Emily Marella shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Emily, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
Recently, i’ve felt the call to officially change my name to Marella.
As I signed artwork, I loathed the thought of using my legal last name to mark the things I was proud to have created. Pieces that took hours, days, and for some, over a year to complete. I have been toting the same last name since birth, having a denotation of my biological lineage marked on documents, accounts, and nearly everything of administrative significance for over 20 years.
Each time I look at the name i’ve held since birth, I feel anger, frustration, and fear. Its bestower held such power over my childhood, that to change it feels akin to disturbing the slumber of a dragon. Would I be sought after, hunted, or tormented if I made this change? For things to remain the same, I at least had the comfort of predictability.
But change often encourages more change, and until recently, this fear paralyzed me from claiming my own identity.
In July of this year, I made the choice to embrace my new name socially, if I could begin the legal process immediately, and began letting people in my life know. Their reactions took me by surprise. Friends changed my contact name in their phones, colleagues changed my desk name plate, and my mom expressed her deepest pride that I had not let fear steer my identity in the ways that she had let it claim her life as a young woman.
Although I am still in the process of making this change permanent, legal, and long-lasting, I have embraced my name and my identity. And now, when asked what my name is, I loudly declare “Emily Marella” instead of the whisper I offered before.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Growing up, I was drawn to anything creative. I remember drawing on the bathroom walls…and then promptly being given a sponge. I’d drop illustrations into unsuspecting mailboxes, to the dismay of my grown ups. I created murals on my bedroom walls, eliciting sighs and eye rolls. It often felt like the world wasn’t prepared for my creativity. But, what was always prepared, was my grandma’s craft room.
Stocked with yarn, paint, markers, ribbons, stamps, boxes in boxes, endless container of stickers, jewels, and thread, and more, her craft room is like a craft store annex. And it’s where I learned that you’re allowed to have and collect things, simply because they bring you joy.
I learned to crochet, that you should always sand your surface before you paint, and that curse words are not only acceptable, but praised, in cross stitch. I painted picture frames and model trains, made scrapbooks and illustrations, and glued things together endlessly with the finishing flourish of crayon and ribbon. Whatever I wanted to create, I learned that I could. That freedom of creativity encouraged me to approach the world with curiosity and whimsy. This is a perspective captured effortlessly by Mother Goose, a public domain icon, through rhymes and illustrations.
As a quintessential childhood staple, Mother Goose implies a belonging to children. And it is this belonging that I chose Mother Goose to represent my art- in that, it is for children, young and old.
When you allow yourself to be a child, you are most creatively free and involved in the creative process. For me, this means caring for my inner child by allowing her to express herself through art. And where that young girl often felt most connected to art, was in her grandma’s craft room. And it was born: Mother Goose’s Craft Room, a place for the inner child to connect with whimsical art.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
As a child, I believed that my existence was centered around my effort and productivity. When I cleaned or helped, I received praise that encouraged me to continue anticipating the needs of adults in my life to support them. In this way, I felt valued and important to my family and greater community. But as I grew and formed new relationships throughout adolescence, I slowly realized that the anticipatory nature of my relationships was not healthy.
Through a long process, I learned to let go of behaviors and habits that had accumulated over my lifetime to make way for new qualities of life that I intentionally chose. And now, I view my existence as an
opportunity to experience joy- not a debt to be repaid through work.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
Trust, respect, and love are mutual exchanges and are not inherently required because of a relationship. Those who demand your respect without returning their own, only care for their own self-image and not your connection together. This lack of respect and trust from others is not an indication of your deserving, but of their own failings to love you as you are.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
That supplies allow for creative expression. Department craft stores would have you believe that the variety of paint brushes is necessary, that hot pressed or cold pressed paper is a vital decision, or that the more expensive brand of paint will create higher quality art. But none of this is true, or even remotely required for you to be an artist.
Start with the basics: a pencil and eraser. Cut out shapes with scissors and glue them to different shapes. Borrow colored pencils from a friend. Visit the library to utilize their paper and craft materials. Visit Little Free Library’s for books and magazines to collage with. Find mixed bags of supplies at thrift stores. Find used canvases and prime them with white paint to use again.
And just…never stop being resourceful.
A creative does not need the specific tool, but the passion to make it work with what they have.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What do you think people will most misunderstand about your legacy?
As a woman whose life is only beginning, I have hopes and goals for what my legacy will be. Building Mother Gooses Craft Room has been an early step in a lifetime of creative expression and the freedom to tell the truth.
My hope is that my lifetime of art will communicate to audiences that trauma in early childhood is felt in many ways and I chose to process these experiences in safe spaces that I create myself, in my paintings. This may not be obvious in the early stages of my artistic career, and so I predict misunderstanding of the intentional legacy my collection of art will hold.
And lastly, I do not often communicate that while I have built this business for myself, I have done so as a testament to my Mom.
In my early childhood, we experienced severe abuse together and did not begin to process it until later in my life. By embracing my fears, sharing my inner thoughts and feelings, and changing my name, I have shown her that to thrive despite fear, you must live. And by building things for myself, I continue to demonstrate my gratitude for her lifetime of sacrifices, love, and protection so that I could reach this point in life.
And so, the ‘Mother’ of Mother Gooses Craft Room serves as a reminder that nothing could be created without my Mother, my momma.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mothergoosescraftroom?igsh=MW10NjEwZXU5bWRhZw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
