The Drawings of Marian Arends from The Netherlands
This is our featured artist of the month Miss Marian Arends from the Netherlands. She was diagnosed with autism much later in life, a condition that does not hinder her from expressing her creativity.
At a very early age she started to explore her feelings in her drawings because this was her way of communicating.
Growing up at a time of conformity sadly she was forced to only draw what she was told to at school but being left handed Marian found it excruciatingly painful when she was told that she should only draw using her right hand like every body else.
She was always teased as the odd one although she was actually the most creative, the one with the unusual and beautiful drawings.
Marian had to put aside her creativity and continued on her life and became a teacher for the visually handicapped.
She soon got married and became a mother of three gorgeous children; though she loves her family she became all this because it was expected of her in the eyes of society.
Art by Marian Arends
All along she felt that something was still not quite right and terribly wrong. But after her late husband’s passing in 1998 she experienced a turning point in her life.
A few weeks after the cremation she and a friend started painting every walls in her home with different colours.
This was her way of going through the grieving process’s which no one could understand but her inner compass guided her to express with these colours in her home.
And it was the first time since childhood where she experienced the healing energy of colours once again.
Marian left her city couple of years later and moved with her children to Texel Island where she continued teaching but she could no longer conform to the ways of traditional teaching and went through many challenges for not wanting to follow their rules and school systems.
During this difficult time she was also diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome and found herself lost in her new reality of being labelled autistic. She started questioning her own life and wondered if this was a life worth living.
In 2003, it all just started to happen, something within her took charge as she picked up a pen and simply started drawing. It felt foreign to her and she remembered feeling scared to death about what she was doing.
She carried on not wanting to stop but Marian knew she had to break down some walls and she did.
One day a year from her first encounter with her drawings, a niece and friend had seen her work and encouraged her to show off her drawings. To which she was puzzled and asked why? “because people may like them and would feel happy by your art” they told her.
She could not believe this but soon there were other people saying the same thing which was really encouraging and so she begun posting her work on social medias in which the response were positive.
Her message within her drawings were simple, she just wanted to communicate heart to heart.
Marian wants the world to see people as being different and this difference is what makes us all special.
There is no one way of living “a good life” on this earth because it takes a variety of us to make it what it is.
Her beautiful drawings are a gift to all of us because it is about going beyond our labels and becoming true to ourselves.
Marian Arends is a beautiful soul sent to colour our world with her imagination.
You can find Marian Arend’s drawings on her Facebook pages and purchase her fine art and original pieces. Get her art and be inspired by your own unique sense of creativity.
We also have a supportive Facebook group you can join click here.
Julie J. The Creator & Founder
Hello my name is Julie J. My love for painting, writing and people inspired me to create this global magazine. I believe literature should be a peaceful experience and that is why at A/X Publisher there are no pop up Ad. interruptions. If you are a content producer, writer or blogger, we welcome you to register. Start Writing..
