Holidays cards art!

Hi guys!

How are you? It’s been a while! I’ve been a little away working on some really cool and creative workshops for you all, and now am back and looking forward to share it with you!

This time I’d love to chat with you about how art can bring us together. Especially during the holidays season ! Why not give someone a home made card, and so spend time together making the cards and make a gift! Two birds in one stone! gifts/cards and time with friends/the kids/ PJ and yourself :)

Let’s start!

I had the pleasure to teach at Arts Underground an the Yukon Art Center a holidays cards workshop, and it was SO much fun! Weather you’re a kid in age or heart, let’s get some colors out and make personalized cards. It’s so much more personal, fun, inspiring, budget friendly, and colorful!

We made cards and the kids decorated them and the kids (and adults) had the most sweet ideas. Here is the guidelines to what we did, in case you feel inspired to get your colors out :)

Destination Cards

• Take construction paper, fold in half, and cut. You just made 2 cards basics!

• Take each half, and fold it again. That’s your card. Decide if you’re opening it upwards, left, right, or upside down, who said it has to be straight?! go crazy! ;)

• Get some magazines, old pictures, old maps, anything you want to cut and paste at the front. Preferably what who’s getting it likes best (my card receiver loves traveling so lots of maps cut outs! or if they love northern lights then night sky!)

• Glue your map/picture/tree/whatever at the front, and continue decorating around it, as if the center of the picture is real and glued, and the rest is made up and filled with drawings you did around the original picture, all around it. If it’s a map, continue it. If it’s a picture, draw what’s around it. If it’s a tree, add a forest behind it.

• Now open it and draw inside what the map lead to! It can be a treasure, a hug, a picture of a fun event you shared together and it lead to a memory, anything that will bring a smile to someone’s face. We did dog steps leading to the dog, steps leading to a house (the card went to a house of a person… kids make perfect sense…. :P )

• Write in it and sign! All ready!

Buttons and pop out cards

• Get some buttons, cards, pastels, and more out

• Fold and Cut the construction paper like before

• Glue buttons at he center and turn them into flowers, and decorate around

• Make a Christmas tree from buttons! Heads up, it makes the card heavy and takes time to dry

• Enjoy a fun card making evening! This one is totally free style ;)

Hope it inspired you and gave you some idea!

Happy holidays and chat soon ;)

Colorfully yours,

Maya

Let’s make Here is what we did.

The colorful power of gratitude

First of all, welcome to all the new subscribers! And thank you to all the old ones that keep checking my emails!

I want to dedicate this Newsletter to say a huge THANK YOU to YOU! In the spirit of the holidays, I was thinking what I’m grateful for, and it’s you!

So thank you for the support in my colorful business, joining my workshops and classes, writing sweeet emails that warm my heart, and so much more. Without you I would not have been able to make my dreams come true, open my art business, and inspire more and more people through art every single day. Each and every one of you is so creative. It can be at art, music, coming u with unique solutions at work and home, fun evening routines, sports, problem solving- you name it!

Creativity comes in many forms. And I’m grateful I get to see your creativity through art at the workshops, and as you know- no painting looks like another at the end! because each and every one of you is special, and that’s amazing!

And yes, I’m sure you’re all familiar with gratitude and how appreciating what we have can improve our life quality. There are endless researches that show that. But why not say thank you in more creative ways, and make it colorful? How about next time you think of someone you appreciate, make a small doodle on a note, or a thank you card and say what makes you appreciate them. It might be just the pick me up they needed on a long Monday ;)

How seasons changes can inspire us to do more colorful art!

How is it already September?! Summer was going by so fast and before I knew it it's the end of summer already (at least in Yukon..)

I sometimes want summer to last forever, but a part of me also knows the fall colors and winter darkness bring perspective and light in its own way. It's the fall colors that bright us up, bringing red, yellow, orange, green, and so many colors combinations that catch my heart and eyes. It's at the darkness that we see the northern lights, stars and constellations. It's the darkness that centers us back inwards. It's the darkness that brings a different kind of light, more bright, more clear, and more from inside rather than outside.

And as always- why not paint what I love and need! I'm excited to have taken part at the Northern Nights event in Kluane for the third year and paint the night sky under the night sky (and by a heater in a tent ;)  it's getting cold!) 

I invite you to have a look around, and remember to stop and breath every now and then, take the colors and lights in, and continue more rejuvenated, inspired and colorful. I invite you to paint at home (see tip for art at home in my newsletter, or if you’re not on it join the newsletter at “contact me” on this website) ,or get outside and join me at the Northern Nights workshop at kathleen Lake (see at upcoming workshops and events), or just take a longer walk today, have a look around, enjoy the colors in your own way, and allow yourself to change with the seasons. :) 

Until next time! 

xoxo

An interview on CBC about connecting communities through art!

Hi everyone! So it's been a while... here's some of what's been going behind the scenes- my students' first art show (wehoooo!!!) , my own art show at Baked, painting LIVE MUSIC as it's played at Arts in the Park in Whitehorse, and more! 

You can listen to it all at my interview with Dave White for CBC Whitehorse at this link: https://soundcloud.com/cbcyukon/connecting-communities-with-art

I'm SO excited to share all of this with you! Now that summer is over, I'll return to send the newsletters and share art tips for you to do colorful art at home, and updates about my art projects, which I hope will inspire you too! Feel free to go to contacts on this webpage and add yourself to my newsletter mailing list or shoot me a message at maya.bip@gmail.com. 

Now, if you know me, you know my art is inspired by love and nature, and the effect art has to empower us and our communities through colours. It can translate clearly and visualize our stories and aspirations. My current exhibition at Baked includes two projects I am proud I had the opportunity to be a part of: the consent campaign (previous blog post), and Elles Se Racontent, at which I had the pleasure to paint and visualize talented female musicians' works at the Yukon Art Center stage a couple of years ago. What a great opportunity to share it with you over coffee at Baked Cafe! (they do have amazing espresso...). Feel free to come and visit!  

I am planning many more community projects you'll hear about soon, because what better way to make our community better then with art?! 

Today's art tip: make your own landscape! For the full step by step, do it yourself landscape, visit my Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/mayaart2/

Until next time! 

Xoxo

Maya

Making our community better through colors

I am prod to take part at the Consent Campaign paint party, to raise awareness to consent and make a positive impact in our community through colors!

I had a great time meeting some amazing, fun and talented people came to Art by Maya's special consent paint party and painted colorful magenta (not magneta!) and deep green landscapes, and at the end we added our version of consent and how it looks like. Two birds flying side by side, two trees growing together yet individually, and more inspiring ideas! Why not vidual how we feel in colors? Art is a great way to communicate ideas. 

Who said consent is a word to avoid? heavy? unspeakable? Well we proved it can be colorful, and ok to bring awareness to in a positive way.  If we all spoke about consent daily, even ask a friend "Hi! you seem upset, do you want a hug or just to be left alone?" instead if assuming we can intrude everyone's space- it will make such a difference!  Consent will be a normal thing to talk about, and therefore not avoided in bigger topic as well, where it's much needed. 

So THANK YOU for bringing awareness to consent with me through colors. I am planning many more community projects you'll hear about, because what better way to make our community better then with art?! 

Until next time! 

Xoxo
Maya