4 days ago5 min read
Apr 73 min read
La experiencia de crear arte para Star of the Seas
- SCJ
- Sep 15, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 26
I have always felt comfortable working with companies. It's my comfort zone — it's what I did for over 15 years in luxury. Calendars, contracts, deadlines, meetings... all of that calms me down.
But collaborating with Star of the Seas is something else. PAINTING is something else. When you make art you're not hitting targets under someone else's brand — you do it under your own name. The pressure is different. So is the excitement.
The message
One day I got a message on Instagram. An art curation agency specialising in art programmes for hotels and corporations had seen Mako I, and Royal Caribbean wanted something like it for their new ship. Specifically a shark. And specifically for the Star of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship.
The problem: Mako I was already sold.
When I processed that it was actually Royal Caribbean, I thought about the artists who collaborate with them. The Pearl — that giant kinetic sculpture also on the Star of the Seas — is made by people who know exactly what they're doing. And they do it brilliantly. And there I was, with my helium balloon animals.
A little bit of pressure.
The difference
Even when I paint the same animal, I never make two works the same. I genuinely don't think I know how — I never have. But there's always fear when you change something that worked. What if this version doesn't connect the same way?
I committed to having it ready in a month. A little more pressure.
And that's where it all began. Every day knowing this work was going to travel thousands of kilometres, that people from all over the world would see it. I changed the colours, the corals, the shape of the shark, and made the background more intense — in spaces that large, colour has to shout a little.
I was so immersed in the work that I forgot to film the process. I only took photos to send them following a weekly calendar (how I love following calendars). When I have a goal, the world shrinks to that piece, those colours, getting where I want to go... and I forget everything else. All of it.
The moment
When I finished Mako Irusus II and decided it was done, I felt something strange. Enormous satisfaction, yes — but also fear. That nothing would happen to it during shipping, that they would genuinely love it, that they would feel the same thing I feel when I paint it.
Packing it up was strange. I never thought one of my balloon animals would end up travelling more than I do.
La realización de un sueño
As I write this, Mako is sailing the Caribbean aboard the Star of the Seas, part of an art programme that includes more than 14,000 works by international artists.
I still feel comfortable working with companies — but now I understand the difference. Before, I was hitting targets for others. Now I'm fulfilling my own dreams.
And that's scarier. But it feels more alive.
Now I understand why art consultancy agencies seek artists who can adapt to unique corporate art commissions — luxury hotels, private yachts, permanent collections. It's not just about creating art. It's about creating experiences.
If you're aboard the Star of the Seas and you meet Mako, please send me a photo. I would love to hear about his adventure.
♡♡♡
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