mundomiki

i’ve been working on the internet industry for 8 years, but despite of all achievements i'd made, i decided to leave this life behind and begin a new one: since i am a handcrafter from tender age, i guess i had to try making a living from it.

i quit my job and old career in 2005 and opened my own studio. it has been a long and challenging period since then. it had its ups and downs and i almost gave up a couple of times. the very first consistent project i've invented was “mundomiki: dolls and their stories”. i’ve created some felt dolls that were unique (i.e. they weren’t made in series, but only one for each character). besides the doll herself, she had her own biography and wardrobe, which combined life’s aspects with her personal style. but they weren’t meant to be purchased. instead of it, they were available for adoption with one condition: the adopter had to buy a complete set of clothes for her. by the way, “mundomiki” means miki’s world. the project was released in 2006 but soon i realized that it wouldn’t be possible to get enough money for living from it. i was happy to see i was able to release my project, but i was also worried about my future.

i didn’t know what to do next, i was confused and a little bit down so i began blogging furiously. since i made a career on internet business, i had my own thoughts of how a blog could or couldn’t be. so i’ve invented some blogs, there were so many that i've been calling them “blogs’ constellation”, one for each subject that interested me such as food, art, music, my own short stories etc.

i've always liked to write so it was amazing to write about the world around me. i didn’t realize it in that occasion, but these were the very first essays, the seed that would awake my writer’s personality.

at the same time, i began to think about a new project, a sub-project of mundomiki indeed and so mikokeshis arised one year later. as well as mikimotos, they also had a life story, their own personality and wardrobe. but, in their case, they were a group of 5 friends that had a very special garden over their care at mundomiki: mikokeshis were responsible to plant the dreams of those who would adopt them.

at that time, i wasn’t that sure i'd like to make and sell stuffs for living. i guessed the world was full of stuff and i was wondering if it needed one more stuff, my stuff… but the project was released, it was christmas and some mikokeshis were adopted. so i wished they could make some people happy or, at least, thoughtful.

yes, thoughtful. because the most important point to me is to touch people, make them think about the way they consume; about taking care and being responsible for each little thing (and attitude) in their lives; about their true dreams, not only the materialistic ones, but specially those who moved us and made our eyes shine when we were little kids and – who knows? – maybe they are all forgotten deep inside us, so hidden we are not able to find them anymore.

i began to think about my trajectory. i knew that handcrafting was a very important part of it, but began to suspect that it wasn’t exactly what moves me. after thinking and thinking, i've realized that what moves me was a deep wish to contribute to make a better world. even it only could be a very tiny contribution.

again i thought and thought and the answer i found was "if i write and illustrate, maybe i could contribute in a wider range for a better world”.

but… there was such a long and – mostly ever – difficult path between having an idea and making it come true… begining a new career completely away from your first one when you are 36 years old is such a big challenge. but i guessed that was my way, so i went ahead. i’ve writen three online stories and almost gave up before get published with my first book of ‘paint-and-paper’.

so there i was, my first book published, my dreams had come true. so you wonder: you would be very happy, wouldn’t you? well, not at all… after publishing my first book, my lovely publisher had asked for a second one but i was completely petrified. i've tried and tried but couldn’t get writing another one. i know that the creative process has its own cycle and i've tried hard not to get anxious about it, but it wasn’t an easy task for me. another year passed and i've decided that was time to dedicate a little bit more in to drawing and painting. it was 2011, i couldn’t be able to publish any book else and i was suffering about it, but i’ve drawn and drawn. i've proposed to myself drawing every single day through that year.

after dedicating seriously for a whole year in drawing and painting, i've finally realized that… i am an artist. i've looked back and everything makes sense for me. my tortuous path, every little step i’ve taken… finally i've understood that every little piece of my trajectory was important to make me comprehend that my soul is an artist’s soul. when i realized it, i could be in peace with myself.

hope u enjoy my brand-new life