Today we’d like to introduce you to Tatiana Melman.
Hi Tatiana, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve always liked art. As a child, I spent hours listening to music and sketching. In my teenage years, I started leaning toward photography and audio recording. As I grew older, I tried to keep up with creative work, but the busier my life became, the less time I spent creating, and at some point I stopped doing art altogether.
This was the dullest time in my life. I felt like I was doing all the right things, checking all the boxes, acting like a responsible adult, but day after day I was losing very important parts of myself.
At the end of 2022, I decided that I needed to make some space in my life for creativity, and I started organizing coffee-and-art gatherings, both offline and online. Through these gatherings, I met a lot of wonderful people who were artists themselves or simply wanted to make art and music but kept postponing it because they didn’t allow themselves time for creativity if it wasn’t practical or didn’t bring money.
I realized that many of us know exactly what we need to stay focused and relaxed at the same time — the things that calm us down, help us better understand ourselves, and help us keep up with the challenges that life brings us. That’s how the name ArtyFlection was born. It combines art and reflection, and for some people it can be drawing or painting; for others, listening to or making music, dancing, writing, or a combination of it all.
I see creativity as a great self-soothing and mindfulness practice. We just need to make time and space for it.
My mission is to stay connected to creativity myself and make space for others to do the same — helping them find time for those “unnecessary” but joyful activities we all used to do as children, without external judgment and internal self-criticism.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not always been a smooth road, and it still isn’t. I had to reevaluate what I was doing and why more than once. When something is just a hobby, it’s one thing — you do it whenever you have the time and energy and simply enjoy it. But when you start building a community around it, you have to think about what you are actually offering and what other people need from it.
After almost four years of trial and error, I’m starting to understand that what I’m doing is less about making art and more about creating a space where adults can reconnect with the creative parts of themselves that often get pushed aside by work, family and the demands of everyday life.
I’m still figuring out exactly what form it should take. But I know that this is the part that matters to me — helping people make time for creativity again, even when it doesn’t seem practical or productive, and giving them a chance to do something simply because it makes them feel good and more like themselves.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I work in both traditional and digital mediums, including acrylic, gouache, watercolor, and digital art. My work is owned by collectors in the US, Australia, and Europe.
Alongside my own art practice, I’ve developed a creative guidance practice influenced by Natalie Rogers’ Creative Connection approach, which brings together different forms of creative expression, including visual art, movement, and music, as a way of exploring feelings, self-expression, and personal insight.
I believe that instead of separating creative mediums, we can explore different combinations of creative tools that allow us to feel, reflect, and connect with our most genuine selves. For some people that might be painting or drawing; for others, music, movement, writing, or a combination of several forms.
What I’m most proud of is bringing these two sides of my work together. I don’t see creativity as being limited to one medium or one finished piece of art. For me, it is a way of exploring ourselves, and I’m interested in creating spaces where people can discover the forms of creative expression that feel most natural and meaningful to them.
How do you think about happiness?
I feel truly happy when I see genuine connection between people who may have different opinions, social backgrounds, races, political or religious views, but can still come together through creativity and share something that is deeply human.
I believe that creating spaces where people can feel connected — in professional settings as well as in their communities — can benefit not only individuals but also improve the well-being of society as a whole.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @artyflection
- Other: Artyflection@gmail.com
