Hi! I'm Marijanel...

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I’m an author and illustrator. I’m passionate about leaving a legacy through stories, both visual and audio. This is why I create every single day of my life…illustrating, podcasting and making videos. It’s my nature to make things and my desire to bring the world a ray of hope.

Since I was little, I've been a highly creative person, looking for every way possible to create. I was homeschooled and my mom used to say “If my child can read and write they can learn anything they want.” She was right. I grew up to become a self taught entrepreneur and artist, working in both corporate and non-profit worlds, putting my mind to learn and grow.

I call myself Curiosity’s Apprentice because I’ve lived life wondering what’s around the bend and following where my curiosity led me, which means I have a whole lot of craaaazzzzyyyy stories to tell, which is why I started my memoir podcast, Curiosity’s Apprentice. This is a weekly audio show where I share depths of my heart, fragments of my journals, and the stories, sad, funny, wild and weird, that shape me. My listeners leave inspired and with renewed sense of hope, and hopefully have fun laughing with me (not at me). 

As a child my hands were always active in clay and crafts and colouring. I also used to sing and preach into a little tape recorder while sitting on the stairs of my family townhome. All of these childhood activities were just hints of what was to come, no one is surprised by the things I’m doing now.

I’ve immersed myself in the arts, both performing and visual. At a young age I gained a lot of experience in the music industry, writing and releasing childrens and gospel/worship albums. I founded a kids music production company and had a burst of success when my CDs (yes, it was way back when in the olden days of CDs) launched into national department stores. This was where my corporate business experience began. That’s also the first time I experienced creative and personal burnout, which I share about in my podcast.

With the birth of my children, and needing burnout recovering, I shifted out of performing arts and focused on visual arts. I studied photography and built a successful portrait business, shooting weddings and families for over a decade. This intertwined with a hobby turned into hustle, pottery. 

My work as a clay sculptor took off and my creations were shown in galleries and I was nominated for an applied arts award by my peers. This was a pinnacle of my arts career where I felt I was truly doing what I called my soul work. 

While clay and pottery was successful in it’s own right, something else was brewing on the side. All the while, for many years, I’d been doodling. I didn’t take my doodling too seriously.

I drew cute mice, frogs, bugs and woodland characters. I did it for fun. I did it for my kids. I taught Sunday School with my pictures and I used them to bring my kids songs to life. But I didn’t think much of it.

Little by little, over time, my doodles became better and better and grew into an expression of myself that I couldn’t hold back any longer.

But I had a personal problem.

Quite honestly, what I saw happening from my paint brush scared me a little. 

You might say, “Marijanel, how could those adorable characters scare you? Your hedgehog is so cute!” Here it is… I was reluctant to be known or branded for what I called “cute art” because I had tasted and experienced success and recognition for my “serious” work in galleries through sculpture and photography. Would the world take me seriously if I fully surrendered to where my illustration would take me? 

I had to let go and trust that I was made for this. 

With time, lots of time, patience and prayer, I began to follow the call to illustrate. Now I’ll be the first one to tell you that we are given a talent/style that we need to embrace, and let go of all the resistance holding us back. 

So I did it.

I went ALL IN as an author and illustrator. 

I currently produce and host the Bold Artist Podcast and teach online art classes with Bold School Inc, while managing my illustration career. I live a productive daily routine (and love to talk about time management too lol)!

 My creative world is a beautiful mosaic of pieces coming together to make one big picture. 

I look forward to having you be a part of my journey as I illustrate to leave legacy.

Love from

Curiosity's Apprentice,

Marijanel