Moonlighting Series: Muralist, Landscape Painter, and Illustrator Maura Amato

Last year, I began thinking of an idea for a series about local Toledo artists. I wanted to feature people who make no excuses in getting their personal work out in front of an audience on top of their full-time careers. This is the next installment in a series I’m calling The Moonlighting Series, interviewing Toledo area illustrator, muralist, and landscape painter Maura Amato.

This is the 9th installment of The Moonlighting Series, and part of the fun of writing these pieces has been giving previous artists featured here the ability to nominate other artists whom they admire for a spotlight.

Ceramics artist Meghan Yarnell nominated Maura because she sees Maura as an artist dedicated to her craft, an art teacher dedicated to her students, and a wife and mother dedicated to her family. I wanted to sit down with Maura and find out how she balances it all and if she could share some practical advice for other artists who are trying to balance a very demanding schedule, but still find time for their craft.

John Amato (left) is the owner of Jupmode. Maura Amato (right) is an art teacher at Perrysburg Junior High, illustrator, muralist, and landscape painter.

What’s your official role in the Perrysburg school system?

I’m a 7th and 8th-grade art teacher at Perrysburg Junior High. This is my 10th year teaching and my 7th year at Perrysburg.

Do you remember your earliest introduction to art? 

I remember pre-school being the coolest.  There was play-doh, paint, plenty of paper to cut up and glue back together.  Kindergarten was similar.  These are feelings I often think about when I approach planning lessons for my students–I want them to feel the same excitement and ability to experience something new!  My dad was a merchant marine officer and would spend 4-6 months on container ships traveling around the world.  As a kid in the early 90s, it would be days or over a week before he would be in port where we could chat with him on the phone and he could receive letters.  My mom encouraged me to send him artwork to cover his walls on the ship.  She said my art made people, especially my dad, happy.  Who doesn’t love making people happy?!

When I was 8, I took an after school 6-week drawing class with a local artist in my hometown.  He encouraged my mom to enroll me in his painting class.  Once a week, I spent 2 hours doing watercolors and pen drawings for the next 10 years after that.  The class had all high-school students when I started out, and as I said, I was 8.  I probably spent as much time painting as I did petting his dog when I started out there, but things just clicked for me.  Watercolor was my jam, and I can still remember the first time he handed me a micron pen.  It was a game changer! To this day watercolor and pen are my favorites–they are calming and improvisational.  I love the fluidity of the paint and how a new brush bounces through it. I love a good gel pen where the ink glides across the surfaces and sets there for a minute before sinking into the paper to record your ideas.

As an art teacher, what do you wish junior high students would understand about art? 

A couple of things.  First, I try to impress upon them that you don’t have to like or understand all art and that just because I’m an art teacher doesn’t mean that I like and understand all art.  I don’t want them to think that I have all the answers–I want them to know that I always strive to learn more just as I want them to always keep learning.

On the first day of class, I try to help them remember how easy it is to enjoy things we are good at, and that some people are just naturally talented at art.  It’s easy to want to call it quits when you see something come so easily to others, but I try to remind them that it isn’t a competition and each person can find the way that they are individually creative.  Some kids are really good at concepts behind their work.  Some can effortlessly draw what they see.  Some had no idea until they were in art that sculpting is their secret talent because they don’t have the chance to do it often!

I just don’t want my students to give up before they even start my class. I encourage them to try to keep an open mind and a good sense of humor about things and they are often surprised by what they are capable of with some guidance and encouragement. I try to help them understand that having the right tools and knowing how to take care of them properly is important.  Additionally, making a mistake can be a learning experience and an opportunity for creative problem-solving.  There is a kids’ book called Beautiful Oops that I pull out at least once a year to show students in a very literal way how we can use mistakes as strengths.  I also try to teach them about the logic behind technical skills to build their confidence–how to hold a brush to steady their hand, how to produce good craftsmanship, etc.  There are simple ways we can all improve the finished product that make us excited about what we are capable of creating.  I want art to be challenging for them, but I also want it to be memorable and rewarding.

Outside of Maura’s career as an art teacher, she has published beautiful coloring books that are focused on Toledo and Columbus-area locations. Below, she unpacks where the idea for these books came from.

I’m a big fan of bucket lists, and one thing on my list was to illustrate a book.  My husband owns Jupmode, and he encouraged me to create a coloring book because my black and white landscape drawings fit the coloring book format already.  The thought of the whole concept excited me from start to finish for a variety of reasons. I love to travel and read about travel–and I am a giant geek for Tripadvisor, so I really enjoy the research aspect of the books as well.  The road trips, photographing, talking to strangers about their favorite parts of the city–It’s just such a fun process from start to finish.

We decided to do a Columbus book because I wanted to pay homage to my hometown.  We also just had so much fun working on the first few that we plan to continue it!  I continue to pursue these illustration projects because I think it is easy for people to feel like there is nothing to do in their place of residence.  It’s just as easy to know about a certain thing that everyone comes to your town to do, and never get around to trying it out yourself! When you have one of the coloring books laying around, it’s a reminder that we can all find adventures where we live.  I’ve gotten an email here and there since I’ve started these projects where people said they wondered why I included certain locations, so they set off on mini road trips to see for themselves.  More than the joy of coloring, I hope that the owners of the books will find an excuse to see something new and chase adventures where they live!

What’s your favorite mural, illustration, or painting you’ve done to date where you feel that sense of progress in your craft?

I feel like things really came together for me in the Columbus book. Maybe it’s because I really felt (self-imposed) pressure to do right by my hometown, but by this point, I had been illustrating for two years. The format of the book, composition of each page, and the locations just really came together. I had learned from my mistakes and successes to produce something that I felt is the best of what I am capable of right now, and I hope that all of the venues included are equally happy with the results! Mural wise- My favorite project was a scene of Cinque Terre in Sebastiano’s Italianohere in Toledo. I’m a huge fan of texture, and this was the most fun mural I have ever painted for that reason. This summer I got to see Cinque Terre in person, which was equally cool.

You recently returned from maternity leave (congrats!). How do you find the time between family life and a career to make time for your art? 

I’m not going to lie, right now things are just hard! I had complications at the end of my C-section and postpartum, so my original idea of drawing every day on maternity leave went out the window because recovering was a ton harder than I expected.  I couldn’t sit upright easily for weeks, and I was on medications that were making me dizzy.  Once they leveled things out for me, it was time to go back to work!  I’ve been back at work for two weeks and I am still trying to figure out a new routine as a mom.

This work-life balance is still something I’m figuring out how to balance now that I have a baby.  I’ve always felt that it is important to not just teach art but be a practicing artist, both to serve as a role model for my students and for my own satisfaction.  When I’m not making art, I’m not as well-balanced as I can be.  Creating somehow simultaneously calms and energizes me.  It uses a part of my brain that craves problems to solve.  I think my husband understands this well and he encourages me to take time to make art. Sometimes I feel guilty for taking time away from my son by taking this time out for me, but making time to make art makes me a better mom because it’s something I need to do to feel myself.  It’s such a big part of my identity. I also think as Frank grows older, he will see the joy I find in being creative and find joy in it in some capacity as well.
It’s going to be harder these next few years to squeeze art in as our family grows, but I think what I’ve learned is I have to accept that things will not get done at the pace that they did before we had a baby, and that’s okay.  Where there’s a will there’s a way!
There will be a new sense of pride when a project is completed because I will have had to work that much harder and longer for the end product.  The weird part for me is, I have to unwind to be able to crank out work.  So I’m not one of these people that can do an hour a night of work–I’ve learned that I’m much more likely to be productive if I have a babysitter for a couple hours once or twice a month to get some work done. My husband & I just make sure we trade off spending time with our son so we can each get our work done– And in the end, it’s not something I feel guilty about, because I’ve realized it actually gives each one of us the excuse to spend special one-on-one time with our little dude!

Another thing I’ve realized since having my son is it has forced me to prioritize my work.  In other words, I don’t take every job that comes my way now unless it’s really meaningful to me. That has been a blessing in disguise.

What do you think of the notion that, as creatives, we should just abandon our careers and pursue our passions full-time?

I think that you can have more than one passion.  For example, If I was not teaching in addition to learning and making, I don’t think I would be a fulfilled person.  Additionally, while I was on maternity leave I often thought about how thankful I am to go work with kids every day instead of being around boring adults!!! Haha. My point is, I think it’s important to reflect on your strengths, weaknesses, and interests before making that leap into one’s passion full time.  It doesn’t make you weak or less passionate about your art to have a practical job that financially supports you and provides you with insurance. It helps perpetuate your interests!  However, if you have the means to make art your full-time gig, go for it.

Who are some of your creative inspirations? 

Most of my creative inspirations are my own teachers and peers from college.  I had fantastic professors in college at BGSU, many of whom I still keep in touch with. Gordon Ricketts’ outreach in the community and his desire to help everyone connect with art is really special to me.  Charlie Kanwischer’s incredible work ethic and optimism are really inspiring.  He can find the silver lining in even your worst work to encourage you to keep plowing ahead!  Meghan Yarnell and Lauren Consolo Smith are two others.  They are both art teachers with kids that still create, sell, and show work.  I have a whole new respect for people who are capable of being prolific while raising a family!

Other inspirations- Missy Dunaway and Kirsten Sevig are two of my favorites.  They crank out work and post everything, not just their best work!  I really respect that.

Do you have a quote you like to live by or one you think has really shaped your craft?

I once watched a Ted Talk by Dan Philips, a builder who creates houses out of reclaimed supplies.  One thing he mentions is how our society tries to make everything perfect, and how things that are perceived as mistakes are thrown out. His work is centered around “mistake” materials because he says that when you repeat any material it then becomes a pattern.  This obviously isn’t a direct quote, but the concept really clicked with me.  I throw out less and encourage the same of my students.  We find ways to repeat our mistakes improvisationally so that they look intentional.  This idea was kind of a game changer for me. It takes the pressure off of being perfect.

What are some of the most inspiring locations for you in the Toledo area as a landscape painter?

Sidecut and Providence Metropark.  I also love Middlegrounds. I can walk through Sidecut and point out every tree I’ve painted over the years.  I love how the colors and textures change through the seasons and over time.

You can purchase Maura Amato’s coloring books HERE.