Today we’d like to introduce you to Marian Glez.
Hi Marian, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Marian and I’m a freelance, self-taught embroiderer. I started my brand Souly Crafts in 2017. First, it was just a hobby, with no intentions and honestly no idea it would turn out to be what it is today, my full-time job. Back then, I had what I thought it was my “dream job” for many years, I was economically stable but at a very high price, this job made me feel empty and I’ve always pride myself to be someone who would wake up every day feeling accomplish and satisfy with what I was doing with my life, and this job wasn’t doing it for me anymore…
So, I took a very risky shot and trade my stability back then, for my happiness; and that’s when Souly Crafts truly begin.
I’ve always been a creative person, but I never thought it would be in this medium. One day, I felt the need to create something with my hands from scratch, I found myself with embroidery art and decided to give it a chance, I must say I never sew anything in my life before this, but it felt right and somehow therapeutic at the same time, so I went to my local craft store and picked up a few things I thought I would need to start, I taught myself a few stitches and the minute I started my first piece, I fell in love with the craft. I then spent the next few days learning and working and ended up with a few pieces of my own. Few weeks later, I decided to start an Instagram page, at first was just to document my process and share this new hobby I had that I loved so much, but little after that I booked my first commission piece.
My husband is an illustrator, so he inspired me more and more to keep creating… We started booking Art Markets around our city and slowly made this our one and only job. We created this beautiful environment that made us truly happy.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It is never a smooth road as a freelancer, you live day by day, you often don’t have stability, and it gets difficult and challenging at times, sometimes it’s not even up to you anymore and as a creator, you have to accept that, but difficult times have also taught me to push myself, even more, to always give an extra, to constantly reinvent my work, my brand. To not take it personal when it’s not, and just keep going and keep doing what I love.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Whenever someone ask me about my craft and what “style” I focus it on, I never know what to answer because I can’t put it in only one category, I feel that my craft is another part of me, of what I am, what I like, what I believe, what inspires me, and that is constantly evolving; that’s one of the reason why I named my brand SOULY CRAFTS because it’s Art that comes from the Soul, from what I am… today. From spirituality, nature to botanical herbs and medicine, plants, animals, female empowerment, love, sensuality, etc…
The last few years, I’ve been creating portraits of my customers’ pets, which is a whole other level of difficulty and commitment; as a pet owner, I take this very seriously, when customers trust me to portrait the joy of their home it scares me sometimes, but always in a good way. To see their reactions at the end it’s so rewarding. I wouldn’t say it’s my specialty though, because, with every piece I do, I learn more each time, but in a way, it has become a constant pattern for me, which I quite enjoy.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think as a freelancer/self-employed you’re constantly taking risks, you don’t have a huge team with you telling you what to do to grow, to stay relevant, to stay active, etc… You sometimes don’t even have someone to ask a simple opinion to, so yes, creators take risks every single day and I don’t think a lot of people realized that we present ourselves as a brand but we are, sometimes, only one person behind everything, business wise, creativity, social networking, etc..
One huge risk I took recently was re-branding, with everything going on in the world in 2020, I felt a little discouraged and disconnected with my craft and felt like I needed something new to keep me going, but was too afraid to do it because of people not understanding it or not following up with me and losing them on the way, as much as I don’t like to think about numbers, I often have to in this business, and the thought of seeing people not following my work anymore seemed risky after all the work I put into it. But I was also not feeling inspired and for me, that was even more scary. So in 2021, I re-branded, new name, new logo and also returned to Art Markets after almost two years working only from home and/or commission pieces.
It was refreshing and exciting to see people again, to reconnect with them, and also to get recognized even with a different name and logo, to see them stop to take a look at my art and recognizing me through it. I hope I can keep creating through my craft for many years to come.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/soulycraftss
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/soulycraftss
Image Credits
Marian Glez
