Happy Maddy Art – Blasts from the Past
Using hyper-realism, Maddy connects with people through paintings that tap into her own experiences, process her emotions, and even confront her trauma. Incorporating childhood nostalgia into her work, Happy Maddy Art provides a space for others to heal as well.
Creating art since she was very young, Maddy began painting the experiences she went through – even the bad ones.
“I would draw everybody; the people I’m around, what I see and feel, everything,” she said.
With a mission to create art that resonates with people through nostalgia, Maddy’s use of realism in her work often triggers childhood memories for viewers. Painting subjects like Beanie Babies and Pillow Pets in a way that’s like a snapshot of the past, Happy Maddy Art brings about forgotten moments of joy and longing for a simpler time.
Starting Her Own Art Business
Maddy started exploring the business side of things back in high school.
“I used to make buttons and things that I sold for a couple of dollars,” she said. “People would ask me to draw them stuff and offered to pay me for it.”
Part of the challenge of turning her art into a business was getting over the mental hurdle of “just doing the thing.”
“I’d stopped making art completely at one point. I couldn’t sit and finish anything without being critical of myself,” she said. “I had to adapt to better habits, forcing myself to finish a painting even if I thought it’d turn out badly. Most of the time, it was just good enough to have, and it’s usually never actually that bad.”
Through developing this habit of holding out for the gratification at the end instead of seeking it along the journey, she stopped being her biggest critic and started finding the time to create again.
From there, her art business grew, and Maddy expanded her horizons.
“I wanted to do something like First Friday for a long time, and when I finally did it, I cried happy tears in bed after,” she shared. “I was so proud of myself!”
Now, her current goal involves painting more and experimenting with new and different techniques and mediums.
“I’d also like to do more storytelling pieces and try to get into some galleries,” she said.
Where to Find Happy Maddy Art
Maddy offers her work in the form of stickers and prints, as well as originals. And, she offers commissions, though she doesn’t do them often.
People looking to buy a Happy Maddy Art piece can either contact Maddy through social media for a private sale of one of her pieces or visit her at an upcoming vending event.
Next month, Happy Maddy Art will be highlighted in the honorary Cindy Funkhouser space at the upcoming First Friday festival on September 5. This space is offered to a local artist every month in honor of the late Cindy Funkhouser, one of the original First Friday founders who passed away a few years ago.
Maddy will also be vending at First Friday the remainder of the year. Find her on the Art Walk from September through December’s festivals!
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Getting to Know Happy Maddy
Inspiration and Style
For Maddy, inspiration comes from wanting to represent childhood escapism.
“The nostalgia aspect helps people, especially children, cope with very real traumatic situations,” she said. “Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to copy things closely. I drew anime a lot, and would try to directly copy it to get it as close to the original as possible.”
Eventually, this developed Maddy’s desire to paint things exactly how they looked, and she fully adopted her hyper-realistic style of art. Using oil paint and digital art, she not only taught herself this style, but also learned that “anything you want to do is possible – you just need to put your mind to it and practice.”
Today, she’s refined her art style to look more like a photo than a painting, while adding her own spin on things. “People often bring up that it’s very ironic how I painted something silly in a serious way,” she said.
Favorite Parts and Experiences of Being Happy Maddy
For Maddy, painting and the creative process are her favorite aspects of her work when it comes to art in general. For the business side of things, she enjoys the people aspects.
“I love running the business and interacting with people, although the anticipation of talking to people initially scares me,” she shared. But once she overcomes that feeling, she really enjoys connecting with people. She’s also learned things along the way, like not being as self-critical of her work.
“I have to remind myself that people see things differently, and they don’t see your mistakes as clearly as you do,” she said.
If she could share some advice with her former self to know when she first started, she shared that she wishes she’d known about healthier habits when it came to her art.
“Like walking away from a piece I’m working on when I don’t like it,” she said, referring to taking breaks when you feel frustrated about your artwork not coming out as you imagined it. Taking a step back and returning to it with fresh eyes and feeling calmer has helped her not get overwhelmed and overcome the mental hurdles.
Art’s Impacts on Mental Health
On the topic of mental health, Maddy also shared how art has helped her own.
“I think it [creative expression] is extremely important. For those who struggle, it’s often a second-nature kind of thing. It was definitely a natural gravitation for me,” she shared. “While you’re creating something, it’s easier to forget about the world and any problems you’re facing.”
Maddy also shared that art helped her feel more connected with herself, especially her inner child, which she felt was healed by her art. She brought up a quote that resonated with her in that regard: “Be the person your child-self needed.”
She also shared a beautiful analogy about growth and change, and renewal.
“Sometimes I’ll be painting and crying because I look at myself and relive the trauma of that moment I’m remembering,” she said. “It’s like I’m like a uterus shedding – my mom used to say that a lot. I’d be really angry or upset about something, go paint, and then feel differently after.”
Much like a uterus shedding its lining as a form of renewal, creating art allows us to shed our emotions and process our experiences so that we might become newer, more healed versions of ourselves and start fresh.
The Impacts of Generative AI
Maddy’s Thoughts About Gen-AI
The encroachment of AI into every facet of our lives has accelerated recently, especially with its consumption of human creativity and even cognitive sovereignty, as reports arise of people developing “AI Psychosis” through various LLM programs.
Some people are willing to forsake their ability to create by relinquishing it to various generative AI programs. And some are even willing to use it to destroy the livelihoods of real world artists.
Regarding her thoughts on generative AI, Maddy acknowledged its use as a tool, but, like any tool, it can be misused.
“It might be good for inspiration for some people, but it’s diluted. It’s especially an issue when people use it and don’t disclose that they have, as it creates an uneven and dishonest playing field,” she said. “Anyone can create art – it doesn’t matter if you don’t think it’s ‘good enough ’; there’s always someone who will resonate with it.”
On the Lack of Ethics of Gen-AI
Those who are pro-genAI often claim that it allows for accessibility while justifying the theft of real artists’ work. For the unaware, due to generative AI producing output by combining all the things it’s scraped from the internet with no regard for copyright, at best, anything that is produced is derivative; nothing new is created. At worst, artists’ work has often been directly copied and outright plagiarized.
“While I’ve not been affected personally yet, AI being normalized affects my work in the long run,” Maddy said. “The day I’m denied in some way [be it a job or otherwise] because of AI will be really sad.”
Outside the ethical, human aspects regarding copyright or entire industries being at risk, the environmental impacts are all the more detrimental. And for the nostalgic among us, the longing for the habitable planet and a bright future we thought we had as kids grows each day as AI data centers siphon the equivalent of entire lakes, use enough energy to power entire cities, and encroach on marginalized communities without regard.
#GetinMotion with Happy Maddy Art
To see Happy Maddy’s upcoming events or new artwork, follow her on Instagram and TikTok. And keep an eye on her Etsy for available products and art! You can also contact her on social media to request a private sale. And remember to visit her at an upcoming First Friday!
In addition to supporting Happy Maddy by buying a piece of her work, Maddy said that just showing up and connecting with her over her art is one of the best ways to support her. This ranges from chatting on social media or visiting her at an in-person event.
“Spreading the word also helps!” she said. One of her goals is to start getting into working with children through art. If you would like to collaborate with Maddy for a fun activity or program, reach out via social media.
Lastly, Maddy encourages people to get in motion with themselves, reject the cookie-cutter way of life that society pushes on us, and remember to have fun and find joy in things.
“There’s no set mold to life; you can start something new at any time,” she said. “Be silly, be whimsical. BE A UTERUS!”
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