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Marlena Myles Art & Design

Recent Posts

Designing a Puppet in Adobe Character Animator
If This Bluff Could Talk
Curated Case @ Minneapolis Institute of Art
Illustrator debut for Thanku: Poems of Gratitude
American Flag in Plains Tribes’ Art

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the art of marlena myles

Marlena is a self-taught digital artist located in St. Paul, Minnesota. She uses her art to celebrate her Indigenous culture and language (Spirit Lake Dakota, Mohegan. Creek). She is the illustrator of Thanku: Poems of Gratitude and is currently creating her first Dakota culture coloring book, to be published early 2020.

email: me [at] marlenamyl.es

mylesdesigns

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"RETURN OF WAKÍŊYAŊ", 2019
Vector illustration

This piece is on display during @allmyrelationsarts exhibition "Foresight: 20 years of Mitakuye Oyasin" which celebrates the past, present and future of contemporary indigenous art. Happy to be included amongst these great artists -- I highly recommend checking out this show, one of the best Native art shows I've seen anywhere. On display until February 2, 2020.

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10 minute speed coloring using digital pastels of Adam Ant to play with colors.

Can't use real life pastels without feeling like I just wasted a piece of paper 😂 #adamant #digitalart #digitalillustration #digitaldrawing #rebelle @adamantofficial

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My digital #Halloween costume for 2019, y'all living in the past 😂
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When I make these puppets in Adobe Character Animate, I have to give it 14 different sets of mouths for the syllables needed to lipsync, which it can do automatically to any audio I put into it. You see those visemes here at the bottom of the screen; some sounds get the same lip set like S-Ch-J-Z-Sh since if you were reading lips, those would look similar?
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The controls on the right lets me fine tune the puppet more, including how bouncy the dangles will be (things like his hair -- whatever moves when I move my head). It's all pretty fun to mess around with. I use a new set of eyelids style that I haven't used before that I'm still fine tuning.
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I don't usually record head and eye movements at the same time like in this recording since it's just too much to keep track of when I watching the screen as well. It lets me delete and redo portions if I'm not happy with it.

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I have a free coloring book of the Dakota Plants of Ȟemníčhaŋ (Barn Bluff in Red Wing, MN) available to download, link in bio.
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The list of plants I illustrated were inspired by the 1861 Minnesota journey of Henry David Thoreau, who kept a journal of the different plant species he encountered.
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Sources for the text are from @thefirstscout blog, @linda.the.ethnobotanist Culturally Important Plants of the Lakota and the notes of Father Eugene Buechel, a Jesuit on the Standing Rock reservation.
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#marlenamyles #dakotamakoce #dakotafloral #coloringbook #nativeart #dakota #lakota #ocetisakowin #henrydavidthoreau #minnesota

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Happy to share the latest in the Dakota land map series featuring the area around Prairie Island, Red Wing and Winona, Minnesota.

NEW AND IMPROVED: there is now full audio pronunciation by @huhamaza to both maps (Minneapolis & St. Paul / Prairie Island, Red Wing and Winona). Free prints are also available! Link in bio!

#marlenamyles #dakotamakoce #prairieisland #redwing #winona #minneapolis #saintpaul #twincities #minnesota

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"Return of Wakíŋyaŋ"
Vector Illustration, 2019
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Wakíŋyaŋ is the thunder being, the messenger of Íŋyaŋ (Stone Spirit) which is said to exist on Ȟemníčhaŋ (Barn Bluff in Red Wing, Minnesota). Dakota also believe there are Uŋktéȟi (underwater serpents/water spirits) in the waters of Lake Pepin; the Uŋktéȟi are the eternal enemies of the Thunders. Near Ȟemníčhaŋ Othúŋwe Wašté (Red Wing, Minnesota), there are numerous burial mounds and in one set, there contains a thunderbird effigy. Scientists have studied it to note there’s a much higher frequency of lightning strikes there than in comparison to other locations. Thunderbolts also represent the connection between life and death, earth and sky, as it connects land with the heavens (and the Milky Way we believe to travel in the afterlife). These Dakota beliefs are mirrored in the scientific understanding of lightning as an energy-balancing transfer between the positively charged earth and negatively charged thunderclouds.
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In the early days of Red Wing, European-Americans would mark the end of winter with the return of the boats coming up the Mississippi River. They would rush to the top of Ȟemníčhaŋ (Barn Bluff) to watch them come in. Dakota people have our own similar way of marking the end of winter on the bluff with a ceremony called “Return of the Wakinyan” or the thunder beings, which mark the return of spring and rejuvenation of life. Wakíŋyaŋ is considered the protector of humans from Uŋktéȟi, the underwater serpent who brings about drownings, floods and mysterious deaths because of their deep dislike of people. The two are locked forever in war with humans in the middle as the Wakíŋyaŋ cannot chase the Uŋktéȟi once they’re in the waters.
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In this piece, Wakíŋyaŋ is illustrated as a traditional grass dancer, who look up to Wakíŋyaŋ as their “patron deity”. Print info and more details on the Prairie Rose, Chokecherry, Dragonfly, and Grass Dance Society can be found on the project page (link in bio).

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Coloring pages of sage and the 3 sisters I designed earlier for today's Indigenous Food Tasting event. If you're interested in a set, you should get here by 7pm (MPLS NDN Center). I'll have a Dakota coloring book out later this year, by the way, if you can't make it~ #marlenamyles

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Free and open to the public: "Community Cradleboard" public art project hosted by Dakota artist Marlena Myles. Everyone is invited to create their own sticker to add to the cradleboard, as inspiration to an upcoming mural I am designing for the city of Minneapolis. Contribute your ideas for a positive future of Indigenous people in the city!

There will also be coloring pages of indigenous foods I created and free copies of ThankU: Poems of Gratitude courtesy of the Franklin Library. Thanks to @dreamofwildhealth for bringing this altogether to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day in a good way.

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"Siŋtéȟda, protector of medicines", Vector Illustration, 2019. Limited edition of 10 prints, see link in bio.
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Created as part of the exhibition "If This Bluff Could Talk" which narrates the story of Ȟemníčhaŋ (Barn Bluff) in Ȟemníčhaŋ Othúŋwe Wašté (Red Wing, Minnesota). On view: October 12-13, 2019 @ Red Wing Arts Festival, booth 95.
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Siŋtéȟda (Rattlesnake) helps maintain the balance of life and is considered especially wakháŋ (sacred) because of its ability to detect bad medicine and those who carry it. During prayer, a gourd or rattle is shaken, which imitates the sound of Siŋtéȟda's tail and indicates someone who possesses good medicine is sending the message. It is said Wakíŋyaŋ, the Thunder Being sought out Siŋtéȟda's assistance to save the last Khéya (turtle) egg from the destructive jealousy of the water spirits, so sometimes a rattle made from turtle shell is used in prayer.
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They say that Siŋtéȟda protects both the ancient burial mounds and sacred medicine plants that are located on the bluffs along the Wakpá Tháŋka (Mississippi River); thus, there are many burial mounds in the shape of rattlesnakes located in the region, including just a few miles outside of Red Wing near Spring Creek. In the Red Wing area as well as the Wisconsin Dells area, Dakota and Hochunk people would have inter-tribal ceremonies in the Spring to honor the dead as well as make offerings to the Siŋtéȟda of the bluffs for continued protection -- it is said no Dakota person has ever been bitten by one. For a rite of passage ceremony of the Medicine Lodge, young men and women would climb Ȟemníčhaŋ to seek one that would sacrifice its life to become the serpent staff. Many tribes in the area have spiritual connections to Siŋtéȟda.
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#marlenamyles #dakotafloral #dakotamakoce #rattlesnake #dribbble #dribbbler #vectorillustration #vectorart #adobeillustrator #behance

Website / artwork © 2019 Marlena Myles

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