Hello friends and family - where did April go? So many things have been on my mind lately that I’ve been both frantically busy and also paralyzed. I wanted to take some time today to write to you directly and share with you what I’ve been up to this past month and what May has in store for me.

Like I said, this month has completely flown by. I’m just sort of sitting here on my laptop wondering what I even got up to? Working my day job obviously has been taking up a lot of my time even though I’ve pulled back from working off the clock. For those who don’t know, I was promoted into management back in late January/early February and so I spent a lot of February and March working and getting a handle of my new role - even in my time off. I still wouldn’t say I’ve gotten a good grasp yet. There’s been a lot of hurdles and obstacles that have made the transition a little bumpy. Outside of working full time I’ve been trying to bike more which has been such a joy for me.

As for my art practice. I’ve been in a little bit of a rut at the moment I fear. There is some exciting news to share as I will be joining my uncle and his students in Zimbabwe this summer for a 3 week artist residency. I know… pretty wild right? It’s meaningful too because my mom and her family grew up in Zimbabwe and it’ll be my first time there and experiencing where my mom spent just about 14 years of her life. I’ll definitely talk about this opportunity more in the next newsletter as everything is still pretty much up in the air at the moment and I’m kind of trying to mentally prepare for it. I think that’s why I’ve been feeling pretty paralyzed. Feeling hardcore imposter syndrome and wanting to have my website and shop completely up and running and have everything perfect because I want to seem like a “real” artist. But wanting everything to be perfect is making me too scared to start. I’ve had “take product photos” on my to-do list for months at this point.

The only real piece I’ve been consistently working on this month has been Theo Tapestry, a drawing I’m making for my brother, featuring my nephew Theo and his dog Rosie in renaissance gear.

My work is hosting a pool party for Water Safety month (I work at a swim school) and I’m really looking forward to it. Not only will the pool be available for families to swim and play, but we will also have other activities like crafts and I’m thinking of trying my hand at face painting and MAYBE portraiture drawings of the kids. I’m unsure about that though since it is technically supposed to be about water safety and we are trying to gear the activities in that direction so I may just offer fish-themed face painting.

• Annabelle Dinda and her song “The Hand” - Annabelle is a new artist I discovered thanks to the internet and I’m just enchanted by her voice… sort of reminds me of The Cranberries. I definitely recommend you give her a listen. Gives me chills and I love the poetic flow of her lyrics.

• Another new musical artist I discovered this past month was Bryan Andrews. I’m not much of a regular country music listener but his music has more of a hard rock/soft metal approach to it which I adore. I specifically am really feeling his political music like “Are We Great Yet?” and “The Older I Get” and all the passion you can hear in his voice.

• Some fellow visual artists I’ve been particularly inspired by this past month include:

  • Jenny Bloomfield and her consistent practice of daily drawing (for over a decade mind you!)

  • Jo Blaker - specifically her sketches and drawings in liquid charcoal. The energy of her marks is unreal. Definitely have liquid charcoal on the list of materials I need to try!

  • The Wild Pencil (or Magda) and her youtube videos. Her watercolor illustrations are so beautiful and I’ve been so inspired by her travel sketchbooks and zines which is encouraging me to make sure I really document and draw/paint as much as I can when I go to Africa this June.

Thank you so much for reading my first newsletter/blog post! I’m so excited to finally be doing this as it’s been in the back of my mind now for probably over a year at this point. If you want to get my next newsletter sent directly to your inbox feel free to subscribe - it’s completely free and would make my heart very happy and warm!

I hope your May is filled with flowers, buzzing bees, and chirping birds!

xoxo Maya