I’m Marly, a bilingual Venezuelan multidisciplinary artist, educator and founder of La Ballena Astral. My creative practice lives at the intersection of art, nature, science, storytelling, and reflection. I work across poetry, journaling, photography, collage, illustration, creative writing, digital art, and music, continually exploring how different disciplines can enrich one another.
Alongside my artistic practice, I hold a bachelor’s degree in Forest Engineering and both a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Sustainable Bioproducts, with a concentration in Wood Science and Technology. This academic and professional background allows me to bring curiosity, structure, research, and a deep understanding of the natural world into the creative process.
I also completed a year-long diploma in Reflection and Poetic Creation through La Poeteca in Caracas. My musical formation includes more than a decade of choral singing, national and international performances, and award-winning vocal competitions. As someone who has built a creative life across multiple disciplines, languages, cultures, and professional worlds, I understand the challenge of having many interests and wondering how they fit together. My role is to help you recognize the connections within your own creative life, clarify your ideas, and develop an authentic path for bringing them into the world.
Alongside my artistic and academic background, I bring professional experience in sales, marketing, communications, branding, outreach, and product development. I use this experience to help artists and creative entrepreneurs connect their vision with practical strategies for presenting, developing, and sharing their work.
Selected Creative Background
Completed a year-long diploma in Reflection and Poetic Creation at La Poeteca in Caracas, Venezuela (2025).
Recipient of a 2024 Artist Support Grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, administered through the Pitt County Arts Council.
Selected artist in the Fragmented Visions exhibition, presenting three original collage works at Pitt Community College in 2024.
Winner of a vocal competition at the Festival Multicultural Bio Bío in San Pedro de la Paz, Chile, in 2018.
Second-place recipient in a singing competition organized by the Alliance Française in Mérida, Venezuela (2017).
More than a decade of choral and vocal training, with national and international performance experience.
