This week we had the wonderful pleasure of interviewing Martina Zielinska aka @maradesignuk as our artist spotlight of the week.
Hello! Please can you give us a brief little introduction about yourself?
Hello! My name is Martina. I come originally from Czech Republic, but for the last eleven years I have been living with my husband, daughter and two cats in beautiful Bournemouth on south west coast of England. I work as a social care worker during the day and doodle during the evenings. Doodling with a favourite tune on is my happy place where I recharge after the day, and I made it my daily practice since last year to escape of gloomy reality of the pandemic and the lockdown.
What inspires you?
I find inspiration in a lot of things around me. Listening, watching and playing with our lively and imaginative five-year old, chatting with like minded people, books, music, photographs. The place we live in is full of wonderful characters and interesting buildings. Our cats also have some funny moments and expressions too.
What is your favourite thing to draw?
I love to draw characters and I absolutely adore making some up following Friday Doodle Club prompts. Recently I also found joy in drawing buildings and found a lot of amazing ones around since I started noticing them. It is funny because if you had asked me this question last year, buildings would have been the very last thing I would have liked to draw.
What art goals do you have for this year?
At the moment, I participate in the 100 day project on Instagram, drawing one character a day for the next few weeks. Later on, I would love to create some book for our daughter Amelie, and maybe other children who are learning to read.
What techniques/supplies do you use?
The work I’ve been doing lately is a combination of traditional and digital media. I explore different mark making using traditional media like watercolours, crayons, tempera and then I play with it digitally.
What advice would you give to another doodler/artist?
I would probably say to continue doing what brings you joy as this becomes your source of motivation when the days are hard.
Learn more about Martina Zielinska by visiting them at: @maradesignuk
with a website coming soon!


