• "[...] imagination in its purest form: the art of giving life to what doesn't exist, of persuading others to accept a world that isn't really there."

    Paul Auster Moon Palace, Actes Sud

Manuella MATHIAS GARBE Manuella MATHIAS GARBE

“Real life”

My plan to open the boutique for the festive season was slowly slipping away. I'd done a lot of work, but to meet the deadline I should have started in the summer. My illustrations were printed; we were two days away from the holidays and the site wasn't finished.

I didn't have any photos of my illustrations, and finding the best way to stage them wasn't easy! I ended up using the chairs in my living room as a backdrop. I hijacked a beautiful box of vinegar ( offered by my friend Lætitia ) to take photos of my stickers.

It was a lot more time-consuming than I thought, as I needed the right angle, the right light and to list the names of the photos.

On Procreate, the drawing software I use on my Ipad, I discovered a very useful feature called Timelapse. It allows you to see in accelerated mode the work done on an illustration, so I integrated one of the videos on the site!

I started out on Instagram with a professional account, and my first photo was an accidental one. It was a photo of my face against the sky! ( A great moment of solitude ). Fortunately, I soon found out how to delete it!

My parents were there for part of the holidays; they asked me what I wanted as a present, and I suggested investing in my business. I explained my work, talked about the efforts I'd made, and they invested!

It was December 31st, I was finalizing the site by writing my first blog post, I wasn't very comfortable...

While I was working on the site, the family was preparing dinner. Family dinners are often the occasion for arguments, and...there was no shortage of them. A few minutes before the site went online, at midnight, I got into an argument with a member of my family. I was supposed to be having a happy time and I just wanted to cry. When midnight came, the oven smelled like burnt wood, and real life returned...

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