Bio
Maya is a ceramic artist living in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. She grew up in Toledo, Ohio and graduated in 2008 from Bowling Green State University in Ohio where she got a BFA in glass and ceramics. After graduating she did some wandering around, worked at the Omega Institute, lived in Costa Rica for a year, became a yoga teacher and then settled in Colorado where she started making ceramics again. She was in Denver for seven years growing her business and then moved to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and brought the business with her. She lives here now with her husband, two kids and schnoodle where she makes pottery in her new backyard studio.
Artist Statement
I like to add elements into my work that bring me joy. Birds, magnolias, houseplants, Tarot, and, of course, there is the clay itself. From the swirl on a thrown pot to the marks left from hand building, I want to show the process and the hands that made the object.
When I first started making my Buddies I wanted to make people to live around my pots. To me they represent that part of myself that gets to simply BE. In the mediation practices I’ve studied this part would be called “the observer”. It’s the part of ourselves that isn’t worried about the bills, or figuring out what to make for dinner, or concerned with all of the other ways that our lives get so complicated. It’s the part of ourselves that has no labels. It’s that part of ourselves that is quiet, that watches it all happening. This is why they are typically in a natural or relaxed position. Nowhere to go. Nothing to do. Just here.
I want my work to celebrate the energy in handmade objects. To celebrate the little things that bring us joy. And to celebrate those moments when we can relax our grip on the many complications in our lives and we are able to just be.
