Hello there! Welcome to the inaugural blog post for ivylinedesign.com! In case you're new here, let me introduce myself. I'm Marianne, the creator and boss babe behind Ivy Line Design.
So here’s the long and short of my story....
I have been drawing for as long as I can remember. When I was a child my humongous stacks of library books constantly consisted of how-to-draw books on everything from people, to puppies, to landscapes (but I almost always drew horses). I guess I always knew that I wanted to be an artist when I grew up, but I wasn’t quite sure exactly what kind of art career I wanted. After high school I ended up going to art college and getting a degree in interior design, but that field didn’t really stick with me... yeah, I kind of failed in that regard, but it’s okay!
I did a few freelance graphic design projects after college and found it so fulfilling to work directly with a client on a project that was of personal importance to them. Not long afterward, in 2014, I started Ivy Line Design as an Etsy shop (it was under a different name at the time, which is to remain unuttered). Honestly, at the time my Etsy shop was mainly a creative outlet to help me endure my very uncreative job in customer service. I was just thinking about taking my side hustle to the next level when life took a crazy turn and my husband was diagnosed with cancer. We tried to live life as normally as possible, but with him going through chemo and radiation, and with me working full-time and helping to care for him, neither one of us had much energy for much else! So for a while I pretty much halted any progression with my business, but I didn't stop learning. During that time I tried my hand at calligraphy (pun intended, ha!) and enjoyed hand lettering cocktail illustrations.
Flash forward about a year and a half and sadly my husband fell asleep in death. Losing him was the biggest blow I’ve ever received in my lifetime, and I doubt I’ll ever face much hardship worse than that. I always strive to lead my life with optimisim, grit, and grace, but admittedly I lost my spark for quite some time. Especially since that day in March I suddenly will have days, weeks, or even months where my emotional state is caught somewhere between numbness and desolation, and even smiling is almost more than I can fake. But that is the reality of dealing with such a major loss, I guess, especially when you’re already prone to depression. But at any rate, I am currently feeling pretty happy and optimistic (aside from the money stresses that come with adulting and poor budgeting skills).
So where am I now?
Well, I know I’ve lost so much time already- most people have their shiz together by 30 (I’ve still got a few months!), right? Yet despite the voices in my head telling me "you can’t catch up now; you're untalented; you're a failure," there’s a positive thought that keeps popping up in my head, and that is:
I can’t start from scratch, but I can start from here.
To me that means that there’s no use trying to start over, and there’s no shame in not being in the same place professionally as other artists/designers my age. I can, and should, view the obstacles I’ve already encountered as preparation to make me stronger, softer, and more grateful. Stronger to deal with the challenges I have yet to face, softer to deal with the harsh personalities I will have to contend with as a free lancer, and open and grateful for the blessings that are all around me. There’s no way I will ever get over losing my best friend, and I still sorely miss the confidence boost he was always able to give me, but I can still move on.
I plan to bring a full heart to every project I am assigned here at Ivy Line, and I hope you'll keep me in mind if ever you find yourself or your company in need of some clever illustrations, elegant wedding calligraphy and design, or whimsical hand lettering services.
I also hope you'll stick around and continue with the goings-on of this blog from time to time. I plan to make a bi-weekly blog post about anything that inspires me and I hope that you might want to know about as well. This could range from a current project I’m working on, to travel, or my life as a freelance designer (with a current full time job). Also, feel free to send me a line if there’s something that personally inspires you and you’d like to see explored in a post of mine.