We were lucky to catch up with Max Paularena recently and have shared our conversation below.

Max, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

I moved to Denver in 2018 to join The Wondering Woods, a band my friend from college was playing in and needed a guitarist. I did not know had such a high volume of artists! At this point I was already being very inspired by visual artist I would see online, that where making a living and, better yet, thriving doing art. Them sharing their lives and process with the public made it clear that they were not much different from me.

I had a few doodles that people loved and I decided to make digital versions of them and turn them into stickers. I had no idea what I was doing, but I put myself out there and people love them.

Soon after I created my first t-shirt design and started selling them online and in different pop-up shops around town along with miniature paintings, prints and some miniature clay pottery. This is the point where I started believing I was unto something. My art had value to it and I enjoyed sharing it with people.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve been an artist since I can remember. Some of the earliest memories come from the time I took art classes in kindergarten in a marvelous school in Mexico City. I practiced sports growing up but I was almost always embracing my creative side; doodling during class, playing guitar or sculpting small figures out of clay.

For the longest time I had been in love with the idea of being a film director. I loved the idea of creating worlds from your imagination and paint them for other people. Later on when I started playing guitar I left that idea behind and decided I wanted to go to school for music.

Fast forward to me going to college for Contemporary Music, and not being able to finish my degree. In 2017 I started creating art as a serious endeavor and as a way of expressing myself to others. I was still doodling in class during college and would continue sculpting little figures here and there, but I hadn’t paint a painting in years. Painting and creating art helped me move through frustration and desperation that having my college career cut halfway through left me with.

Some people would put me in the visionary art box, I think its fair. I also like to see my art as a bit surrealist. I’ve heard it described as “creepy but cute” more times than I can count.

My favorite medium to create with is acrylic paint which I have done most of my bigger pieces with. I want to create bigger paintings as I grow as an artist. I create a lot of miniature paintings which are really fun and quick, but people really love them and I have a couple of clients that have their collections of these.

In the past couple of years Ive worked for a couple of clients that wanted me to do branding for their business and that has been a lot of fun. I like working closely with them to correctly represent their brand as an expression of themselves while staying true to my expression as an artist as well.

With my original work I try to capture experiences, moments and emotions that are relatable and relevant; from a place of sincerity and authenticity. In my visual language I like to make reference to my pre-Columbian culture without mocking it or copying it. I love humor and magic, which my life is filled with, and I include it in every ounce of my work.

I am very excited to what’s to come in my art career, it’s young still and I know I have so much room to grow. I am currently working on finishing some big pieces that I am very excited to share.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Perfectionism. A lot of people say my work is so precise, so detailed. It is, and I love that about it. But I’ve learned that you can’t be a perfectionist 100% of the time in all aspects of your life. in fact the only thing that perfectionism was bringing into my business and into my craft was delays.

Not to say attention to detail and putting care into your craft is not important. But I have wasted so much time over thinking and planning scenarios. This past year I’ve learned that is better to do things when you think about them.
Life doesn’t wait for you. Getting things done in the moment keeps the creative spark going and doesn’t let the ideas become stale and unmotivated.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Seeing my art speak to people in deeply moving ways.

One of the best feelings is seeing someones eyes captured with your art from across the room and smile at you. I love connecting with people who appreciate my art and want to relate to me where they see themselves in it.

I’m a very private person in a lot of areas of my life. Getting my art work out there and with it very vulnerable areas of me is very rewarding, specially when it’s also a moving and healing experience for the spectator.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/max.paularena/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maxpaularenaartandmusic/

Image Credits
Arianna Horton