Meet Maryia Walker

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maryia Walker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Maryia, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

It’s a really great question. I think most artists go through the stage of not feeling confident enough in their art or their voice in the very beginning of their creative journey. Looking back at my journey now I realize that the keys to developing confidence and self-esteem is to keep authentic personality without judging yourself and cherishing playful attitude towards life. When you feel connected to your inner nature and feel great power of embracing who you truly are it opens up new horizons of freedom within. It’s also very important to keep positive self-talk and shape yourself into the person who you want to be through inspiration and encouragement rather than comparison and societal chase.

In terms of my journey as an artist I gave myself space to experiment with art without judging it and honoring play and joy that comes with it. When my voice was not strong enough it was easier to impact my own perception of creativity and at some point I realized that I needed to give myself space where no other opinions existed until I find the voice within me. I truly believe now that this was the experience that shaped myself as a confident person and intuitive artist. Creating intuitive paintings you need to tune in into intuition and dive into your own world, and its important to shift from the outer word to the inner one and trust body and the feeling of flow that when creating. This is also true for life in general, of course.

One of the biggest insights I have had is that if we work with a tutor, teacher or a mentor, we engage in their point of view and life vision trying to make it work for us as well. The crucial game changing experience for me was to work with somebody who helped me understand me and dig deeper into talents and visions I had to make stronger connections with my own nature.

And now In my art studio I don’t teach my students how to paint or hold a brush, this part comes second. First of all, I teach how to feel deeper, how to relate the process to inner world and find harmony within body when painting. This serves authenticity to come into play along with polishing skills.

One little reminder I have for myself to stand up for who I am and boost my confidence is a note on my fridge that I read every day when in the kitchen: “Be You. Be Brave. Be Bold”

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am an abstract expressionist artist in Denver exhibiting internationally and being represented by a gallery in New York. I am also an owner of my art studio called Soul Art Atelier where I help emerging artists to find their creative voice and learn painting skills. I have started painting when I was working in Finance 7 years ago and then quit my career in Accounting to pursue art and a creative path. Once a month I host art events inspiring women in my community ti express themselves through art and develop their creativity.

My career started in 2016 and since then I participated in multiple exhibitions across US and Europe as well as Japan where was invited be a part of the exhibition held in Tokyo Tower. In 2023 I received the “Woman Essence” International Art Award which reflect the theme of my art – embracing flow intuitive painting reflecting sacred high vibrations of the soul.

British Vogue recognized and as well as published in multiple magazines, I developed my own abstract taste focusing on paintings itself the highlight the harmonious and accentual color combination while serving as balancing chakras.

That being said, I look at the art deeper than just a visual object. Some artworks were like a door that invites to the different worlds, a portal to the different layer of reality that coexists with the current one. Art helps me to open up the strength and power to stay true to myself, be fierce and bold increasing the space to invite more things and opportunities in life. Longing for the wild self to be explored and revealed. Being yourself and being the force in the steps opening a door to a pure protection of higher forces and acceptance of a true nature of my being.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I think the most important skills that I can choose are dedication, passion and curiosity. In the very beginning of my journey I just followed my passion and desire to paint without telling myself that it had to lead somewhere. Passion is fuel that keeps you going and if you run out of it, you can’t go too far. Once I developed more skills and I realized that this was the path I wanted to follow, I created a space where it was easier for me to persistently show up in the studio and find time to learn new skills. And of course staying open and having room for curiosity helped to develop my own vision of the journey.

Being fearless is another quality I can mention as I have came across some artists who are great talents but they are afraid of presenting their works giving too much power to the audience and society. To my mind the art is mostly about the artist, the personality of the artist and the state that artworks are created in is what makes artworks transformative. If you create with fear, the artwork will carry it on to the audience. Standing up for what you create and vulnerably yet boldly sharing your talent with the world invites prosperity and and opens up new paths.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

My ideal client is commercial organizations (hotels, spa salons, offices, hospitals) as it serves my mission – have artworks exposed to the large audience. For example, my latest collection called “The Garden of Apple Trees” that currently consists of 6 paintings is a sacred collection of artworks that serve beyond than a visual object. The paintings are similar to portals inviting the audience to discover and explore their connection with the anscertors through embracing and honoring the power of Tree of Life. I truly believe that these paintings bring a lot of power to the people helping them find the resource and blessing through acknowledging their roots and expanding to the level of where our ancestors live and embracing the gifts in lives that they give us. I have had a small exhibition here in Denver featuring this collection and lots of people felt this deep connection and the experience was very transformative. I truly believe that this collection is a must see for larger audience and contains unique messages for everyone.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.maryiawalker.com
• Instagram: maryiawalkerartist

Image Credits

Olga Popova