Welcome!
My name is
Leyla Marie.
I'm an Artist- and I'm so happy to have you here.
.
Okay, you're an Artist. But why?
Good question! Thanks for asking.
I make art because it has always been my response to big emotions and a never ending stream of ideas.
It has always held space for me to simply be—a girl who feels things deeply and needs somewhere to put all of it, and a brain that is always thinking.
Sometimes that means a painting.
Sometimes it's a character.
Sometimes it's an animation, an idea, a color, or a world that didn't exist until I decided to make it.
I love that an idea can live quietly in my head one moment, and somehow, through my hands, it becomes something real.
Something I can touch.
Something I can watch.
Something I can share.
Something I can give to someone I love.
And honestly, I've been doing this for as long as I can remember.
Creating has always been apart of me.
I create what I want to see.
Growing up, I often felt underrepresented in the media and stories around me.
I didn't always see people, feelings, or worlds that felt like mine.
So now, I want to make things that allow someone else to see themselves a little more clearly.
To feel represented.
To feel understood and seen.
To feel like "okay, I feel safe here."
Most importantly, I want to make things that make my own inner child happy.
She is happiest when I create.
So I let her imagine.
I let her play.
I let her make the colorful thing, the strange thing, the emotional thing, the cute thing, the beautiful thing—the thing that doesn't exist yet.
And then I bring it to life.
I love when art connects us.
One of my favorite parts of being an Artist isn't just making something.
It's watching someone else experience it.
When someone looks at something I've made and gives me a word to describe what they feel-
Those little moments mean everything to me.
Because something that began as a feeling inside of me, has now traveled outward and found a home in someone else.
That's what I love about art.
I love how it makes me feel.
And I love making people feel something, too.
Whether I'm painting, creating digitally, animating, or building a story from scratch, I'm always chasing that moment when something that once existed only in my imagination, becomes real enough for someone else to experience.
Welcome to my world.
With love,
Leyla Marie
