“Wander and Gather” with artist Maia Hausler
By F. Josephine Arrowood
Sun contributor
As an environmentalist, Maia Hausler has honed a keen eye for nature’s botanical forms and vivid colors. As an artist, her fresh approach to watercolor and ink creates paintings that are both delicate and vibrant, with familiar subjects such as juniper sprigs, pitcher plants, and even the humble Queen Anne’s lace swaying and dancing across the page. The Glen Arbor Sun recently caught up with Hausler, who currently divides her time between Cedar and Copenhagen, Denmark. This interviewed appeared in our June 3 print edition.
Glen Arbor Sun: You come from a large, extended family of artists and creators. Is it nature or nurture—or some of both?
Maia Hausler: My dad was an artist when I was a kid. I started doing art very young; it’s something I’ve been doing my whole life, something I’ve built over time.
Sun: And then you went ahead and got an art degree—
Hausler: I actually double majored in fine art and environmental studies at Western Michigan University. I got halfway through my BFA and thought, ‘What am I going to do with this?’ No one told us you can’t make money doing this.
I took a break between graduation and starting my own business. I worked for Americorps. I traveled around Europe a little bit, and then I came back to Michigan and got a job with the Leelanau Conservancy, doing their visual design work. I started as their intern, got promoted, and did that for about three years. I actually still work for them as a freelancer, doing their newsletter.
For the past couple of years, I’ve been traveling a lot. My partner lives and works almost exclusively in Denmark right now; he’s a mechanical engineer, a PhD student studying the composite materials that make up wind turbines. In Michigan, I maintain a studio space at my parents’ house near Cedar.
Sun: You’re 34—still young, and relatively speaking, early in your career as an artist. Your generation seems to have a hopefulness, despite everything going on in the world, which is reflected in your dual focus on the environment and art. Talk a bit about how you decided to put your artwork out there in the world.
Hausler: My company is called Wander and Gather. It was a slow process. After I finished my time with Americorps, I worked for a small nonprofit in Wisconsin. My office was in an old store, with no windows. I was in this little box all day, and the work was important, but not inspiring to me, for lack of a better word. It was a short-term contract, and when the time came to renew it, I thought, No, thank you. I packed my bags and went to Europe. I wanted to work more in agriculture and local farming non-profits; that’s one of my interests.
When I set off, my dad gave me as a going-away gift a pack of blank postcards made of watercolor paper, and a little travel watercolor kit. I was going around to farms, and photographing and writing, and also drawing about my experiences on these postcards and sending them home to friends and family.
When I got back to Michigan, everyone said, ‘Oh, we loved those postcards; you should keep doing it.’ I took some of the postcards I hadn’t sent, trying to figure out where I could get them printed. My Aunt Sheila told me about a scholarship [offered] through the Leelanau Community Cultural Center in Leland, for women artists in the county. I applied for the grant, and part of the requirement was that I sell my work at their summer art fair at the Old Art Building. As I continued to work at the Conservancy, I kept doing a few shows each year. Then I made an Etsy account, named my business, and it grew from there. It’s turned into a giant thing that’s leading me; it’s like you try to walk the dog, and the dog walks you! It goes where it wants!
Sun: How do you feel about that?
Hausler: I really love it. Part of what I struggled with in my other jobs was that I wasn’t able to be as self-directed. I had to answer to other people. It wasn’t me; it was stifling my creativity. I wanted something I could build and have it be my creative vision. So when this fell into my lap, it was ideal. It wasn’t something I’d thought of before. At university, I took a few drawing and painting classes, but I was much more into sculptural work. Initially I was doing ceramics, but then I broadened it and did a lot of installations: mixing printmaking techniques, sculpture, photography. The pieces I was creating were enormous, taking up an entire room. There wasn’t enough space for doing that kind of work in Michigan; I would have had to move to a large city, like Chicago or somewhere.
Watercolor is such a portable medium, other than pencil or pen. Growing up, my dad was doing watercolor, and he taught me, but in college, I kind of shunned it: “That’s what Dad does; I’m not that kind of artist.” But now I’m doing it!
Sun: How have recent events—the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping across the globe this winter and spring, and Governor Whitmer’s stay-at-home order—affected your outlook and your creativity?
Hausler: I’ve been following an Instagram hashtag for a while: #100dayproject, or online at The100DayProject.org. I’ve wanted to partake for a while, but have never been able to find the time to commit to the 100 days. When the governor issued the stay-home order, I knew this was my time. As a small business owner, I spend way too much of my day dealing with business and not enough time creating art. This is a way for me to get back in the habit of creating on a daily basis, like I did when I was in art school. It’s also a way for me to be more in tune with nature, the seasonal changes, and the plants that grow around me. Too often I want to get out and see something in bloom and I miss it because life gets in the way. At least [while Michigan continues to stay home] I know I won’t miss anything happening in nature. I’m moving at her pace now.
I share photos from my hikes here in Leelanau to my Instagram stories, and it helps me connect with others who love Leelanau. So many people have told me that the stories really help them get through quarantine because they’re stuck downstate or in a big city, where they don’t have access to nature in the same way. I know it’s small, but I’m really happy to be able to connect people to nature with my photos and videos
Sun: Describe your painting process.
Hausler: Initially, I was using a lot of tube paints, but now I put them into a pan and let them harden. That little travel set I’d gotten, I still use a lot. It’s maybe an inch wide and three inches long; smaller than a cell phone, and I can throw it right in my pocket.
I do a lot of working outside, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it plein air. Because I do botanicals, I go into the field and sketch, with the paint added in as well. I take reference photos, then I’ll come back into the studio and do my painting. My work is very detailed. So I have to pay attention and not get visually distracted.
With my botanicals, I use an acid-free, waterproof marker. I do the outlines of the plants and then color in with the watercolors. Those lines have to be very precise; there’s no fixing it if I make a mistake.
Sun: It sounds like a lot of what you do is very precise, like your photography.
Hausler: I’m detail-oriented, but I’m not a big fan of, “This is how it has to be done.” I have an associate’s degree in photography [from Lansing Community College]. I did it more for the art focus rather than the technical aspects. One of the things I love about watercolor is it’s technical in some ways, but it’s also an intuitive way of being technical. It can seem difficult, but then once you’ve gotten a feel for it, it becomes more intuitive.
I like the aesthetic of my style, which is almost like stained glass, but it also lets the watercolor medium be more forgiving; the structure of the image is defined by the marker, while the watercolor enhances it with layering and other techniques.
Sun: It almost looks like hand-coloring in old photographs.
Hausler: With a watercolor landscape, there’s an order of operations you need to follow when applying the paint, because the paper is what makes it light. So you’re working backwards from what you’d do with, say, oil paint, where you could always add more paint. Watercolor is less forgiving that way. But once I have my structure defined by the pen, I have more freedom with the watercolor. That’s what I love.
Sun: What are your subjects primarily?
Hausler: I’m still doing mostly native plants of Michigan. I have my Fruit Belt series, such as raspberries, blueberries, cherries, and peaches. Some of my subjects are fiddlehead ferns, milkweed, wildflowers, evergreens. I’ve done a few animals, mostly at the request of family or friends. I did a recent commission of a Queen Anne’s lace.
Sun: How do you think about sustainability in your business practices?
Hausler: I scan everything, then have my paintings printed in Traverse City with a company that uses an archival process, which costs a bit more but doesn’t yellow over time. With my greeting cards, I use an online company that does recycled paper of good quality. I try to keep everything as sustainable as possible. For instance, I tried to create a wrapping paper using recycled paper, but what’s available is just too thin; you can see through it. There’s a big issue with wrapping paper in general; the coated ones aren’t recyclable. My big dilemma is finding sustainable practices that are affordable, and that people are actually able to pay for.
Sun: You have the opportunity with your beautiful images to go in a lot of directions: cards, prints, stickers—even fabrics and wallpapers. As well, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced so many businesses to rethink how to connect with their customers, both now and in the future. Your work is still available at Oryana Food Co-op in Traverse City, and you’re well placed with your Instagram and your online Etsy shop, Wander and Gather at MaiaHausler.com. What new directions are you headed toward with your business?
Hausler: With COVID-19, I’ve had to pivot in the complete opposite direction of what I had been planning. I was hoping to move more to wholesale and do less art fairs, which have all been canceled. Wholesale orders have almost stopped due to stores being shut down. I had been teaching some workshops: mostly adults, at Crooked Tree Art Center, among other places. But all my classes have been canceled. Thus, I have turned my attention to online sales. I have more products in my Etsy shop, and I’m focusing on connecting with customers on social media, since I can no longer see them face to face. I’ve posted video tutorials on Instagram, along with the photos of my hikes, and my 100 days of plant sketches.
Some days when I don’t feel like leaving the house, it’s a struggle to get my boots on and go. But once I’m out the door, I can’t believe I didn’t ever want to go! Northern Michigan is my happy place. I never feel alone when I’m in nature. I have plants and animals to hang out with everywhere I go. It is a magical land and I’m so privileged to call it home.
Connect with Maia Hausler on Facebook, Instagram, and MaiaHausler.com
