My Story

My dream to start this business is rooted in personal experience. I love expressing myself through creating anything! Despite that love, I could never really find true value in what I was doing. Then, I collapsed under a mysterious autoimmune disease that rendered me as good as immobile. When I couldn’t create anymore, I embarked on a truly eyeopening journey within.

Background

I am a Dutch trained creative professional. In high school when the question of what do you want to become arose, there were three things that stood out to me. I love nature, and I love creating, I love people. I chose to study landscape architecture. Shaping nature and creating beautiful spaces for people was a perfect fit! I would be contributing to people's happiness. 

Several years into my career, I started to struggle with the absence of positive results from all my hard work. Through endless bureaucracy, plans took a long time to reach the stage of realization. Longing to do something meaningful, I started volunteering. To bring a smile to a face with as little as some personal attention brought me instant gratification. But my discontent and questioning as to what my purpose was in this world led me to explore the spiritual path. I didn't grow up with spirituality, however, starting at a very young age, I was intrigued by consciousness, death and what lies beyond the universe. It was life changing for me to discover that there is more to this world than the human senses can perceive. I gradually developed the notion that there are as many ways to spiritual awakening as there are people. However, all paths lead to the common goal of experiencing essential being which harbors total freedom.

After our move from the Netherlands to the US, I was unable to continue my career for 7 years due to immigration restrictions. I started exploring other ways to use my creative gifts to delight others. I started out with oil painting and eventually ventured out into graphic design, web design and jewelry making. 

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Confrontation

In 2020, I got struck by a mysterious neurological illness. I couldn't create anymore. I lost a piece of myself. I couldn't share my joy with the world anymore. I felt trapped in a body that I couldn't control. I had lost faith in my body and started losing faith in my mind as well, when I kept on hearing from medical professionals that there was nothing wrong with me. The only way was to go within. This led to a true eyeopening discovery of who I really am and who I am not. I learned that I am not this body that doesn't function. I am not this mind, full of negative thoughts, that judges and blames me for my own misery. I am not the emotions raging through my body. I am not my fear. Things happen. I can not control life. This life changing illness made me see that I needed a new perspective on life. Slowly, I managed to emerge from the darkness. I started to focus on the things I was able to do. Cooking, taking care of myself, sleeping, meditation and physical exercise to my ability. I began to see that my true self is awareness only and that everything else is transient. I started to let go. Let go of the need to control. Let go of events in the past, let go of my fear of the future. Through meditation and mindful living, I slowly recovered and rediscovered myself.

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Discovery

Then one day, I was able to create some art again. Not only did I feel very grateful to have come this far, I also gained a surprising new insight. As I often do during my daily chores, I tuned in to a podcast while I started my drawing. Two hours later, when I looked up from my work, it seemed as if only 10 minutes had past. I realized that I hadn't heard one word of what was being said in the podcast. I had been totally immersed in the realm of imagination and creation. In that moment I realized that making art is a form of meditation and that the true value of art lies in the process of making it.

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Through mindful art workshops, I want to help others to discover this path into deeper awareness. I hope to show people that creating art is a fun, non threatening way, to practice letting go of fears and mastering the art of acceptance. It cultivates a habit of noticing and paying deep attention. I see the artistic process as a doorway to forming an original perspective and unlocking the true creativity inside each of us.

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Marlies