Artist Spotlight: Taslima Maya

Artist Spotlight: Taslima Maya

Art provides a unique opportunity to express emotions, tell stories, and see the world through a different lens. For Taslima Maya, fluid art has become a creative outlet filled with discovery, inspiration, and endless possibilities. Through experimentation with color, movement, and technique, she has developed a deeper connection to her artistic voice while continuing to learn and grow with each new piece. In this Artist Spotlight, Taslima shares her creative journey, artistic inspirations, and the experiences that have shaped her work.

Since I was a child, I’ve always had a creative streak and found I was naturally adept at fine art – particularly drawing the human face which intrigued me, as did much of the natural world around us! I took Art at A-level and then eventually moved away from it into digital art, animation, and games design at University, and after my Masters, PGC-HE, and PhD in STEM subjects, my career quickly progressed into creative technologies and computing.

I have worked in higher education as a Senior Lecturer now for two decades. I was told early on that being a fine artist wasn’t a sustainable career path to pursue, so I’d reluctantly parked my fine art practices and focussed on other things for these two decades. However, I could never forget how at peace and authentic I felt when I was being creatively free whilst painting or drawing freehand and losing myself in the moment as a young child and teen.

As an escape, I wanted to put my energies elsewhere and stumbled across some pouring videos online by Mixed Media Girl, Olga, and Rinske Douna and I got intrigued! It was the lifeline I needed at the time. I was never into abstract art before, so it was a challenge to me and I threw all I had into experimenting and learning all I could about the plethora of techniques and the science behind it all!

I felt like I had found the creative outlet I was missing all along, and an ability to be as creative as my mind allows and share my journey and discoveries with others. I also started embellishing my pours with new mixed media, texture, and sculpture techniques I was learning. This period was the most creative I’d ever been. I became hooked and have never looked back!

I had a 14 yo girl at my 12-person workshop recently who created the most beautiful reverse flower dip on her first try and her face lit up as everyone celebrated her win! Those are the moments that make my heart happy!

I love treading the fine line between chaos and order acrylic pouring affords – with the physics and science behind densities, colour theory, consistencies, brands and types of paints and their reactions to one another, and the freer element of using one’s intuition, gut instinct, and creative license – like when deciding on composition! There’s just so much to learn and know that it keeps my creative juices flowing and me intrigued!

Describe your creative process when approaching a new paint pouring project. Do you plan your compositions in advance, or do you prefer to let the process guide you?

When I’m trying to master a new technique (or get a particular outcome) I tend to stick to tried and tested methods by established artists and am open to learning how to achieve the results I want. Sometimes I may choose to try a technique and let the paint tell me what it wants to do, but other times I have a vision I want to execute and I work out how to do this during the actual creative process as it unfolds.

I deal with challenges along the way and am open to change direction to solve roadblocks especially when I intend to embellish my pour after. When I’m creating a commission piece for a client, I establish early on with them how much scope they are willing to give for using my own creative license and how many of the requirements are non-negotiable.

Do you frequently use specific techniques or methods in your paint pouring work? Could you walk us through one of your favorite techniques?

I also love using additives in my acrylic paint such as coconut hair serum, silicone or treadmill oil, or dimethicone products for different types of cells.

If I had to choose one technique, I’d say swiping is my go-to! I love putting down my base, layering the opaque, transparent, and semi-transparent colours on top of each other, and laying my swipe colour down. I then use damp paper towels, palette knives, or a thin plastic sheet to swipe the denser colour over creating beautiful cells and lacing! I love watching them pop up!

Over the past two years, I have become fluent in many diverse mediums ranging from alcohol ink, resin art, pencils, acrylic pens, glue gun art, and sculpture flowers, texture art and I use these to embellish my pours adding a new dimension to them! I’m naturally inclined to want control over my artistic process so pouring helps me get out of that comfort zone!

What inspires your artistic style and choice of colors? Do any particular themes or motifs recur in your work?

Can you share a memorable experience or a significant breakthrough moment you’ve had in your paint pouring journey?

There have been many! I never considered myself a professional artist for a very long time – I considered it a hobby no matter how much I rapidly learned and grew or how many people I helped, mainly due to imposter syndrome and much of my learning over the last few years being self-taught.

My memorable moments have all been in light-bulb moments within conversations with close acrylic pouring friends who inspire, encourage, and believe in me! I feel blessed to have met some extremely talented and empowering artists in my journey who have just made my creative mind flourish and blossom! Their intellectual generosity touches my heart and I would’ve given up a long time ago if I hadn’t had this support structure.

One memorable moment for me was joining my first pouring Facebook group – Gee Pours Acrylic Pouring – where I met a lot of fellow fluid art enthusiasts at all stages from beginners to pro! In just one year, I felt propelled into a new world by all the inspiring conversations and posts there from artists around the world.

Also, being invited to become a ColourArte affiliate and being invited to test products from many different companies such as Resiners, APS Foils, Grabie, PandaHall, and others was a real breakthrough moment when I realized this was no longer just a hobby but I was being taken seriously as an artist.

How do you overcome creative blocks or challenges when working on a project?

In three different ways – I bounce existing ideas and problems off my pouring friends and try to find mutually arrived at solutions or ask their advice. Sometimes I get a different perspective or a solution I hadn’t thought about and this is exhilarating.

On other occasions, I look for inspiration in alternative genres or disciplines of art and in places I wouldn’t think to look. If I’m really stuck though, I take a much-needed break or start a new project entirely and only come back to the one I’m stuck on when I’ve had a sufficiently long break to return with fresh insights. One painting took me 2 years to return to but turned out amazing in the end!

Do you have any favorite tools or materials that you always keep in your paint pouring arsenal? What are they, and why do you love them?

How do you know when a paint pouring piece is finished? What criteria do you use to evaluate your work?

Mostly intuition – if there is enough paint tilted off and if the composition and aesthetic are how I like it.

What advice would you give to aspiring paint pouring artists who are just starting out?

Be prepared to take it slow and not put too much pressure on yourself. Play, experiment, and have fun first and foremost. Pick one YouTube artist who you find instructs you the way you like to learn and pick one technique and keep trying this until you are satisfied with the outcome otherwise, it can get overwhelming.

Keep a notebook and make notes on your methods if you want to remember how you did something and also for any tips you are given by more knowledgeable pouring friends. Label your paints and pouring medium ratios lol Trust me you will forget!

Ask questions – no question is a dumb question! Join pouring groups and mingle with fellow pourers to gain peer support too.

Are there any upcoming projects, exhibitions, or collaborations you’re excited about and would like to share with our readers?

I have regular collaborations on YouTube with fellow artists around the world and have been doing this since I started on YouTube. I have an acrylic pouring mixed media collaboration and an ocean collaboration in August, a Halloween collaboration and another ColourArte Affiliate event on the books as well as a Texture collab with Nates Art Lab.

I am open to both established as well as beginner artists reaching out to collaborate with me on my Sunday 4pm EST regular premieres if they wish to join me as a guest artist. Please just get in touch if this interests you!

Lastly, where can we find more of your work or connect with you online?

 You can find me on: YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok

I also have a Fb page for Mixed media and Acrylic Pouring enthusiasts – or reach out via email

Letting Creativity Lead the Way

Taslima Maya’s artistic journey is a wonderful example of how creativity can inspire personal growth and open the door to new possibilities. Her passion for exploring fluid art, embracing experimentation, and expressing herself through color and movement shines through in both her artwork and her story. As she continues to evolve as an artist, her dedication to the creative process serves as an inspiration to others who are discovering their own artistic paths. We look forward to seeing where her creativity leads next and what beautiful works she will create in the future.