I just did their
art and everything kind of took care of itself. And
now an artist in modern times has to put on
many hats. Yeah, so talk to us about how do
you manage your business, like how many team members do
you have and what's the day to day of your business.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
I started my business back in twenty eighteen and at
the time I was working over their dust job, I
decided to quit. I was making kind of enough to
sustain what I wanted to do, and then I started
working from home. So at that point it was just
me and my fiance now some days helping me.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
And I have a question, So, when you decided to
quit that job because your products were selling or your
art was selling, what was it? Was it? Prince? Was it?
Because I know that you have different products? What were
the products?
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Mostly prints and stickers? But to go back to your
original question, for right now, my team mostly consists of me,
my mom, my best friend, and that's pretty much it.
But behind the products that I make, it's only me.
So I'm the person developing the product. I'm the person
doing the emails. I'm the person taking the pictures. I'm
(14:53):
the person doing the website, editing, you know, making sure
the orders are being shipped through everything's correct, doing product development.
So there's a lot on my plate, a lot on
my plate. But I definitely have seen the fruits of
my labor, and for that I'm very thankful because I
know that there's a lot of other people who try
(15:15):
and push and pursue, but they get met with the
short end of the stick. I feel like I'm definitely
blessed and fortunate to say that I have seen my
hard work payoff. But I owe a lot of that
to my dad because he was that way. He wouldn't stop.
There was no this is enough. It was like, okay,
we have this, now we're going to get here. Okay,
(15:37):
we have this, now we're going to get here. But
for my business, yeah, there's a lot to juggle. There's
a lot to juggle.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
I see that because I have a business too. I
actually publish children's books. I read that, and I read
that I do the same thing. I'm the art director,
I'm the writer, I'm the manager, I'm the shipping cat.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
And sometimes you just want to be like what if
I stop?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
What if I exactly no? You know what I've thought
sometimes like this is a train with no breaks, like
you wanted to stop, Like I can't.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Kids already on the go. You just have to be like,
all right right, I feel like for me, I'm sure
you can really when you know, you see the bigger
scheme of things and it does seem overwhelming. But then,
like you're saying, you have moments like when I got
my roller roller label printers. I was like, oh, these
are so cool, Like yeah, I don't have to go
(16:36):
to the post office anymore. And then you know rewarded.
And it's really those little things that you find that
you're like, this is nice, this is this is good. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
And I listen, I heard someone recently I'm talking billionaires,
and they asked him like, Okay, you get a high
when you sell your company for eleven million dollars, but
then what then? What what sustains you? Right? And what
he's said, what I thought was, so, you know, so wise,
was it's in the little things that you get the highest.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Yeah, it's so true.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
It's in the little things, and don't forget that. And
it's so true. And you have to appreciate every single
little thing to keep it going because those big highs
they're never guaranteed and you don't know how long until
the next big high.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Right. And the thing is too, if you're only playing
the game, I want to say, or like doing what
you're doing to have these big moments of reward, then
you're never really gonna be fulfilled. You're gonna always keep
chasing the next thing and the next thing and the
next thing. But when you learn to slow down and
(17:43):
gratify and place gratitude into the little things like me
having this space, or me being able to go out
and buy my kid whatever toy he wants, or me
being able to ride bikes with him when things are
a little bit slower. In my business, those moments are
really where you find the most fulfilled, because the big
highs are just like extreme adrenaline and like wow, you're like,
(18:05):
I did it, you know, I made it. I got
to this point. But when you slow down and you
look at the things that are so minuscule, your joy
will never really leave you. It'll just accompany you, and
then when it's amplified, it'll feel good and then you'll
still be happy.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Right. It's like people that are only happy on their birthday, Right,
what happens the other three hundred and sixty four days?
During Mike morning coffee makes me happy?
Speaker 1 (18:30):
So always?
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Oh yeah, okay, So going back to your the day
to day of your business, how do you set your hours?
Speaker 1 (18:40):
That took me a while to balance out. I got
my office during the COVID phase, so you.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Probably got a good deal, right, yeah, but like definitely
if it puts off, I'm like.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Okay, it was like two months free. I was like,
right now, but no, it was really difficult because I
had menig every day, every single day. And you know,
when you have kids, they're like, let's play, let's read,
let's color let, and I'm like, it's so hard for
(19:12):
you to understand that right now in my mind is
work time. But in your mind you're like, he's like,
she's home, we're home, right like, let's play, you know.
And now I feel like I have a better schedule,
so my son goes to school as soon as I
drop him off. Those eight hours that he's at school,
I'm going to work. When he was a toddler and
(19:33):
I had him all the time, it was so difficult
because the mom gilt. You know, you're like, ah, I'm
trying to do all of this for you, but you
don't see that. You're only think she's not playing with
me right now. Yep.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
And my son is ten and I still get it
from him, you know. I he's like, play catch with me,
and I will, but you know, and in my office
like literally the windows to my backyard, So okay, he's
playing catch. I'll play with.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Him sometimes mostly.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
My husband and I'll be like waving at him from
the window, like is this enough? Is this enough for
me to just wave while you're playing? Does that check
the box?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Fulfillment box? Pickering up a film? I love you, I
love you. But we do the best we can. We
do that. And you know what, moms were always on
the clock. Even when we're not on the clock, we're
(20:36):
on the clock because even if we're working, our mind
is still are they happy? Are they feeling good? How
do they need lunch? Did they eat? You know? So
we got to get ourselves more grace.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yeah. Yeah, it's not an easy it's not an easy
thing to do, but it's it's a work in progress.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Yeah right, So talk if.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Someone wants to look at your products and discover them
or buy your products. First of all, I would love
to know like everything. I mean I already looked at
your website. But yes, so people can hear it. Talk
to us about all the different products you have. And
by the way, you need to restock that awesome Reflections
(21:21):
hoodie because I want to be one of those. I'm like, yeah, yeah, you.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Can find all My merch is only sold through me
right now, which is online, so it's www dot Sincerely
art dot com. But all of my merch some of it,
I want to say, like the hoodie that you were
interested in, I do only a certain quantity of because
they're harder to make and they cost more money to make.
(21:56):
So the things that are usually restocked frequently, it's because
it's making me a good enough profit without having to
be too big of an investment. But the things that
sell out that are not restocking are usually limited edition
or I'll have my tab two where you can see
it's as collectors, and I'm emphasizing a lot more on
(22:17):
those things as well, because those are the ones that
I'm investing a lot of money into that are really
high quality. They're expensive, they feel luxurious, and I want
them to be, you know, only a certain amount sold
so that the people who get them feel like they
have something exclusive from me.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Right right, Well, you're an artist, and that's what artists do,
Like we want to feel like it is that one
special item that you can touch, like you personally touched.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Only my phone cases, pillows, and posters are drop shipped
through my distribution company. Other than that, everything that you
see on my website is made by me, and I'm
the shipments nice yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
What would you say, is your biggest seller.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
I want to say, no matter what, my prints, my
art prints are my biggest sellers, which makes me feel
great because it's like, no matter what I'm putting out,
people still just want to buy a print or a
copy of the painting, which is great. But it depends
on the season. Like I had just dropped my cloud
(23:25):
purses that I made that are actually in that little
box right there, and those were a huge hit. I
sold one hundred and fifty per color and they sold
in a day, so I was like, wow, yeah, it
was amazing. But it just changes. It depends on what
I'm making. I feel like my best seller is always
my newest thing for that time, right, but that is
(23:48):
sustainable forever. It's definitely my art prints. That's what's always selling,
like daily, a lot of orders.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Is there anything else you would like to add that
we didn't touch upon.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
I am planning on doing some exhibitions this year in
Los Angeles, which is going to be really fun and
hopefully I pray New York City. But I did get
accepted into my first professional gallery and it was in Europe.
If someone's listening from Europe, you can go see my
painting La Luna Paraiso, which is exhibited at the Golden
(24:21):
Duck Gallery in Budapest from now until June twentieth.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Congratulations, thank you. That is awesome. What are you reading
or doing or listening to that you want to recommend?
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Okay, well, this is great, especially since we touched earlier
on like postpartum and you know, pain and trauma and
stuff like that. I have been really into guided meditations.
They have just man just completely transformed my life. Like
they have brought me so much peace, so much belonging,
so much calm. When I feel like I'm in a
(24:57):
chaotic space or I'm angra, I'm fresh. Because there's guided
meditations on anything like sadness, healing the mother wound, postpartum, depression, pregnancy.
There's so many guided meditations. So if you're listening to
this and you have never meditated before, please try one
because it will help you so much.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
And you just google, like on YouTube or how do
I do it?
Speaker 1 (25:19):
You can find them anywhere, but for me, I do
them on Spotify right, and I do a lot of
healing meditations or meditations for anxiety or things like that.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Okay, love it. So the name of the show is
latinos take the lead. Tell us how you're taking the lead.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
I am taking the lead in my life by being
the person who is setting my future self up and
my future generations up to not have to struggle anymore.
I feel like it's falling on me and my family
to not only break generational trauma from my ancestors and
(25:57):
from my parents, but all also provide wealth and stability
and spiritual stability, emotional stability, any kind of stability for
my future generations to come so that they're not where
I had to be, if that makes sense. But that's
how I'm taking the lead, making a plan for myself,
(26:18):
following through and making sure that I'm the person who
change changes the cycle, right.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Yeah, I mean, if you want to look at it,
we were the if you want to look at it symbolically,
the chosen generation to change that cycling right of so
much trauma from our ancestors. But how beautiful to be
able to create that change for the rest of the Yeah, because.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Then it starts with you. You know, it starts with you.
You plant that seed. They'll look back and honor us
for being the ones who changed the cycle.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Well just well, thank you so much for your inspirational conversation.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
I had a pleasure talking with you.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
Likewise, I feel like we could be friends.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah, to go.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Thank you so much for listening. Please subscribe and give
us a review. Tell your friends and go madres about
our podcast and hope you join us next week. Latinus
Take the Lead is executive produced by Hodston Reinoso Media Group,
LLC and hosted by me naive Reo.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
So.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Production Assistant is Ana Sofia Monson. Latinas Take the Lead
is a production of the Seneca Women Podcast Network and iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, check out the iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows as a
proxima
And there was a lot of wounds there regarding how
I wish my mom would have showed up for me
in more ways than she did, and my dad and
feeling like we were always fairly surviving because the money
that he was making was so limited and that as
(00:27):
a little girl impacted the way I viewed myself and
what I could make out of my life.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Welcome once again to Latina's Take the lead. You just
heard Gisel Ivara, better known as Sincerely Art. If you
don't know Giselle, she is a self taught Latina surrealist
artist who specializes in acrylic paintings that depict colorful and
magical dreamscapes. Using painting as a creative outlet for her
postpartum depression, Gazelle has now turned her art into a
(00:59):
full blown business. In this intimate conversation, Giselle talks to
us about her entrepreneurship, her transparency on motherhood, her upbringing,
her first professional exhibition in Europe, and so much more.
This is an episode you don't want to miss. Let's go.
(01:20):
If you don't know Jisel Ivarrashi is an artist. Yeah,
she's obviously an entrepreneur and she is a mob So
talk to us a little. I want to talk a
little bit about everything. First of all, I think and
I understand that you started your art because of postpartum depression.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Is that correct? Yes? Yes, that is correct. In twenty sixteen,
when my son was born, I went through a period,
I want to say, of like five or six months
where I had really bad postpartum depression. I just completely
lost my sense of self where I was as a
person aside from a mom. And I was only twenty
years old as well, so I was very young when
(01:59):
I had him, and I kind of needed an outlet
to feel like I still had something for me. When
I was going through that period, I had a basket
of paint that I had never played with that I
got gifted, but I started using them and it just
really fueled this inner sense of peace that made me
feel so good about my life. So I kept pursuing that.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
And the kind of painting you do is acrylic.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Yes, I do only acrylic paint. That's my medium.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
And is that what you started with right when you
discovered this love of expanding your art. Was it acrylic
immediately or how.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Did you transition? I had the gift of watercolor paint
and I started playing with watercolor paint, and for a
while I was painting like very abstract, trying to find
my style, and then I and I found acrylics, and
I really really loved the consistency of them and how
(02:58):
it allowed me to kind of build on them and
them not be so wet, And that's how I got
into a credit painting.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
You know, I just got an aha aha moment right
now because you said that postpartum depression kind of pushed
you into challenging yourself and really finding what is it
that's going to make me happy? Right? And I've talked
to other women that have had similar epiphanies, so I
kind of think it's a beautiful thing that, you know,
(03:25):
first of all, that we're talking about postpartum depression, because
it's not a subject that we would talk about in
the past. God forbid, you said that you're depressed right
after you had a baby. God forbid, You're the.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Like, how dare you right? Like?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
How dare you not feel joy all the time and
on cloud nine all the time when it is the
most difficult but also the most beautiful and the you know,
just the same the same way they break our bodies
it's it's a beautiful break because they break our soul
and they open it up to other possibilities. What else
is going to fill me as a human? Because I
(04:04):
think the more we are filled as women as humans,
the more we're going to fill our children.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Right, So I agree, I agree with that.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Did you seek therapy or how did you besides your art?
What other tools and resources did you use at that
time as a Latina because a lot of times it's
Latina's did you use to get over the hump?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Well? I didn't start therapy up until about a year ago,
but when I was going through postpartum depression, I would
journal a lot that was like my form of soothing
myself because, like you said, you know between I don't
know if it's just like the Latina community, but when
you talk to other women, especially like my mom telling
(04:48):
her I was depressed and stuff, she didn't quite get
it or understand because she's like, well, you have a
baby now, like you don't matter anymore. And it's like
that's kind of what gives you that doom? Like where
am I in this equation?
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Now?
Speaker 1 (05:01):
My whole life is now this child's life, and who
am I aside from this child. Then you get kind
of lost. But I would journal a lot. I would
write every single morning when I would wake up about
my feelings, how I was feeling, and art was a
very big outlet for me. And I also started reading
and googling a lot of like articles regarding what I
(05:25):
was feeling. So like, I'm feeling sad after having my baby.
Is something wrong with me? You know? Is that's generally
the question we have. And I fell into a Facebook
community of women back then who were also experiencing the
same thing, which made me feel a lot less alone.
For anyone who is listening to us and you know,
(05:46):
discussing or feeling like they're going through postpartum depression, there's
so much help and so many resources and so many
places you can go to, but it does start with
you wanting the help and realizing that it's okay to
ask for help. And just because you are going through
postparliament doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you, or you know,
(06:07):
you're a bad mom, or you're a bad person, or
you weren't prepared. It's such a natural part of birth
for a lot of women that is untalked about, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, well, thank you for talking about it. And the
reason I knew about it was because you talked about
it on your website, right, yeah, then it on your website.
So I applaud you for being transparent things and for
showing us all the parts of you. Because your art
is beautiful, right, thank you. Sometimes what we feel like
on the inside isn't so beautiful.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
It's not. Yeah, I definitely feel like my art on
the exterior, I guess when you visually, right, Yeah, visually
it's very beautiful, but it's so a lot of my
pieces that I have are so deep and they carry
a lot of pain. I just use art as a
(07:02):
way to transmute my pain into hope and healing for
myself and for my audience and the people who come
across it.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Right. Yeah, there's one piece about miscarriage that really I
think a lot of women are gonna cry and relate,
you know, including myself.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And I saw it.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
I'm like, oh my gosh, you know that's how I
felt right when that happened to me. So thank you
for doing this. You're putting on a canvas with the
soul is trying to express.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Yes, and what the soul needs to express, and for me,
I mean I went through miscarriage myself and that painting.
When I was painting it, I was like, oh, this
is a lot darker than my other work. And I
don't know how it's going to be received or you're
no interpreted, but I feel like it reached so many
(07:55):
women that needed to feel like they were less alone,
because in my case, when I had my miscarriage, I
didn't really speak on it for years, I mean, and
it took me ten years to paint that painting and
finally be able to express all of the pain and
the hurt that I had inside that needed to come out.
(08:16):
And it was just beautiful watching how it connected so
many women to each other and in my comments and stuff,
like women were just sending love to each other and
boosting each other up, and that was I was just
so thankful to be a vessel for that.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Definitely, who inspires you as an artist? Do you have
a artist or a few artists that have inspired you?
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Yeah, definitely, I mean I think the most basic ones
you know that we all as artists really look up to,
like Salvador Lali. He was amazing. Aside from the person
he was, he was amazing as an artist. Pretty that Gallo.
I loved her as well, But my biggest inspiration, I
don't know if I don't even know how to say
his name in English, I say it in Spanish and
(08:59):
then ma a grite. He was a surrealist as well
back in the day, and I would say he is
my biggest, biggest inspiration that has passed on and living
right now. I don't know if you've heard of her.
Her name is Sue Si. She's an artist from New
York City. She's incredible. Her work is just it's beyond,
it's beautiful. That's my that's my big inspiration.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yeah. And like I said, there's so many different topics
I want to touch upon. I don't even know what
order to get into. No, let's do them all.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Let's do all of them.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
So let me start with your You know, your your
pain growing up. You know, I believe that that your
parents were immigrants, correct, and that you had a lot
of painful experience. So so if you can share, because
a lot of our audience I think will relate to
your journey as well.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Oh, I appreciate that. So I was born Okay, I
have four siblings. I'm the second oldest out of four,
and my mom and my dad are both from Mexico,
and my dad and my mom migrated to Tijuana, Maha,
California when I wasn't even thought of, but they got
married there and they had my older sister, and then
(10:11):
they had met. All my other siblings are born here
except for me. So my dad he always is like,
but you know, we were a family of six, and
when we migrated here, I was about I want to
say five or six around that time, and my dad
(10:32):
and my mom, I don't come from money or you know,
resources or finances, so it was my dad being the
main provider of our family, and growing up I saw
how that really put a pressure on him, which led
him to be a certain way with my mom, which
then affected their parenting with us as their children. And
(10:56):
there was a lot of wounds there regarding how I
wish my mom would have showed up for me in
more ways than she did, and my dad and feeling
like we were always barely surviving because the money that
he was making was so limited, and that as a
little girl impacted the way I viewed myself and what
(11:20):
I could make out of my life, like I'm not
biting more than I can chew right, and I would
say I was the ugly duckling of like my siblings.
I was always the one that was in trouble, like
doing stuff I was yeah, okay, when no permission I
(11:43):
was going to do. I had no there was no
limits in my mind. And I also feel like that
side of me came from the lack of love that
I felt with my parents. But now that I'm at
this age, you know, I'm able to offer them grace.
And I'm a mom as well, so I'm able to
see that they did the best they could with what
they had.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
That doesn't excuse the trauma and like the hurt that
I still carry to this day, but I'm able to
give them the space to also be human, and a
lot of that pain has transmuted now into some of
my greatest works. So everything happens intentionally, right.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
I love that you're breaking cycles because I feel as
first generation latinas we inherit these traumas and it's so
awesome that you're able to connect the dots and go, yeah,
it wasn't about It wasn't me. They weren't treating me
like this because of me.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
It was because of.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Their situation, and I'm going to break the cycle for
my children. Yes, is that something you discovered through therapy
or just self discovery on I.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Think self discovery on my own. I've always felt like
there was since I was little. I can remember feeling
like there was something bigger than me. But in a way,
in order to discover that bigger than me essence or
like God or the universe or whatever, I had to
go deeper within myself to like figure it out.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Time for a quick break, will be right back. Now
we're going to transition into the building of a business.
You are not only an artist, but you're you have
to be an entrepreneur because you are selling your art right. Yes,
I feel like it's so new to the modern times.
(13:35):
I don't think Picasso or Leona Little Da Vince you
had to worry about being entrepreneurs. I just did their
art and everything kind of took care of itself. And
now an artist in modern times has to put on
many hats. Yeah, so talk to us about how do
you manage your business, like how many team members do
you have and what's the day to day of your business.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
I started my business back in twenty eighteen and at
the time I was working over their dust job, I
decided to quit. I was making kind of enough to
sustain what I wanted to do, and then I started
working from home. So at that point it was just
me and my fiance now some days helping me.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
And I have a question, So, when you decided to
quit that job because your products were selling or your
art was selling, what was it? Was it? Prince? Was it?
Because I know that you have different products? What were
the products?
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Mostly prints and stickers? But to go back to your
original question, for right now, my team mostly consists of me,
my mom, my best friend, and that's pretty much it.
But behind the products that I make, it's only me.
So I'm the person developing the product. I'm the person
doing the emails. I'm the person taking the pictures. I'm
(14:53):
the person doing the website, editing, you know, making sure
the orders are being shipped through everything's correct, doing product development.
So there's a lot on my plate, a lot on
my plate. But I definitely have seen the fruits of
my labor, and for that I'm very thankful because I
know that there's a lot of other people who try
(15:15):
and push and pursue, but they get met with the
short end of the stick. I feel like I'm definitely
blessed and fortunate to say that I have seen my
hard work payoff. But I owe a lot of that
to my dad because he was that way. He wouldn't stop.
There was no this is enough. It was like, okay,
we have this, now we're going to get here. Okay,
(15:37):
we have this, now we're going to get here. But
for my business, yeah, there's a lot to juggle. There's
a lot to juggle.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
I see that because I have a business too. I
actually publish children's books. I read that, and I read
that I do the same thing. I'm the art director,
I'm the writer, I'm the manager, I'm the shipping cat.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
And sometimes you just want to be like what if
I stop?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
What if I exactly no? You know what I've thought
sometimes like this is a train with no breaks, like
you wanted to stop, Like I can't.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Kids already on the go. You just have to be like,
all right right, I feel like for me, I'm sure
you can really when you know, you see the bigger
scheme of things and it does seem overwhelming. But then,
like you're saying, you have moments like when I got
my roller roller label printers. I was like, oh, these
are so cool, Like yeah, I don't have to go
(16:36):
to the post office anymore. And then you know rewarded.
And it's really those little things that you find that
you're like, this is nice, this is this is good. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
And I listen, I heard someone recently I'm talking billionaires,
and they asked him like, Okay, you get a high
when you sell your company for eleven million dollars, but
then what then? What what sustains you? Right? And what
he's said, what I thought was, so, you know, so wise,
was it's in the little things that you get the highest.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Yeah, it's so true.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
It's in the little things, and don't forget that. And
it's so true. And you have to appreciate every single
little thing to keep it going because those big highs
they're never guaranteed and you don't know how long until
the next big high.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Right. And the thing is too, if you're only playing
the game, I want to say, or like doing what
you're doing to have these big moments of reward, then
you're never really gonna be fulfilled. You're gonna always keep
chasing the next thing and the next thing and the
next thing. But when you learn to slow down and
(17:43):
gratify and place gratitude into the little things like me
having this space, or me being able to go out
and buy my kid whatever toy he wants, or me
being able to ride bikes with him when things are
a little bit slower. In my business, those moments are
really where you find the most fulfilled, because the big
highs are just like extreme adrenaline and like wow, you're like,
(18:05):
I did it, you know, I made it. I got
to this point. But when you slow down and you
look at the things that are so minuscule, your joy
will never really leave you. It'll just accompany you, and
then when it's amplified, it'll feel good and then you'll
still be happy.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Right. It's like people that are only happy on their birthday, Right,
what happens the other three hundred and sixty four days?
During Mike morning coffee makes me happy?
Speaker 1 (18:30):
So always?
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Oh yeah, okay, So going back to your the day
to day of your business, how do you set your hours?
Speaker 1 (18:40):
That took me a while to balance out. I got
my office during the COVID phase, so you.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Probably got a good deal, right, yeah, but like definitely
if it puts off, I'm like.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Okay, it was like two months free. I was like,
right now, but no, it was really difficult because I
had menig every day, every single day. And you know,
when you have kids, they're like, let's play, let's read,
let's color let, and I'm like, it's so hard for
(19:12):
you to understand that right now in my mind is
work time. But in your mind you're like, he's like,
she's home, we're home, right like, let's play, you know.
And now I feel like I have a better schedule,
so my son goes to school as soon as I
drop him off. Those eight hours that he's at school,
I'm going to work. When he was a toddler and
(19:33):
I had him all the time, it was so difficult
because the mom gilt. You know, you're like, ah, I'm
trying to do all of this for you, but you
don't see that. You're only think she's not playing with
me right now. Yep.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
And my son is ten and I still get it
from him, you know. I he's like, play catch with me,
and I will, but you know, and in my office
like literally the windows to my backyard, So okay, he's
playing catch. I'll play with.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Him sometimes mostly.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
My husband and I'll be like waving at him from
the window, like is this enough? Is this enough for
me to just wave while you're playing? Does that check
the box?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Fulfillment box? Pickering up a film? I love you, I
love you. But we do the best we can. We
do that. And you know what, moms were always on
the clock. Even when we're not on the clock, we're
(20:36):
on the clock because even if we're working, our mind
is still are they happy? Are they feeling good? How
do they need lunch? Did they eat? You know? So
we got to get ourselves more grace.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yeah. Yeah, it's not an easy it's not an easy
thing to do, but it's it's a work in progress.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Yeah right, So talk if.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Someone wants to look at your products and discover them
or buy your products. First of all, I would love
to know like everything. I mean I already looked at
your website. But yes, so people can hear it. Talk
to us about all the different products you have. And
by the way, you need to restock that awesome Reflections
(21:21):
hoodie because I want to be one of those. I'm like, yeah, yeah, you.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Can find all My merch is only sold through me
right now, which is online, so it's www dot Sincerely
art dot com. But all of my merch some of it,
I want to say, like the hoodie that you were
interested in, I do only a certain quantity of because
they're harder to make and they cost more money to make.
(21:56):
So the things that are usually restocked frequently, it's because
it's making me a good enough profit without having to
be too big of an investment. But the things that
sell out that are not restocking are usually limited edition
or I'll have my tab two where you can see
it's as collectors, and I'm emphasizing a lot more on
(22:17):
those things as well, because those are the ones that
I'm investing a lot of money into that are really
high quality. They're expensive, they feel luxurious, and I want
them to be, you know, only a certain amount sold
so that the people who get them feel like they
have something exclusive from me.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Right right, Well, you're an artist, and that's what artists do,
Like we want to feel like it is that one
special item that you can touch, like you personally touched.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Only my phone cases, pillows, and posters are drop shipped
through my distribution company. Other than that, everything that you
see on my website is made by me, and I'm
the shipments nice yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
What would you say, is your biggest seller.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
I want to say, no matter what, my prints, my
art prints are my biggest sellers, which makes me feel
great because it's like, no matter what I'm putting out,
people still just want to buy a print or a
copy of the painting, which is great. But it depends
on the season. Like I had just dropped my cloud
(23:25):
purses that I made that are actually in that little
box right there, and those were a huge hit. I
sold one hundred and fifty per color and they sold
in a day, so I was like, wow, yeah, it
was amazing. But it just changes. It depends on what
I'm making. I feel like my best seller is always
my newest thing for that time, right, but that is
(23:48):
sustainable forever. It's definitely my art prints. That's what's always selling,
like daily, a lot of orders.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Is there anything else you would like to add that
we didn't touch upon.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
I am planning on doing some exhibitions this year in
Los Angeles, which is going to be really fun and
hopefully I pray New York City. But I did get
accepted into my first professional gallery and it was in Europe.
If someone's listening from Europe, you can go see my
painting La Luna Paraiso, which is exhibited at the Golden
(24:21):
Duck Gallery in Budapest from now until June twentieth.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Congratulations, thank you. That is awesome. What are you reading
or doing or listening to that you want to recommend?
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Okay, well, this is great, especially since we touched earlier
on like postpartum and you know, pain and trauma and
stuff like that. I have been really into guided meditations.
They have just man just completely transformed my life. Like
they have brought me so much peace, so much belonging,
so much calm. When I feel like I'm in a
(24:57):
chaotic space or I'm angra, I'm fresh. Because there's guided
meditations on anything like sadness, healing the mother wound, postpartum, depression, pregnancy.
There's so many guided meditations. So if you're listening to
this and you have never meditated before, please try one
because it will help you so much.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
And you just google, like on YouTube or how do
I do it?
Speaker 1 (25:19):
You can find them anywhere, but for me, I do
them on Spotify right, and I do a lot of
healing meditations or meditations for anxiety or things like that.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Okay, love it. So the name of the show is
latinos take the lead. Tell us how you're taking the lead.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
I am taking the lead in my life by being
the person who is setting my future self up and
my future generations up to not have to struggle anymore.
I feel like it's falling on me and my family
to not only break generational trauma from my ancestors and
(25:57):
from my parents, but all also provide wealth and stability
and spiritual stability, emotional stability, any kind of stability for
my future generations to come so that they're not where
I had to be, if that makes sense. But that's
how I'm taking the lead, making a plan for myself,
(26:18):
following through and making sure that I'm the person who
change changes the cycle, right.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Yeah, I mean, if you want to look at it,
we were the if you want to look at it symbolically,
the chosen generation to change that cycling right of so
much trauma from our ancestors. But how beautiful to be
able to create that change for the rest of the Yeah, because.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Then it starts with you. You know, it starts with you.
You plant that seed. They'll look back and honor us
for being the ones who changed the cycle.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Well just well, thank you so much for your inspirational conversation.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
I had a pleasure talking with you.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
Likewise, I feel like we could be friends.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah, to go.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Thank you so much for listening. Please subscribe and give
us a review. Tell your friends and go madres about
our podcast and hope you join us next week. Latinus
Take the Lead is executive produced by Hodston Reinoso Media Group,
LLC and hosted by me naive Reo.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
So.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Production Assistant is Ana Sofia Monson. Latinas Take the Lead
is a production of the Seneca Women Podcast Network and iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, check out the iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows as a
proxima
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!