By Brittanyana Pierro
Calla Mav (also known as @_berrykid_ on Instagram) is a local artist and recent Evergreen dropee, based here in Olympia, Washington. With an IG bio reading ‘Princess Peach Fanartist’ and a significant 22.3k followers/fanbase, Mav’s inspiration, career, and success are displayed online for the internet to see.
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Though growing up art was always just a pastime for Mav, in recent years it has become a staple of their livelihood. While attending Evergreen, they explored a variety of arts, straying away from their usual mediums of creation. This exploration led them to the realm of Instagram, where they are now a well-known artist in the ‘cute art’ community.
“When I started college I was like ‘oh, maybe I should take this [stuff] seriously. I was pursuing a Bachelor’s of Arts, and I did cultural studies, painting, and woodworking for a whole year. Which was dope.” Mav said.
During their time in woodworking, they ended up creating one of the biggest pieces of their career: a giant twin size sculpture inspired by the I Spy children’s books.
“I did a sculpture at the end of the year that was like, loosely I Spy based, but it was like a trauma map. The platform was the size of a twin bed, and then I had a blanket and a pillow next to it where I could lay down with the piece. It was large and definitely like 100+ hours of work over 8 weeks… People would walk in on me in the workroom and be like ‘ have u had a break’ and I’d just be like crying. Not even necessarily because of subject matter but because I was so fucking tired.”
The pictures of that piece are featured on Mav’s Instagram page where they advertise and sell most of their art.
Mav’s internet success has led them to a variety of relationships and job opportunities. However, their unique sense of inspiration is to credit for their success.
“I just like to draw babes.” Mav said “I frequent bikini baristas and I used to draw a bunch of my favorite girls… They’re always really happy to see, not-old-business-dudes.”
One of the relationships Mav has fostered on their drawing career is with Aly Kay @baby_doll_aly, a former bikini barista and current car detailer/model whom Mav did a drawing of, leading to a collaboration between the two popular pages.
“I made a drawing of her and she did a look based off of my art, which was very meta.” Aly Kay is currently rebuilding her Instagram following, after her old account was taken down for unknown reasons, possibly related to her being an adult performer.
Another interesting relationship Mav has fostered through Instagram is with a woman named Helli, who they consider to be somewhat of a surrogate mom.
“I have a lot of internet friends that’ll visit or keep in contact, and it’s a lot of fun. I have an honorary mom that’s gonna come visit me soon.” Mav said “I put out an ISO [saying] ‘Does anyone have a nice mom that I can just talk to a lot?’ So, I got one! Her names Helli. She’s from San Francisco. She mainly just talks to me about her ‘not-boyfriend’ boyfriends, but it”s good.” Mav went on to explain “I have a very specific kind of internet fame, which is in the ‘cute art’ community, so-called. And it’s basically all super nice 12-23-year-olds. So, I just have all of these consistently sweet people that will send me messages. I’m also super open online so people [feel like they know me.] It’s a lot of fun.”
Mav’s Instagram success has given them the opportunity to make their art and their career synonymous. As well as become their own boss, and schedule their own hours.
“I can get a lot of commissions because of [Instagram]. So I’ve been funemployed for a year and a half because of it, which is really dope.”
The flexibility they gained from having a career on Instagram gave them the leeway to leave Evergreen, and still support themselves fully. So, Fall quarter of 2018, they decided to drop out of school and pursue a career in art professionally.
“I was like ‘I wanna drop out to be a better friend, and have more time to do things’,” Mav said, “And [now] I’m able to be there for people during the day and then I just work on art stuff throughout the night.”
Before becoming a full-time artist, Mav worked a variety of retail and service jobs, that were not full time or fulfilling.
“Working entry-level jobs in Olympia fucking sucks. There’s a lot of creepy dudes everywhere. Management included. So I’m [happy] I don’t have to do that anymore.”
Mav has commissions open on their Instagram page at all times but also sells their artwork at local anime conventions. Some of the events Calla Mav will be vending at are Sakura-Con in Seattle on April 19-21, Kumoricon in Portland on Nov 15-17, and Chibi Chibi Con here at Evergreen on February 9th.
