We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mela CK a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Mela, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
I feel like with most things in life you have to give a little to keep going. Being a creative is not easy. Especially now that we are pushed to produce so much daily. It becomes exhausting and almost disingenuous to being my creative self. Speaking for me I struggle with mental health. Being an artist is therapy for me. Sometimes I don’t feel like expressing myself like i use to when i was younger. But with age i’ve learned that doing enough should be enough. Once a week or once a month when i have the energy to create I let it flow. If i’m having trouble the night I want to try and make something, I look at things that inspire me or make me feel a certain way to have an idea to create. Being patient with myself is what is keeping my creativity alive.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I still do murals from time to time. I started as a street artist 15 years ago and it gradually turned into multiple forms of art. I do Illustration as well. Now currently working on my comic book “Bocas Del Toro” a story about a bunny who becomes a sword fighter. Just released the cover for it. I’ve been working on it for a year and 4 months so to have it finally done this year will feel like a success to me. It’s out of the norm for me but for some reason I felt like even though I paint, my characters could have a real story behind one of them. The choice of a lead as a bunny character comes from a childhood memory I had with my father before his passing.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I could sum it up to courage, confidence, and patience. Most artist already go through their own mental struggles. Time management of balancing work with our creative patterns. At the end of the day trying to not get overwhelmed with the other two in mind. I feel all artists, including myself, are emotional and can get distracted or lose a healthy pattern. Being good with my art included those three life practices of having courage, being confident, and remembering I’m only human and should be patient with myself. It’s a balancing act that doesn’t end, however that doesn’t make it bad thing by any means. Keeping up the three things that keep me mentally sound and focused to produce art has been the most helpful. Know your limits.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
Taking chances on styles and things I’ve never thought about trying. With social media sometimes people find one good thing that people like and keep going with it. Personally I like to change it up a lot in one way, but the other is something I’ve learned that is making me grow even more. Comic work. If you told me 4 years ago I would be working on my own comic I would say “I don’t believe it” It’s something so time consuming and different. I’ve been learning about characters and what building a story needs. Never written my own story before. It’s exciting.
Contact Info:
- Website: mel-ck.com
- Instagram: mela_ck_og
Image Credits
Gary Shaw for the photo of me
