MEET MAYA CHRISTINA GONZALEZ
by Bonnie O'Brian
What did you most like to do when you were a child?
I've always loved engaging with the creative force. I remember drawing a lot. I loved coloring books mostly because they had these great blank pages at the beginning and ending and I could draw my big, round Chicana face in there. I think I understood on some level that it was important to me to see myself in my own books. I knew that's where my face belonged and I could put it there! But I love all kinds of creating. I learned to crochet from my great grandma when I was 4. I started making all my own clothes when I was 13. I made my own comic strip when I was 13 too. Besides creating, my next favorite thing was the natural world. Sunsets and rabbits. Early morning light and catching snakes. Strong, strong winds and lightening storms. I've always been quite charmed by the world around me. Even seemingly "ugly" things can seem beautiful to me. Like papers on the street caught in the wind and swirling up around me. And then I pick them all up and put them in recycling!
If you didn’t write as a child, then when did you start writing and what inspired you to start?
From the time I was four until I was thirteen, I wanted nothing more than to be Michelangelo. Then I did a report on Emily Dickinson in 7th grade. I was enthralled. I decided I had to be a writer and that I had to turn away from art or it would take over my life. I needed to focus on writing. At thirteen! I crack my own self up. I wrote and wrote all through high school and went to university and designed my own creative writing degree. It was all working out fine. I was one term away from completing my degree and going into graduate school when I accidentally took an art history course. I was enthralled. I basically stopped writing and started making art again and never stopped. Now, finally, I'm happily doing both. I've learned that I love creativity in all it's many forms and that I can trust any direction she guides me!
What was your first job when you graduated from college?
When I first left university I worked at a place called Debris Unlimited. It was hilarious.
I glue-gunned moss and pods and shells and ribbons and pine cones and dried flowers and,
and, and...into ornaments and centerpieces and wreaths. I became quite a master glue-gunner!
It was a strange mix of my great love of nature and crafting...
How soon after that was your first book published?
I had no plans on becoming a children's book illustrator. In fact, I have always simply identified myself as an artist. In that I follow the creative force where she guides me. When I was 30, I decided to close my jewelry business and commit to painting full time. I moved to San Francisco from Oregon and by the end of the year I had a show at Galeria de la Raza in the Mission District. There I met Harriet Rohmer, founder of Children's Book Press. She asked if I wanted to illustrate a children's book. I had to laugh. Yes! I said, YES! I've been supporting myself as an artist ever since.
What are the topics are some of your books?
The first two books that I've written myself are about nature. As a child, my father modeled and shared how important nature was to us. I think it was a source of comfort and belonging for him. I'm very glad he taught me this and now I can share it with others. Right now I live in San Francisco. It's a city, but there is nature all around. Sometimes when I walk outside, I am speechless just staring at the sky and how much beauty is right there above my head all the time!
Do you do other types of writing - for example, educational, nonfiction, magazine work?
Creativity has been a wonderful teacher for me and I've devoted my life to learning what she has to teach me. Now I want to share that with as many folks as I can and writing things down makes it easier for me to reach more folks. I enjoy writing and I love creativity. So it's a perfect match for me. A lot of what I write can be accessed through my new adventure, Reflection Press. This is a place my partner and I are creating to share with educators and kids the power of creativity and how we can use it to know ourselves.
Where do you get your ideas?
My ideas rise naturally from my imagination. If I pay attention to my thoughts, there are a million stories and images wandering around just waiting to land in a book. I just have to give them time.
What gave you the idea for I KNOW THE RIVER LOVES ME?
One of my good friends is the Yuba River in eastern California. I go to visit her every year. We spend time and play and relax. Summer before last I was sitting with her and she began telling me a story. I didn't know why, but I listened. I didn't even know if it was a children's story or a grown up story. I just paid attention and held it in my mind. When I got back to the city, my friend Dana called from Children's Book Press and asked if I could do a book for them and if I had a story. I laughed out loud! Yes, I said. The river just told me a story. This must be why. She knew I was going to need one to tell soon.
What do you most want the students to get out of your school visits?
I have three rules I like to share:
1. Everyone is an artist.
2. There is never a right or a wrong way to make art.
3. Art is always an act of courage.
I have a lot of stories behind my rules. But as long as they remember this part, that's all that matters!
from http://www.californiareaders.org/interviews/gonzalez_maya_christina.php
Reflection Press | San Francisco, CA | info@reflectionpress.com | 
