The designs for Mariangela's plush are inspired by idol imagery, fables, fairy tales, and a lifetime of watching animation and nature shows. Pulling on those influences she is inspired to create a menagerie of creatures of her own. She loves the way that needle felting lets her capture subtle shapes, how it invites one to touch its structured softness. Most pieces are meant to be held, so size, density and weight are carefully considered because you are meant to have a relationship with it. In reinterpreting childhood silhouettes, she's looking to capture the philosophy of play. We play to learn. We play to grow. She wants her work to inspire a desire to play.