Hundreds of thousands of people are showing their support for a little girl after her artistic ambitions were momentarily dashed by her mother.
Emely Fuentes knows her little sister Marely wants to be an artist. So last week, the Orlando teen asked the younger girl to hand-paint a pair of her sneakers to personalize them for her. But the older sister’s sweet gesture didn’t have the intended effect.
After harsh words from the girls’ mother regarding how the shoes came out, the little girl was left heartbroken — until Twitter users came out in full force to cheer her up.
Tough parenting: Marely Fuentes from Orlando was heartbroken when her mother disapproved of the painted design she did on these Vans sneakers
Permission: Her older sister Emely had asked her to personalize them
Emely shared the heartbreaking story on Twitter on Friday.
‘I asked my little sister if she could paint my shoes because she wants to be an artist,’ Emily explained
She left a pair of green Vans sneakers with her before she went out, and when she got home she saw the finished product — and a sad note.
‘When I got home this was on my bed and now I’m literally crying because I love them so much and it sucks how much your parents affect u when they’re not supportive,’ she added.
A picture she attached shoes the pair of shoes, colorfully decorated with a colorblock rainbow design on the front. The note is less cheerful.
‘Dear Emy, I’m sorry if you don’t like them, I tried my best,’ Marely wrote. ‘Mom said she didn’t like them and that broke my heart. I don’t need you to break it more.
Go get ’em! Thousands on Twitter have encouraged Marely to keep up her art, including the official account for the Vans Warped Tour
Awesome: Patricia Arquette likes the shoes too and called them ‘rad’
Setting the trends! She even inspired some artistic copycats
Ta-da! A woman named Hannah did her own version and shared the results
So flattered! The gesture certainly cheered the little girl up
More! Another Twitter user did a similar colorblock design on her own shoes
All over the world: This person who did a version sent ‘love and support’ from Venezuela
‘Now that I see it I agree with her, you shouldn’t have let me do that. I’m soo sorry,’ she added, signing odd with a sad face.
While Emely was crushed to see her sister feeling so down — especially due to discouraging words from their own mother — both girls were soon cheered up.
Since the story was tweeted, it’s been liked over a quarter of a million times, and thousands of Twitter users have shared words of praise, encouragement, and kindness.
‘Omg tell her I think they are so cute and I want to send out a pair of shoes to you guys so she can paint them,’ wrote one fan, asking for Emely’s address.
‘Me too!’ wrote another — prompting over 100 other people to write that they, too, would like Marely to paint shoes. Many seemed to be bona fide offers, with promises to pay for art supplies, shipping, and even the artwork itself.
Several suggested that Vans should license the design as a limited-edition offering.
Popular: The original tweet has been liked a quarter of a million times
Personalized! A couple hundred people said they wanted to mail Marely shoes for her to paint
Amazing: Several promised to pay for art supplies and shipping to get their own pairs
Looks familiar… This Twitter user said Marely’s work reminded her of work by Sonia Delaunay
Total pro: Another said her shoes were similar to work done by Guatemalan artist Alfred Jensen
Too cool: A popular YouTuber joined in to share support and ask for his own shoes
Nice, mom: Some shared how sad they were that the girls’ mother was so unsupportive
Even actress Patricia Arquette chimed in, writing: ‘She did a great job. Those shoes are rad.’
‘Well tell Marely we think these are the coolest Vans we’ve seen,’ wrote the official account for the Vans-sponsored Warped Tour. ‘They put the custom Warped Tour vans we are designing to shame.’
Some people spoke up to say that Marely’s work reminded them of established artists they liked, including Sonia Delaunay and Alfred Jensen.
She inspired some copycats, too. A North Carolina woman named Hannah shared a photo of her own green Vans sneakers, which she painted with a similar block design on the front.
‘Dear Marely, I hope I got the technique right. These are some DOPE shoes! Keep up the good work!’ she wrote.
All the love seems to have helped the little girl a lot. Emely said Marely ‘couldn’t believe that someone recreated her work,’ writing: ‘She was talking about this so much.’
Much better: Emely said Marely was feeling a lot better thanks to all the support
In awe! The sister were ‘extremely overwhelmed’ by the huge reaction
Still, Emely was sad that so many people seemed to relate and have parents who didn’t support their dreams
A third woman from Venezuela did her own version on a pair of white sneakers, too.
‘Marely herself said that all this encourages her a lot to make more art work,’ Emely wrote. ‘[We] are extremely overwhelmed by the reaction to her shoes.
‘It’s amazing to know there is still so many kindhearted people in this world. She’s so happy with all of replies and is in the process of finishing the shoes. I’ll keep y’all updated. Thank you so much!
Later, she added: ‘It makes me sad that many people can relate to feeling torn down by their parent/s. It’s so easy because their opinion matters the most to us.
‘I wish I could reply to all the comments but there’s just so many, thanks again to everyone for making my little sister so happy!!!’