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Norman artist Maya Raza intends to be a regular presence at each Second Friday Art Walk.

Norman artist Maya Raza intends to be a regular presence at each Second Friday Art Walk.

August’s art walk downtown found the streets full of people early in the evening. Artist Maya Raza was one of them.

She’s a painter who works mostly in watercolors. Her subject matter includes hummingbirds, assorted wildlife, flowers and some non-objective studies from nature. Raza’s work was for sale and she has an effortless ability to speak with passerby stopping to browse.

“Bringing my prints and paintings to art walk has been a great experience,” Raza said. “Everyone has been very receptive. I’ve even had repeat customers coming back to see me. And, of course, Instagram has been a good avenue to advertise and get people out there.

“I’ve swapped business cards and other vendors are following me now on social media and I’m following them. It’s great meeting people from Norman and they’ve all been very nice.”

Raza intends to be a presence at all Second Friday art walks and will also have a table at An Affair of the Heart Craft Show in the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds, October 21-23.

Fewer than three years ago, Raza had not ever put brush to paper. Because of the pandemic she hadn’t left home for a month.

The wife and mother found a book in her garage titled “How to learn to draw,” along with a few sketch books. She set off on an artistic journey that’s become a cottage industry in need of an administrative assistant.

Her sophisticated website is mayasartbeat.com where original paintings, prints, greeting cards and T-shirts may be purchased.

“When I first discovered that I could paint, I made it a mission to make a new painting every single day for a year,” she said. “Every day, I had to come up with a painting.”

Raza had been treating her neighborhood to mini art exhibitions behind her home’s window glass that faced the sidewalk.

Families with little children strolling by saw her “Painting of the Day,” and she could her their tiny exclamations outside. It became a source of delight for her and those seeing the brightly colored creations.

“I’ve always been a determined and very happy person but I never realized how much joy it gave me to set a goal, achieve it and watch the reactions of all these neighborhood children and their parents,” Raza said. “I gave them a gift and in turn their excitement gave me a gift. It was like a virtual hug every day, hearing these little voices outside my house oohing and aahing after seeing these paintings.”

While an undergraduate student at the University of Oklahoma, Raza had been exposed to a book in which a successful woman asked a younger relative, “What are you going to do when you grow up to make the world a more beautiful place?”

“That hit me as a 22 year old student. What am I going to do? I took that message and held on to it,” she said.

Raza has a B.S. in Education from OU and is a cosmetology professional who worked for the Paul Mitchell organization on the east coast.

“I got married, then had my kids and as I got older I kept feeling like even as an educator I wasn’t making a difference and hadn’t found my niche,” she said. “Then I started the painting and wished I’d done this 30 years ago. I found my calling. I will paint forever, until I die.

“There’s so much happiness in it. I love sharing it with other people that’s why it’s so affordable.”

An elderly uncle who once owned an art gallery advised Raza to paint less and sell them for more money.

“I told him I want people to have my art work,” she said. “I don’t want it to be unattainable. He didn’t agree with me but he still understood my passion. This is me, putting it all out there. You get what you see.”

Raza’s spouse didn’t think she’d stick with painting but has been pleased to be proven wrong. He has seen how happy it has made her and has provided useful business and technology advice.

“I love this whole process,” Raza said. “I enjoy preparing for shows, even the tedious things such as printing, signing and numbering. I am so grateful for discovering this. COVID-19 was a blessing and a curse. I have friends who died from it, but if it had not come I would not be on this path today.”

Raza’s path includes a recent commission to paint murals inside an out of state residence. She’s also been taken on as a protégé of Maryland-based arts educator Mavis Turner, Director of MTC Art Studios Inc. after a chance meeting this year in Washington, D.C.

Turner was there in regard to painting a mural next door to a business Raza had gone into. Seeing her sketchbook in hand, she struck up a conversation.

“Mavis has spoken with me about what paints to use, how to scale and price it, and it has been a brand new friendship,” she said.

Raza is the kind of person who makes her own luck with Norman’s arts scene, being one of the fortunate beneficiaries.

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