Check out Meraki By Hamer’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Meraki By Hamer.

Meraki By, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
My name is Valerie H. but I go by my artist name “Meraki By Hamer.” I am a millennial, born and raised in Miami, Fl. I am half- American and half-Venezuelan, as my family moved here from Venezuela decades ago. I have been painting since before I learned how to write, at around 3 years old. Art is my passion, as cliché as it sounds, and ultimately calms me down and makes me feel like I’m meant for it. Countless time people through my school years told me that I can’t make a living with art. Numerously I tried to change my career path, but it has always ended up in being an artist. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to have an amazing support system among my close friends and family, who believe in my talent.

The simple fact that by just grabbing a pencil and sheet of paper and being able to transform it into a piece of work amazes me. I have always been drawn to painting figures, especially eyes, portraits, and landscapes.

Even though I took at most 4 art classes in school and college, I am mostly a self-taught artist. I am currently pursuing my Bachelors in Computer Animation in UCF. I would be the first-generation student in my family to achieve a university degree. I put so much effort and meaning into every piece that my artist name is “Meraki By Hamer”, because “Meraki” is a Greek word defining as doing something with soul, creativity or love; to put something of yourself in your work.

My ultimate hopes for my career involve in being able to work for well-known
companies such as Pixar or Naughty Dog, working as a 3-D animator and illustrator. As for the near
future, I aspire to finish my bachelor’s degree, work in freelance commissions, and be more involved in art exhibitions.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I have always been drawn to making paintings of mainly eyes, portraits and landscapes, as I find them very enticing visuals that can capture perspective and admiration. I started off with just pencil and markers sketches as a child. As I grew older I went to traditional painting with acrylics and watercolors, to lastly these few years to digital painting with Photoshop. I create pieces with acrylic and watercolor materials, wall murals, as well as digital art in Photoshop and Cinema 4D software.

I learned a lot of my techniques from watching videos online, reading books, asking myself questions on how to paint something in a certain way and practicing at every chance I would get. Experimenting is key to being able to get better at art because you don’t restrain yourself in how much you can learn and improve your skills. Mistakes exist for a reason, and more often than not your trial and error pieces are the best works you create. There are hundreds of techniques in how to create any type of visual, but once you learn them, you end of making your own twist. I love getting the satisfaction of my art piece slowly coming together, and with all the hard work that I put in, starts becoming a real result.

I start by thinking and asking myself many questions. What inspires me? What mediums do I want to use? What references do I need to correctly paint this? What color palette should I use? How big and detailed do I want this? How long will this take? Once I’m able to answer all these questions, I start sketching out visual ideas in my sketchbook and download hundreds of pictures and videos for references in folders. This can take me between just a few minutes to days in getting it right. If I will not start painting until I am satisfied with my final sketch, which can be tedious and frustrating at times. This has cost me countless hours and sleepless nights in creating, but with an ultimate reward of my finished work.

As an artist, I’m always motivated to create visual artworks that portray multi-faceted ideas that have a connection with my audience. I always aim to “think outside the box” to catch the viewers’ attention, and to
give them the ability to interpret my work in their own ways. I strongly believe that art is
everywhere; and is, therefore, free and is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
In comparison to the past centuries, we are living in a much more modern and advanced world, especially with art. With technology getting better every day, we are able to access more information, create more art pieces, and such. I think the role of artists today has remained the same but elevated. I think we have a bigger platform, with access to a much bigger audience worldwide. Art is taken more seriously than before because we understand and appreciate it more. It is much more respected and valued than past centuries. With that being said, art has also been much more influential in a local, national and international level. This type of influence affects my art on a daily basis. Seeing so many different types of artworks, in various mediums and meanings, inspires me to create more as well. Especially with politically or socially influenced paintings, pushes me to strive in creating pieces that represent my views, aiding in fighting for their rights, representation and voice.

Contact Info:

• Email: merakibyhamerart@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/merakibyhamer/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/merakibyhamer/

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