Margo is meeting Maria Over in her windowsill. Maria is an artist, children's books and surface illustrator. Part Dutch, part Greek, she is now based in Munich, Germany. She comes from a Fine Arts background with studies in painting, sculpture and digital art, and her journey has taken her from the Netherlands and Sweden for her BFA to New York City, where she earned a Master of Arts degree at NYU. She then spent a couple of years working as a designer and art director in NYC, mostly doing web design and ID for big name agencies. After a move back to Europe and more years of digital agency work, her desire to combine on-screen with off-screen work grew, and she created her one-of-a-kind jewelry label indígena that has grown to sell online and in several boutiques across Germany.   Margo and Maria discuss: How many moves and cultures has shaped Maria’s art How she got inspired to start children’s illustrating How Maria finds daily inspiration  Finding balance between digital and hand drawn art Legendary artist, Georgia O’Keeffe The power of marching to the beat of your own drum Creating connections throughout COVID   In the past 4 years, Maria has immersed herself in illustrating and returned to the kind of work that she had always been most passionate about, enriched by the wealth of knowledge and experience that she gathered across the fields of art and design over the years. Today, she loves illustrating with watercolors, inks and gouache, with a keen eye for the smallest details, colors and a good composition. She enjoys exploring surface patterns with lush watercolor florals and cherishes the challenge of working large scale on shop windows and murals. Maria recently finished work on her first fully illustrated children's book for cbj (an imprint of Random House) blending in her favorite motifs of flowers, birds and people to tell a story about why happiness lives in our hearts.   Connect with Maria: www.mariaover.com www.instagram.com/maria.over [email protected]