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Estrella is a young almond-eyed lady with bangs who loves arts, design, fashion and music. In contrast to her elegant and well-dressed look, though, she's always awkward, even a bit gauche, which causes considerable embarrassment.

No matter how funny she is, she lives her life based on the motto "I Believe in Art" - and thinks art can bring out the best in people. Her mission is to encourage everybody to embrace artistic experiences in their daily lives.

Estrella is a comic character created by Hatairat Estrella Montien, and they do share traits.

Drawn by Hatairat's illustrator brother Pattanapong "Oat" Montien, the cute character is a channel to promote the brighter side of the picture and educate people about art.

The young Estrella was introduced to the public at last year's Fat Festival in the form of a comic-style booklet titled "Estrella: My Contradictory Life", of which 1,000 copies sold for Bt50 each.

The charming comic not only attracted the public, it hooked Thanakorn Thammavatvimol, the marketing manager of Universal Music (Thailand).

Estrella's world has blossomed beyond all expectations. Thanakorn has invited Estrella to appear on the covers of eight bossa nova albums that Universal is releasing. She's already on three, and the rest are due next year.

Estrella also appears on a limited-edition canvas bags designed by local fashion house Kloset.

Meanwhile Hatairat - "Dao", as she's known among family and friends - is producing guidebooks to cities for Universal, likely London and Amsterdam.

Estrella will be the tour guide in the books, taking readers to art galleries and museums and sharing the street culture.

"Estrella means 'star' in Spanish," says Dao. "When I was 16 I participated in AFS Intercultural postings to Venezuela, and my real name was hard for foreigners to pronounce, so my friends named me Estrella, which shares the same meaning as my Thai nickname."

Though she had a degree in art history from Silpakorn University, Hatairat's passion for art didn't take hold until she visited the Getty Museum in Los Angeles in 2000. Stunned by the way it was managed, Dao decided to pursue a master's degree in museum studies at the Amsterdam Academy of Art in the Netherlands.

She came home keen to change the common perception that going to a museum is dreary and dull. She and her friends, all young museum professionals, established a group last year called B Muse, short for Bangkok Museum, to promote art appreciation.

To digest her knowledge on museum management, her brother Oat, a graduate of Raffles College of Design and Commerce in Sydney, drew the comic character Estrella from Dao's personality to become the official spokesmodel of the B Muse group.

"I believe in art," Dao declares. "Art is the first stage of happiness. Art appreciation makes people good-hearted."

Her illustration exhibit, "Estrella: I Believe in Art", was displayed as part of the Bangkok Computer Art Plus convention last July.

In "Estrella: My Contradictory Life", Dao compares the arrangement of her wardrobe to the way a museum collection is managed.

"When I want to start something new in my life, I begin by arranging my own wardrobe," Dao explains.

"It's almost meditative. De-cluttering a wardrobe encourages me to meet the changes. So I assign all the clothes and accessories to different lists, the same way that museums divide their collections.

"List A is the most beautiful outfits - like the masterpieces of a museum's permanent collection. List B is the fashionable ones, comparable to a temporary show. Lists C and D are unwearable or out-of-date, but you can't throw them away. That's like what museums keep in storage."

Each of the the bossa nova albums is accompanied by a comic booklet. In the one tucked in to "Cool Bossa", urbanite Estrella escapes chaotic life to the seaside and discovers that money is meaningless.

That first album was so successful that Universal let Dao choose the tracks for the follow-ups, "Sweet Bossa" and "Chic Bossa". Estrella reappears as a fashionista who appreciates creativity and exquisite design.

"I'm a big fan of Kloset, so in the booklet I dressed Estrella in clothes and accessories from Kloset. I believe that when we look good, we feel good."

Dao also runs the B Muse Café on Prachaniwet Road, which functions as the B Muse group's headquarters and a sort of budding museum.

The modest venue is done up in vintage wallpaper, old furniture and Dao's own antiques. She believes a museum should be a place of inspiration, and the B Muse Cafe reflects her future vision, with her brother's paintings on the walls and vintage trunks, typewriters, tin toys, chandeliers and wall lamps.

 

BOX

Comic star online

Estrella and her creators can be found on at least three websites - http://EstrellaComic.exteen.com, www.BMuse.org and www.OatMontien.com.