One of the mightiest bonds on earth is with regards to “sisterhood”—may it be by blood or by choice, or both. For the Arbotante sisters, their familial and creative connections are stickier than their glue sticks (all puns intended).
When Ann Megg Arbotante—the younger of the two—was in Australia, her big sister, Melissa Arbotante-Maglana, and her started a collaborative art blog called “Goldfish and Clouds”. It was their way of keeping in touch with each other by working on creative projects.
Why the name “Goldfish and Clouds”? Well, it’s a sisterly inside joke that naturally none of us are privy to, which makes it more unique and especially sentimental. “I worked as an Art Director for a local advertising agency for seven years. I was a graphic designer first rather than an artist, because when you work for an agency, you always have the brand in mind. I promised myself that when I stopped working, I will do a lot of “selfish artworks” that will reflect my personal expression,” shares Melissa.
Ironic though, because when she had to finally quit her job to take care of her newborn daughter and start family life, she found herself busier becoming a mom than ever before and had to do artworks that were easy to finish. Fortunately, Mel stumbled upon a local community of crafty and creative individuals called “Mindanao Planning Community” on Facebook.
“They were ladies like me, moms and career women who needs to plan and journal everything but does it creatively. Planning and journaling is not new to me, I have been doing it since high school. I was just surprised that there is a specific community for this—it’s like I have been training for this day to come!” exclaimed Mel. Megg, upon arriving back in Davao City, works as an art director and illustrator at “Plainly Simple”—a local animation studio that specializes on explainer videos.
“All day long I work with digital media, and even though it is creative work, I find that I still have to work with traditional media to not feel burnt out and stressed. I have a mantra to draw everyday and have a “hobonichi” for everyday artworks and a traveller’s notebook for my creative journaling, plus, a planner for office tasks. And if those weren’t enough, I also have a lot of sketchbooks where I practice my illustrations on using watercolors and markers,” shared Ann Megg. Now that personal artworks have more purpose than random doodles in a sketchbook, together they decided to revamp their collaborative artworks since they have finally found their niche market. Instead of an art blog,
“Goldfish and Clouds” was now an online store that feature their arts and crafts products. Their first product were paper flowers—a per order basis, big sister Mel makes the flowers while little sister Megg does the promotions. The orders came so rapidly though that they couldn’t keep up with the demands—a happy problem for any business!
They also accept portraits by commission and creates stickers, postcards, ephemeras, and a whole lot more for their journaling and crafts enthusiasts. “We are constantly drawing, and painting. It develops our skills further and we use our artworks in our products.
Our style is illustrative and feminine that suits our market. We love how planner ladies use our stuff in their planners and/or journals,” the sisters said. To see the rest of their portfolio and products, please visit Mel and Megg’s “Goldfish and Clouds” Facebook page—and they might just let you in on their inside joke.
