Illustrating the Inbetween: Mel Aphayrath

Mel Aphayrath revisited illustrating five years ago after an extended hiatus. “I have been working in airplane mechanics, and I lost myself in [work],” Aphayrath says. “One day I picked up my pencil and I felt alive again.” From there, she started working with markers and began filling up sketchbooks with images of people, fashion and love. Each layer of pencil and marker reflects life’s own layers. “What I’ve learned with illustration is that there is a process of patience. You have to lay down a color and let it sit,” says Aphayrath. 

Drawing has been Aphayrath’s strongest form of communication. She describes experiencing a synesthesia in articulating thoughts, feelings and ideas through her lively and bold illustrations. “I’ve always had a vision or a feeling that I can put onto a paper and make it come alive,” she says. “I’m best at showing people rather than saying it. My illustrations are like quotes but as a picture.”

“I am happiest when creating art; I am happiest in front of my notebook.”

The quotes that Aphayrath jots down tend to be snapshots of scenes that she sees first hand, and the most poignant moments revolve around expressions of love and self. “I love seeing people interact with each other as friends, family or lovers. I love sibling interaction, the overall art of conversation and the little displays of love in life,” she says. The subtle mannerisms through which others express these internal truths are elements of Aphayrath’s work. At a music festival, Aphayrath noticed a couple riding a bike together. “He was a foot taller than [his partner], and she was on the pegs of his bike hugging him from behind. Something about the way she was holding onto him stood out to me,” she says. Aphayrath has an eye for the quiet moments within human expression, and she sets out to draw the spaces between what is said and what is shown. 

While Aphayrath sets out to “romanticize the little things in day-to-day life” through her illustrations, she is faced with the artist’s plight of playing it safe while displaying vulnerability. ”Becoming an artist is something I have to try before I die. I have to try,” asserts Aphayrath. ”You’re being way more vulnerable than just saying ‘yes’ to someone else. It’s all you.” As with many, Aphayrath’s purpose is made clear once she is in her flow and devoting herself to expressing a vision. “I am happiest when creating art; I am happiest in front of my notebook,” she says. 

Her time and effort drawing has been well spent as her first show, P.S Love Mel, was well received. “It was eye opening to see the response in the community [and to have] so many people come up to me and ask me about my pieces,” says Aphayrath. Part of the intimacy of Aphayrath’s work is how her original pieces are torn right from her sketchbook and displayed. This shows an unmistakable and unguarded richness, a level of exposure Aphayrath recognizes. “I love looking at other people’s sketchbooks. They may be a painter and creating a huge piece, but their sketchbook shows a little bit more of who they are,” says Aphayrath. For those who may miss out on the opportunity to own a unique piece of her sketchbook, Aphayrath is working on a solution. “I am digitizing my work and creating prints since people really showed interest,” she says. 

“I’ve always had a vision or a feeling that I can put onto a paper and make it come alive. I’m best at showing people rather than saying it.”

Aphayrath is currently hoping for another show and is working on creating pieces. Alongside that, Aphayrath details another creative pursuit: a children’s book inspired by a text-message conversation she had with her brothers. “The conversation was so silly and charming,” Aphayrath says. “The subject was, if we could go anywhere, where would it be and why? One of my brothers was hungry at the time, and so he was focused on the food. My other brother was focused on spiritual things. I was more into a mixture of the food, the spirituality and the cultures.” Aphayrath is in the process of creating the illustrations for this story book, potentially titled, Where Should We Go? 

To see inside Apharyath’s sketchbook, check out @p.s.lovemel on Instagram. 

Read more about local illustration artists:
Andy Nelson: Finding a Happy Path through Design and Illustration
Everything Again: Nate Williams and the Illustration of Life