Maasa, where creation and inspiration abound.
Maasa is wonderful local artist whose passion clearly comes through her art. In our interview with Maasa, she opens up about her paintings, where her inspiration comes from and her personal healing journey.
We carry her prints & lovely cards which make great holiday gifts!
Read our interview with Maasa below!
Gaia: Maasa, tell us a bit about your background!
Maasa: I was born and raised in Japan until I was 12 yrs old then we immigrated to Victoria, B.C and became Canadian residents. My mom is Japanese and my Da is a Scot born in Aberdeen.
Gaia: When did you start making art?
Maasa: My mother is very artistic. She used to paint and she also carved gorgeous buddha figures out of wood. My Da is very creative in how he approaches life in general so it's definitely in my DNA to fuse my inspiration with creation. Growing up, we were only allowed to watch TV on weekends so I dove into art to keep myself occupied from a young age.
Gaia: What mediums do you use for making your paintings?
Maasa: I'm starting to explore other mediums like water-colour as of late but I primarily work with acrylic on canvas.
Gaia: What inspires your paintings?
Maasa: Not knowing what will emerge from the canvas and trusting the process inspires me. I took a long break from painting while I grew my business Santosha Spa. In 2019 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and then Covid hit. I took my diagnosis as a major wake up call to change my life trajectory. I let my business go and I embarked on a remarkable healing journey. I discovered the process of Intentional Creativity during that time and it has become a cornerstone to my healing and it still is today. I used to be a chronic planner in my creative process- needing to know what I was painting and how I was going to do it. That was how I basically approached my life before cancer. I used to always look ahead, plan and get it done. Now, that has changed because I was missing so much by being so focused on paving my path forward. I've slowed right down and become so much more present in what's happening in the now. That is how I now approach my painting process. Layer by layer- expressing what is coming up for me in the moment with feeling, colours and symbols. Eventually a form starts to appear, then ideas around it emerge. That is when I start to get really excited...when I can see the medicine in my own painting. It's like the essence of who I am comes through the portal of my canvas and it's an awesome revealing! I'm writing a blog about my healing journey at www.lessonsfrommylump.com
Gaia: Any new projects you are working on that you care to share about?
Maasa: I've been commissioned to create a deck of oracle cards to be published in Japan which is really exciting and also challenging to have guidelines to work with. I'm looking it as an opportunity to discover new gems along the way even though I feel a little bit of constraint to stick to particular images . There's a timeline to create about 50 representations so I've taken up watercolour to get it all done in time. It's not how I've been working so I'm approaching it with curiosity and trust. I'm having fun with it so far!
Check out Maasa's website here: http://www.maasaisis.com/
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