Author: Caroline Ashworth
Myldred Hernandez-Gonzalez is a freshman at the University of Notre Dame who recently turned her love of art into a small business. Using the platform Redbubble, she is able to share her designs and sell them on a variety of items including tapestries, mugs, stickers, and, of course, face masks! What started as a small, fun project during quarantine has developed into a business where Myldred can advertise and sell her artwork to a large audience.
Who is Myldred?
Myldred is from Sacramento, California and currently lives in Howard Hall on Notre Dame’s campus. She is double majoring in Architecture and Latino Studies.
Myldred has been a lover of art since she was young. She said, “When I was younger I used art as a distraction from a lot of stuff going on in my life. It was a great way for me to relax and I started to do it all the time.” She uses art as a way to relax and express herself, and now she is able to share her art with more people to help them as well.
Depicting a ballerina, this piece is a juxtaposition of the pain necessary to achieve societal standards of beauty. This design is available in her shop.
Myldred is mostly self-taught with her artwork, and her favorite medium is drawing with charcoal. She also loves digital painting and design work, but she said that “nothing beats getting my hands all messy with traditional art supplies.”
Myldred is a huge fan of impressionist work; her favorite artists are Edgar Degas, Van Gogh, Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt. She is also a fan of contemporary artists Kehinde Wiley and Yolanda Lopez.
Myldred’s Redbubble Shop
Myldred’s shop features two main collections, the Notre Dame Collection and the Black Lives Matter Collection.
She created the Notre Dame Collection because she was “just in love with campus.” The collection features beautiful images of campus, as well as designs for various dorms.
Inspired by impressionist art, Myldred created this painting of the dome. It is available on everything from shirts to clocks to phone cases, but it is especially gorgeous and fun as a sticker!
She also has this design for our beloved dorm, Pasquerilla West. PDub’s weasels can show some hall spirit by purchasing the design on notebooks, mugs, tote bags, and so much more! In addition to the PDub design, Myldred also offers plenty of designs for other dorms.
Myldred’s other featured collection is her Black Lives Matter Collection. 100% of the proceeds from this collection are donated towards the Black Lives Matter movement. When asked what inspired her to make this collection, she said “I created the Black Lives Matter collection because I was brought to tears by the civil rights protests over the summer and wanted to do something about it. At the time, people were beginning to find out about my shop and were interacting with it, so I decided to make artwork inspired by the wonderful black advocates that I was observing. My favorite design from that collection is the one about Elijah McClain because his story was so heartbreaking. All of my artist margins were donated to the Movement for Black Lives because of the great work they are doing. Throughout the summer, the collection made over $50, which doesn't sound like a lot, but each design averages less than $1 of artist margin, so it was really a great turnout and more than I could have personally donated.” Myldred has been able to use her shop to support the Black Lives Matter movement, both financially and by using her platform to advocate for change. Art is an amazing way to express emotion and evoke it in others as well, and with this collection, Myldred has done just that.
The image on the left is her “Elijah McClain” design; on the right is her “Stronger Together” design.
The image on the left is her “Watermelon Print” design; the image on the right is her “Summer Flowers” design.
Myldred also has various designs that are separate from her two major collections. The two designs above, depicting flowers and watermelon, look great on any item when you’re looking for a fun print!
You can shop these and more of Myldred’s designs at the link to her Redbubble shop below: