My name is Mariz, and I am a graphic design student at University of the Pacific. At a young age, I found art to be enticing. I would see my older cousins and brother create work for their art classes, and I just thought it was the coolest thing. Wanting to be like the big kids, I’d pick up my crayons, markers, pencils, and glitter and start creating. My parents aren’t exactly artistic and say they have no creativity, so they always wonder where I got my artistic interests and creativity from. Every time they ask me that, I tell them I got it from my older cousin. My older cousin was hands-down the biggest influence on my interest in art. He was always extremely creative and had a room full of art supplies. I was the annoying little cousin that would always ask him “Can you draw me?” since I found his talent incredible. Whenever I’d come over, he’d tell me to entertain myself by painting or helping him with one of his projects. To this day, I still like to join in and help him out with a project if I can. Not many of my family members had me thinking I had potential as an artist, but his encouragement made me feel good enough and is a major reason why I am where I’m at today.

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When I’m not creating art and designing, I love pondering thrift stores and vintage shops. Thrifting is extremely fun for me and is often an adventure since I never know what I am going to find. Going through the aisles of a thrift store is also therapeutic in a way as I allow myself to get lost in a place that is like a time capsule filled with clothing, trinkets and memorabilia from a span of several decades. It’s especially interesting to me since I can see what designs were popular from each era and possibly incorporate some of those designs into one of my current creations, whether that’s in graphic design or a sewing project.

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Check out my resumé here & my business card here!