​We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gaby Pinales a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Gaby, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.I would love to share a little about one of my favorite commissions to date. I illustrated a book! Not just any book; a fairytale story written by the mother of a beautiful bride. This client, we’ll call her Jane, approached me with the wild idea of turning her daughter’s love story into a book for her upcoming wedding. When I received the message I thought I was dreaming. I had previously written this wish of mine on a list of things I wanted for myself and my business and this dream come true solidified my belief in the power of writing things down. Of making lists and holding fast to the dreams stored in your heart. Now, this book, published privately as a gift for the guests of her daughter’s wedding, is one of my most prized possessions. It reminds me of the magic we often ignore and the love we all yearn for.

Read the full interview HERE: 

This article is incredible and features a lot of Hokusai's work. I'm so captivated by his series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji". In the article there's some happy surprises like the work of Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas :) 

enjoy x

Hi,

Despite being totally MIA the last few weeks here, I wanted to write to you today to share good news. GREAT news. I illustrated a book! 
 
A little over a year ago, in August of 2019, I was contacted through my Etsy store about the possibility of illustrating a book. I don’t remember where I was when I got the notification, but I know I was freaking out. The possibility was so overwhelming and I couldn't believe it. 

To grasp the magnitude of this, let me share something I wrote back in 2017. I created a dream sheet. On it I listed things I wanted to experience, accomplish, etc... and in the middle I wrote the word “me”. As you can see from the image I attached above, on this map I scribbled the words, “illustrate a book” with a heart next to it – my business mind was ever so young and hopeful… longing for romance. And as I share this, I am smiling thinking of the power in writing things down. I’ve shared that with you before. Remember when we painted live at a wedding and I wrote that dream down too... months before? Yes. This power is real.
 
The romance that unveiled itself was beyond my wildest dreams. I didn’t illustrate just any book. No, I had the immense pleasure and privilege of illustrating a fairytale. A love story. One that began in the most romantic city in the world. A story so pure it can make anyone believe in love… the truest form of love, which knows no barrier, neither distance or tribulation it can’t overcome.
 
I’ve slightly teased the book on my Instagram, and I'll be sharing more in-process snaps later on so you can see how it came alive. Our book was finished, printed and delivered back in late February and presented to Stephanie & Steven and their guests at their wedding back in late March. After waiting for the right moment to share in the middle of the chaos from the past several months, I realized that that moment is today. Here it is in its entirety, for you to read and enjoy. I hope it brings light and love to your day. 
  
PS. This is a hardcover physical book but I've uploaded all the pages here as a slideshow for easy viewing. You can play/pause the slideshow at your own pace. Thank you for reading.
 
xo

​“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”
Desmond Tutu

 
I can’t even tell you the first time the name George Floyd appeared on my screen. What I will tell you is that I didn’t click the video. In the back of my mind I just said, “another one,” and moved on with my day.

I have become that numb and indifferent. And that’s a problem and it’s disgusting.
 
I am convicted; therefore, I will not remain silent.
 
I am not an activist. I am not the person protesting downtown. I am not the person urging you to call or text a number to hold someone accountable for using their power incorrectly. But I am a Christ follower and that is enough for me to leave the comfort of my head and write this.
 
I honestly didn’t know how to or think I’d speak on the issue because I rarely do publicly. I always wrestle with it because I think to myself, “they don’t need my two cents.” And I still think that but only because I am not qualified to speak on the injustices against the black community around me, and I never will be. With that being said, I do genuinely offer myself and my business to fight injustice the best way I can.

----

I know and you know that words are not enough. So, I will make sure my words aren’t empty. And if you find yourself needing proof of this, please reach out to me personally. 

Love, 
​Gaby

*** Updated June 4, 2020 below this line *** 

These are some links and other resources (some are repeated) I've collected for my own use, which I'm adding here for future reference and if you need any direction about what you can do right now. 

Ways to Help - When You’re Done: Educate Yourself. This Doesn’t Go Away Once The Topic Isn’t, “Trending.”
https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

Master list of Resources and Actions

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u_YdicYNxwquI3uOINEsbulUTYveMizfghBP2oa0y8I/edit

Petition - Join our mission as we call on major retailers to pledge 15% of their shelf space to black owned-businesses  
https://www.15percentpledge.org/

Anti racism resources
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/mobilebasic

What is Systemic Racism? 
https://www.raceforward.org/videos/systemic-racism 

Fight For Breonna 
https://justiceforbreonna.org/
​https://tinyurl.com/breonnataylorky

How to help Black Lives Matter: 9 things you can do for the George Floyd protesters right now
https://www.fastcompany.com/90511515/how-to-help-black-lives-matter-9-things-you-can-do-for-the-george-floyd-protesters-right-now

​Email for the Minneapolis Police Department for George Floyd 
​​​https://tinyurl.com/emailforfloyd
​

*** updated March 9, 2021 below this line*** 

I received an incredibly nice email with more resources to share with you! This link provides a list of nearly 200 Black-owned businesses (sorted by category!) where you can shop and continue to support those affected by the ongoing pandemic as well as the fight for racial inequality. 

​will add more as I come across them <3

On November 2, 2019, my best friend texted me "I have a feeling 2020 is going to be amazing." I'm happy to report that so far, that's how it's been for my business. One of the first amazing things to happen this year is this interview with VoyageHouston Magazine. They featured me/Pinales Illustrated in their "Inspiring Stories" series and I am still beaming from it. It is an incredible honor to have been recognized in my hometown. I've included a preview of the interview below and the rest you can read by clicking the link that follows! x

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabriela Pinales.
Gabriela, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve had an interest in art since high school. I remember gifting some of my work to friends because I loved helping people feel important and seen. After a few years of using art as a creative outlet to find myself, I realized that it was more than that. While I was in school, I created a private Instagram account to share my work with strangers, because I wasn’t ready to let people close to me in. I began following other artists who were using their gifts the way I dreamed of doing.
After sharing my work with loved ones and receiving their encouragement, I made my account public for everyone to see. In March 2017, I opened an Etsy shop and established Pinales Illustrated. Today, my older sister Marisol and I share our work in hopes of inspiring others in pursuit of anything that sets their soul on fire. Now after three years in business, we’re looking at areas where we can continue growing as an artist and how to give back to our community to help others.

Read the full interview on VoyageHouston's website. 

I haven't been this excited to share something with you in awhile. If you recall, I picked up studying Edgar Degas as a personal hobby this past summer and some of you have been following along for the journey. You voted on the name for this series which turned out to be “Beyond The Canvas,” a name my younger sister came up with. This series is just where we share what we learn about him, and later, other artists. Thank you for being excited with me!! This post is also about ripples.. the kind that spread if you drop a pebble into water. These ripples are about all the things, the good things, that happen when you commit yourself to your craft.

I began studying Edgar Degas simply for fun, because I liked a lot of his paintings. But there's also something I read in a book which you can see in my "Beyond the Canvas" highlight on Instagram. For my final for the fall semester, we got to choose what we created, as long as we used knowledge we learned throughout the semester and could explain why our choice was “artistically sound.” So I chose to recreate a portion of a Degas painting on a 24x36 canvas. I wanted to grow in my knowledge of him as an artist by studying one of his actual paintings. I picked "Two Dancers" from 1890 (included below) because this is one of the dancers that always caught my eye when I looked through his stuff. I love her pose, the colors he used to make her and the confidence she portrays. I also chose this one because when you look at the full painting, to the right of the dancers there is something I couldn't quite figure out. This space that seems unresolved to me. My inspiration was to give the ballerina a new home on a background I imagined which included references to Degas.
​​

 “When it comes to art, it’s important not to hide the madness.” – Atticus Poetry
​

My madness is that I'm a perfectionist and many times I don't do things because I don't feel ready.

I’ve sat in front of my to-do list a bunch of times the last month ready to get back to work. But taking a break for as long as I did discouraged me from actually beginning. I’d start “organizing” my to-do list and by the time I was done, I was drained. I was overwhelmed by the number of things I felt I had to do before drawing again. (yup, it makes no sense to me now that I’ve written it down.) Even though the break felt sooooo good, getting back in the swing of things is hard. After switching non-stop between school-business-day job since late 2016 (getting ready to open our Etsy shop), it was long overdue. 

I also wanted to make sure I had a flexible plan to follow for my business, and one I could be consistent with. I care deeply about this and that means I have to make time to work on development and be strategic in the way I do things, to keep growing and avoid becoming stagnant. The balance of creative me-time & business time has definitely been a struggle for me. Turning a hobby into a business has forced me to work more on my time management skills and learn how to handle the stress that comes with it. A lot of what I do I’ve learned on the fly but implementing those things has been difficult over the course of the past two years in business. (!!! more on that later)
 
Yesterday, sitting at my desk and getting to work was seamless. I don’t know what was missing before; maybe I wasn’t in the right headspace or it just wasn’t time yet, I'm not sure. Today I read about the "1-3-5 rule" for being more productive, so I'm going to try that this week. This tactic narrows your to-do list down to nine daily items, (1 big thing, 3 medium things, 5 small things) and is flexible in case "stuff comes up." I’ve put together a small plan for the rest of June and hopefully everything else falls into place. 
 
I look forward to connecting with you again, 
​
Gaby 

​In January, instead of a New Year's resolution, I set a goal to feature 1-2 artists a month on my Instagram account. This was in an effort to get to know, promote and grow the artist community I love so much.
This community that at its best, creates some of the most inspired work I have ever laid eyes on. Our wish is to feature artists in all creative capacities and at any stage in their careers.
We buy their art to support them and share that art with you in hopes that you'll love them and want to support them too, like you support Pinales Illustrated. We are so thankful to each and everyone of you who do.

---------------- This post will be updated monthly as the new Artist of the Month (AOM) is announced. ----------------------

I don't know about you but it feels like the month of October was a dream because it went by so quickly. However,  we love new months because we are able to share new artists with you. A couple weeks ago we stopped by a pop up event where different brands and designers shared their work. We received styling tips and made new friends and among them was the great sister-friend-designer duo of TAMRIS. They created this beautiful wrap dress worn here by Marisol. We both fell in love with the bold color block design on this dress and had to purchase it at the pop up shop. TAMRIS uses hand-picked exotic fabrics which enhances their mission to promote alternative fashion and we could not be more proud to support them. Their styles are perfect for adding pops of color & unique patterns to your wardrobe for fall! You can shop at www.tamris.com or by browsing their Instagram feed @tamris_. Hope you enjoy these images of Marisol in the dress we purchased and some from the pop up event.

Welcoming 2018 with an exciting and encouraging thing that happened for Pinales Illustrated!

I was interviewed by Printed Mint as part of their #GirlBoss Interview Series. Read a preview of it below and click the link that follows for the full interview. 

Nana has received her prize! I am so thrilled to show you how her case turned out. 
Below you'll see photos of all the steps we took to create her case and at the end you'll have a chance to get your own! 
​