We were lucky to catch up with Tonya Merta recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Tonya thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

Because of the colors and symbols I use, a lot of my artwork falls into the “psychedelic” category. This is a style I enjoy and one that comes naturally to me, so I try not to worry about how it will be received by others. However, at my first ever art show—a festival in South Texas—I overheard an older man say “She must’ve been on drugs when she did that.”. Since that time, I’ve heard similar comments more often than I care to keep track of. And while some people would encourage me to take those as compliments, it originally made me feel insecure in my presence as an artist. In my opinion, “drugs” in the right timing, context, and with good intention, can be helpful and incredibly healing. But, I also recognize their stigma. It saddened me to realize that my art could be tied to these negative opinions. And while I like to keep my personal life somewhat private, comments like this made me want to reassure others that my art comes from me, purely.

This is a challenge that I sort of fell into, and one that I haven’t found a real “solution” for. Right now, the best I can do is to realize that I have little control over the way myself or my artwork is perceived. I’ve had to make peace with the fact that my style simply isn’t going to be understood by everyone. Luckily, I’ve also been able to watch strangers form intense connections with the same “misunderstood” pieces, which makes it a lot easier to stay motivated. I’m trying to look at this challenge as a blessing in disguise. Having a strong sense of our style, and embracing that, can create a natural filtration system for audiences. If someone isn’t into my art on their own, I shouldn’t feel a need to convince them to be. Its much more fulfilling for me to focus on those that are drawn to me naturally.

Tonya, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

MTCM—both my initials, and an acronym for what I consider to be my purpose: Made To Create More. How do you think a flower feels when its blooming? Thats how I feel making art. Ever since I can remember, thats all I wanted to do. I was raised in the country, and the youngest of four kids, so supplies were never hard to find. I painted on wooden blocks in my dad’s shop, tin cans from my moms kitchen, and sometimes even straight onto trees. The biggest goal I’ve ever had is to make more beauty where its lacking.

It was about four years ago when I really prioritized painting. Art had always been my favorite hobby, but until then I didn’t know that it could be my career. I started out by doing custom paintings for my friends and other students in my high school. During my senior year, I took my first ever Art class and met one of my biggest inspirations. Louis Lubbering was an extremely gifted impressionist painter, but he taught all the basics for both drawing and painting. Soon after starting his class, he told me that I shouldn’t worry about the assignments. As long as I showed him something I was working on every week, I maintained an A in the class. Mr. Lube provided unconditional support for my artwork. He believed in me way more than I could at the time. In this class with no limitations, I grew tremendously as an artist. His comments and instruction pushed me out of my comfort zone, but only far enough to realize that I liked it there. Sadly, we lost Mr. Lube during the initial Covid outbreak. This loss was very hard, but encouraged me even more to prove him right. I try to keep his support close, and often think about what he would say when I’m needing inspiration.

Going into college, I was certain I wanted to study art. But, I had always done well in school, so my family expected different. I tried to go into Psychology with the hopes of maybe doing Art Therapy later on. A year into college during Covid, and I was facing extreme burnout. Meanwhile, I was painting every night, and finally developing my own artistic style. After a full year, I was completely over the deadlines, schedules, and putting my favorite thing in the world on the back-burner. I decided it was time to prioritize art, and saved up enough for my first apartment in a new city. Austin was ideal—not too far from hometown San Antonio, but with more artistic opportunities. I’ve been here for a little over a year now, and the connections I’ve made are invaluable.

I’ve come a long way from selling paintings in school hallways, but my goal has always stayed the same. Art is one of the very best ways to share energy. Every piece I make has a specific intention, an energy to share with its viewers. Whether that is used for manifestation, release, or anything else is up to each individual. Actually getting to see others interact with my work is something I can’t hardly describe. I see myself in every one of my paintings, and every so often, others see themselves, too.

Creating art is incredible to me. Its a chance to play god, make anything, even something ugly. More than expression—its a world of its own. Art has no rules, no mistakes. Anything we create or change is art if its done with the right goals in mind.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

My passion for art can seem overwhelming—its all I want to do, almost all the time. I guess that could be confusing if you view yourself as a “non-creative”. But, to be completely honest, I don’t think anybody is “non-creative”. Maybe not everybody can or even likes to draw/paint/sculpt/act/write/etc., but I think humanity is innately artistic. Creative expression existed before anything else. The trick is finding your favorite medium. Choosing literal “art” is not a requirement, especially since art is really so many things. I think of art as anything changed, new, or original, done with care and intention.

We compare ourselves to a lot of people, and have grown up seeing artistic genius come so naturally to some. And honestly, I never thought I was that way. I knew I wanted to be though, so I let myself make and make and make. I still have my own doubts, but I know that no one else could do exactly what I can. One of my biggest goals in art is to show others that if I could learn to lean into that, anyone can. I’ve never met a non-creative, only creatives that hadn’t been taught to embrace their art.

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

They say if you do what you love you’ll never work a day in your life, and thats exactly what being an artist feels like to me. Every step is rewarding in its own way. Art often takes a lot of time, and that itself is such a physical investment. There are so many of parts of my process that will probably never be seen, details that might not be noticed, and its easy to doubt if its worth it sometimes. For me, that doubt vanishes when I see recognition on a viewers face. Blowing someone’s mind, getting questions like “How did you even do that?”, makes every second worth it. On a deeper level: Answering how I did it, showing someone that they could do it too, or something even better, that is the most rewarding thing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/artMTCM
• Instagram: @mtcm.art
• Other: @tonyamerta on TikTok