HELLO!
I AM
SHELLY
ARROYO
MIXED MEDIA ILLUSTRATOR
& GRAPHIC DESIGNER
I gather inspiration from my life...
MESSAGE ME!
MAMA PEA BLOG
RESUME PDF
Expected graduation April 2023. BA in Graphic Design, UX / UI Web Concentration. President's List and Honor Roll.
Diploma with Honors in Graphic Design/Communication and Illustration
Liberal Arts, Fine Arts, and Visual Communication Courses
Owner• Artist/Creator
Cr8tive, LLC
Design Skills: Branding, Logo Design, Desktop Publishing, & UX Design. Business Skills: Marketing, Bookkeeping, Ordering, & Content Creation.
Owner • Manager • Artist/Creator• Earth Clay • Canvas
Cr8tive, LLC. • DBA Cr8tive Clay
Brick-&-mortar studio location in El Paso, Texas, with classes & parties. New build-out concept was ready to open & halted by Covid Pandemic 03/2020.
Online Shop• Graphic Designer• Illustrator• Polymer Clay
DBA Mama Chickpea
www.etsy.com/shop/mamachickpea
Owner• Artist/Creator
Miss Chickpea, LLC
Design Skills: Branding, Logo Design, Desktop Publishing, & UX Design. Business Skills: Marketing, Bookkeeping, Ordering, & Content Creation.
Owner • Manager • Artist/Creator • Graphic Designer • Illustrator• Fiber Arts
Miss Chickpea, LLC. • DBA Miss Chickpea’s Funky Fibers
Two-time, award winning, brick-&-mortar studio location with classes, in Hudson, Ohio. Trendy styling and brand created by Mama (& Miss) Chickpea, following many years creating a following in art show circuits.
Adobe Dreamweaver
Bootstrap Studio
WordPress
HTML5 / CSS3
Fox 8 Cleveland Hot List
OhioMart, Akron, OH
Over the years, Shelly's list of hobbies has been extensive. Drawing, painting, sculpting, sewing, knitting, felting, collage, and computer graphics, are major highlights of the list, but hardly all-inclusive.
Her studio favorites consist of her sewing machine, computer equipment, various traditional supplies, an electric oven, and a kiln. She even owns a wooden spinning wheel!
Sleeping Beauty might have time for rest, but Shelly sure hasn't! Every time she found passion for an art, her knack of marketing has led to some sort of self-made business. For nearly a decade, she won various awards in art show circuits across Ohio & Pennsylvania. Her first brick & mortar storefront was born from her unique knitting & felting fashion design. Her first online store originated with her personalized clay sculptures.
It is only natural she is ever-evolving into whatever artistic design and marketing comes next. One thing is for sure, her Prince Charming will always come bearing art supplies!
Shelly's first artistic passion was credited to her love of drawing. Sketching anything beautiful with a regular #2 pencil and paper, was her happy place. Over the years, her pencil evolved into a combination of colored pencil and marker.
Color brought her artwork to life, and through collage and computer techniques, her images seemed to have a presence off the paper, too. After her children were born, Shelly decided to pick up her pencil again, and draw characters based on her minions. This action revived her passion to illustrate.
Hoping to get her talents into a fun trilogy of children's books, Shelly came up with her illustrated kiddo characters, which are whimsical representons of her silly kiddos. Daughter Mya's battles with overcoming her forms of dyslexia, add to the quirky tales being penned. Her fun, artistic personality gives her such passion to overcome her learning disability, and her Mama Pea strives to learn all the ways in which she can help her thrive.
As an adult, Shelly dabbled in various projects such as soft sculpture (sewing), knitting/felting fibers, and various forms of clay. She traveled the northeast United States, selling her creations, known to many as "Chickpea."
During the time of the early show years, Shelly embarked on a quest to get healthier. After some health scares in her early 20s, she got into diet & exercise, falling in love with her favorite bean, a chickpea. After one too many lunch dates with friends, starving for hummus, Shelly earned her nickname, & thus, the storyline for Mama Chickpea began.
Chickpea to Miss Chickpea,
Miss Chickpea to Mama Chickpea.
After closing Miss Pea's and moving to Texas, Shelly aspired to work on her sculpting skills yet again, but in other avenues ofclay. She started a collection of customizable pieces she sold online through Etsy, under her art persona, Mama Chickpea.
Through developing her clay skills with her online store, Cr8tive, LLC. was born, and a desire to grow her skills.
In 2006, after many years in art show circuits in NE Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, Shelly, as known as Miss Chickpea to her fans, started her first brick-&-mortar studio, Miss Chickpea's Funky Fibers, in Hudson, Ohio.
Miss Chickpea's was full of wonderful people, both employees, and patrons. What started as a line of uniquely felted accessories, grew a loyal fan base of energetic people. Classes offered unique knitting and felting classes for all ages, while the store carried many wonderfully handmade fibers and the unique wares of Shelly, herself.
Closing in 2010, after a rougher recession & a much needed move to Texas to start her family, Miss Pea became Mama Pea, starting her supermom saga with her minions, Max & Mya.
In 2015, Mama Chickpea opened her online store, featuring her newer clay sculpt line, followed by ambitions to open a new studio. In 2017, Cr8tive, LLC., was formed in Texas, with the hope of opening Cr8tive Clay, a pottery and painting studio, in El Paso, Texas. Slated to open in Spring 2020, the Covid Pandemic put this unique place on hold, for an unknown amount of time. Our artist decided to pursue the remainder of her BA in Graphic Design. Scheduled to graduate in Spring 2023 with Honors, Shelly hopes to revive all of these wonderful entreprenuerial endeavors, but with all of her freshly renewed skills.
Her first-born, Max, is a fierce computer nerd, with a love of all things fast. He rarely whispers, rather, he lives life very loud (which feeds into his mama's "whine," as you'll read about soon enough. *giggle*) His vocal decibels are somewhat hypocritical, as he loathes hearing loud sounds. He has a huge kind heart, and is always willing to help out. He has never-ending energy. Occasionally, he is "twelve going on fifteen,' and knows a bit more than his mama...or, thinks he does!
Her second-born, Mya, loves all things art & nature. She is an amazing, yet, blossoming artist, with a flare for perspective & color. She loves to do arts & crafts with her mum, & regularly adds her own special touches. Like her brother, Mya has a determination to compete, & often feels she knows best. Her range of emotions can be severe at times, as a defense to protect herself. Her defense comes to protect her self-esteem. She is dyslexic, which regularly teaches her mama many new ways to see life's challenges.
Rounding out the Arroyo Clan, are hubby, Ricardo, and three silly pups. "Rick" works a hectic LEO schedule, and often keeps the artist balancing home-life chores and her art projects throughout the day. Parenting and family time are always unique, and often zero-to-sixty, without much notice. (A pace "Speedracer" Max can easily relate to. *giggle*)
Fur babies are very special in the Arroyo House. The oldest pooch is three-year-old basset hound, Lucy Lou Poo. She is beyond goofy & many think she has a human soul. Christmas 2019 added chiweenie-mix, litter sisters, Lola, & Lulu. Less than two-years-old, this hyper duo keeps sister Lucy young & fit, & keeps their human mama on her toes. There is never a wasted leftover, & many a pair-less sock can be blamed less on the laundry "eating" them, but more on this dynamic pair claiming them as a new tug-of-war toy.
Living in many places throughout her life, Shelly has compiled many wonderful things useful in her art. She has drawn on the many characteristics of such homes as the United Kingdom, Northeast Ohio, & currently residing in the Southwest United States, as well as many world-traveled vacations. References to many cultures can be seen, & the artist is often "hangry" for every taste from fish & chips, to pernil & tostones. An evening glass of red wine is often her go-to palette cleanser, to help drown a long day of motherhood whines. (*giggle*)
Born in the United States, Shelly is English, Irish, & German by lineage. About fifteen years ago, she met Puerto Rican hubby Rick. They have two beautifully crazy, cre8tive kiddos, & are navigating the southwest Texan-Mexicano life together, one brisket burrito at a time.
