Have you ever felt anxious about sharing your dreams with the world?
I did. For over 40 years.
I’m Maria Wigge.
Fine Artist & Art Educator
And I was afraid to share my gifts with anyone until a few years ago.
I grew up in Sweden under the shadow of a gifted and successful artist—my mother. My artistic education began before my academic instruction. I visited galleries, socialized with other artists, and I can still recall the fumy smell of oil paints that was always around. At every corner, towering adults asked me when they’d get to see my work and when I’d get to have my own art show...
The pressure I felt as a child was enough to last me through adulthood.
Terrified of comparison and judgment, I pursued a Graphic Design degree from an art school in Seattle, Washington. The rules and boundaries of graphic design allowed me to bypass that judgment while at the same time letting me stay in touch with color and some degree of creativity.
But all throughout my life, my inner world was vastly different than others perceived. It was rich with art, experimentation, and exploration. I let my creativity run free (to a degree), kept hidden away in private for decades. Even though I’d found success as a graphic designer and Art Director in big cities like San Francisco and Stockholm, the fear of being judged and compared was as ever-present then as it had been as a child.
As time flew by, I married and grew a family. And eventually, I found that my inner creative space had shrunk with the hustle and bustle of daily life.
The pressure from my bottled-up creativity came to a peak one day. Giving up on my secret art was not an option, so I had no choice but to embrace it publicly so that I could carve out space for it. I asked for one day off a week from my job and finally made room for my art to grow.
While I sometimes still grapple with the pressures of showing my work, they are much less important voices that I can eventually turn off.
Today, I’m a full-time fine artist translating the inspiration of the magnificent Nordic landscapes into watercolor and acrylic paintings meant to infuse your space with calm.
And because I know how paralyzing the fear to embrace your creativity can be, I also create courses that make painting approachable to people—like you—who may need a little extra grace to meet their artistic destiny with open arms.
Here are some juicy secrets I’ll let you in on.
My studio is messy. If you see a nice photo of it on Instagram, know that there’s likely uncapped paint tubes, dozens of day-old mugs of tea around, and piles of papers and paintings waiting for me to find them after being lost.
Cheese doodles are an integral part of my life.
Perpetually cold no matter the season, my collection of knitted cardigans and blankets can outfit the entire town.
Someday, I’ll get lost in my very own lush labyrinth in a garden made of thick vines and vegetation.
I can probably diagnose and treat any health condition if my obsession with televised medical drama counts as experience.
