Chit-chat with Mariella Calabrese

Our second interview in the series “Chit-chat with Paintastic Artists”

Published in

Paintastic app

5 min readApr 1, 2018

In 2013, when we launched Paintastic, we had not foreseen how creative minds around the world would use this app to create marvellous works of art right from their mobile phones. Having seen a number of great artists emerge on Paintastic, we decided to reach out to them and tell their stories to the world.

So, here we are with the second interview of the series “Chit-chat with Paintastic Artists” with Mariella Calabrese.

Mariella Calabrese hails from Canada. She is a strong, kind woman, and a proud mother of three beautiful daughters.
She is one of the most active users of Paintastic app who has created hundreds of artworks using the app in the past 4 years.

So, here is the conversation between Creativity Unlimited (CU) and Mariella.

CU : Tell us little about yourself and your relationship with Paintastic.

Mariella : I live in Ontario Canada. I started art at a very young age. I used to work as a pre-school teacher before I got sick. Right now I’m dealing with kidney issues and on disability. I spend most of my time (about 90%) time in bed, sick. That’s where Paintastic becomes my savior and that is why I just love it! I use it daily. I have more than a thousand pieces of art l created with this app! It gets me through the days. The nurse who just left saw few drawings and loved them all!

CU : Sorry to hear about your sickness. But we are obliged how the app is helping you. Do you remember when you installed Paintastic? How did you come across the app?

Mariella : I recall I installed Paintastic during its earlier design (just before it changed over). I was one of the newest few members. I came across it at the Google play store. I have been using the app for almost 4 years. I remember having many questions and queries and I was really impressed with the help from Paintastic team.

CU : How often do you use Paintastic? And what do you use it mostly for?

Mariella : I use it daily. Especially when I am in hospital. I mostly use it for expressing myself. As soon as I feel or think about how I can make something I use it right away. I have taken quotes and blended the quote within the art, or I use my friends and family pics to blend in using the app.
Also, I own a facebook page where I post my abstract arts (created on various media). I do give credits to Paintastic wherever applicable and let the public know that most of the art is made using your app. I hope that people share, appreciate, etc.

CU : That’s great. Wishing you all the success with your abstract creations.

Mariella owns a facebook page ABSTRACT/mare where she posts her beautiful abstract artworks. Do check it out. Here is a small video clip compiled by her using some of her posts.

Some of Mariella’s works

CU : We see you are a very active member of Paintastic Artists community :) We’d love to know what you like about it.

Mariella : The group is very friendly. Every member is so unique and talented. I love how all the members encourage each other. I love seeing all the amazing different types of expression.

CU : We love it too :)

Mariella : Personally I always try to give positive feedback on the work of the community members — telling them what I like about their work such as the colors and effects they have used, or appreciating just the efforts they’ve put it.

CU : So, what do you love most about the app itself?

Mariella : I love all the features, but emboss is my favorite along with the fill-in paint can. Also, I just love textures and effects.

CU : Have you tried any other paint apps before landing on Paintastic? If yes, what did you find so different in Paintastic that you decided to stick?

Mariella : Yes I did try a few other paint apps. However, most of them were complicated and not very user friendly. Paintastic was easier to learn and it had lot more options than other apps. I could catch on quickly on how to use its tools.

CU : Nice to hear that. Do you have any feedback for us? How can the app be improved?

Mariella : My feedback is Wow! I never really thought of anything. But since you’ve asked, I’ve always wondered if it is possible to create a rainbow of random colors in one stroke. But that’s technical. Maybe an add on in the future — whatever thickness of brush or stroke, random colors should appear.

CU : Nice idea. We’ll see what we can do about it. Although we do have multicolor options and also random colors but no randomness in multicolor !
Thank you very much for your time, Mariella. It was lovely talking to you :)

Mariella : You are most welcome :) Paintastic is my favorite app. I use it so much. And I just love your yearly art contest.