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Her career is an example of resilience and professional self-reinvention. Marietina is today a reference point in the world of Catholic illustration, but if she’d been told this 12 years ago, she wouldn’t have believed it.
Yolanda Díaz (her real name) is a Barcelona native who studied law at university and worked in a company as a human resources consultant. But then came the global crisis of 2008 "and I was out of work," she explains. "Until then, drawing was only my hobby, and I’d never considered going beyond that. But at that time I wasn't finding it easy to find a new job."
This was a big boost for her popularity. After that, her work began to be well-known.
Why did she choose the name Marietina? "I wanted a name that made reference to the Virgin Mary, in honor of her. Since there were already other websites with the name of Mary, I looked for something similar, and I like Marietina," she tells Aleteia.
Today she produces many images of saints, Jesus and all the advocations of the Virgin Mary. She can be commissioned to create personalized illustrations. She also does portraits, especially of children.
Her drawings have personality and are easy to recognize, like those of Catholic illustrators such as Pati.te or María Olguín.
Despite everything, she still feels great respect for Ferrándiz and admires "his ability to transmit affection and gentleness," he says. (Some readers might not recognize Ferrándiz’ name but would doubtless recognize his style.)
In these 12 years, Marietina has received more and more requests and commissions.
You can see some of Marietina's illustrations here.
The Catholic illustrator Marietina looks back over the years, as the mother of 4 children and the grandmother of little Mateo. She considers it a stroke of luck that her life took that unexpected turn when she became unemployed in 2008. "I turned my hobby into a profession," she says.
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Marietina has prepared many drawings for the Year of St. Joseph.
Among the products she creates, Marietina makes calendars with saints of the day, with Marian devotions, and with images that she’s commissioned to make. On Instagram she already has more than 9,000 followers from all over the world.
In addition, her Instagram has become a resource for Catholic families and catechists.
She adds, "I think that the saints are the models that children should have. I especially look to the example of the early Christians, because we have to live in complicated times and their lives are reference points."
