“Maja is an amazing teacher. She is clearly in love with “all things artistic” and graciously shares that love (and talent) with her students. Her combination of flexibility and organization made each class a mini session in whatever we were covering and yet also allowed each student to move at their own pace, with Maja keeping close tabs on us to insure maximum learning. I am a teacher. I know how tricky it is to cover a topic in a systematic way yet also target individual goals and needs. I also know how essential that is to learning. I have not had the resilience in the past to work on a project for longer than an hour, at most. I frequently found I hit a wall and didn’t know how to fix a problem or move past it. I lost track of time with Maja’s tutelage. I moved past hurdles and felt empowered to take my “art” to the next level. I am looking forward to doing more with her and, in the interim, feel I’ve learned the skills to continue to advance on my own.”

“I’m incredibly grateful to you for teaching me how to draw, coaching me along the way, and helping me build confidence in abilities I didn’t know I had. If you would have told me I would leave the 8-week class wanting to frame and hang in my office something that I drew, I would have thought you were crazy. But I am very excited to proudly display my tiger for all my co-workers to see. I can’t thank you enough. I hope to take more classes from you in the future.”

“I wanted you to know how much I have learned from you over the past nine weeks (the Eye class and Rendering Nature). I have learned so much about techniques and different media, but I have also learned about looking at my drawings , analyzing what I have done, and looking for ways to improve my work—all without feeling frustrated or looking negatively at what I’ve done. For example, in yesterday’s class on colored pencils, I wasn’t happy with my drawing. But, instead of wanting to start all over, I looked at exactly what I didn’t like and asked you for help in improving it. Instead of wanting to quit, I really want to take on this challenge of using colored pencils! You have guided this change in my attitude through your patience, joyfulness, and incredible skills as an artist and teacher.

I taught high school science for 40 years and I can’t stop that part of me that analyzes how a teacher teaches. I am amazed at how you gear your instruction to each individual while we are together in class. Through your insight and experience, you draw out the ones that are shy about showing their work, build up the confidence of those that think everything they do is awful, and challenge those that are already good artists and want to go further into technique. (And, because you did this in a Zoom class, it is all the more amazing; I can only imagine how great your in-person classes must be!) By enrolling in your classes, I unknowingly landed on a goldmine; I would never have thought 9 weeks would have brought me such an increase in my drawing skills, motivation, and outlook. Thank you for this priceless gift.”

“Before I met Maja, I thought I would be an engineer for my rest of life. And almost forgot I once wanted to be an animator so much. Though sometimes I told myself I needed to do something on my fading dream, however due to lack of direction and confidence, I was clueless. After taking Maja’s class around a year ago, my passion was back little by little and now I practise drawing 1-2 hours every day. Maja always knows a way to teach someone but without changing his nature of art. Now she’s my mentor, with her guidance, I not only improved my drawing, but also got encouraged and learned how to move forward to my dream. Recently I made up my mind on going for an animation degree and my first semester will begin soon. Maja, I feel so lucky to have your support! You are the lighthouse of my journey of art!”

“We had Maja come to one of our Girl Scout troop meetings and do a lesson for our junior drawing badge. She did a fantastic job with the girls; was very patient with their questions and gave a great lesson about why and how to do techniques, rather than just showing them. She was very engaging and the girls loved her. It was the most attentive and quiet we have had all year with our scout troop. ”

“Thank you so much, Maja! We really appreciate your creativity and enthusiasm towards our program. It has been great working with you and Ashlie [...]”

“I attended Maja’s drawing class at Kirkland Arts Centre. Over the 8 weeks we explored a range of media and chose our favourites to create a final piece. Maja is a talented artist who was able to demonstrate and show us techniques for using each media and then work with us individually to instruct and guide us. We were given the opportunity to draw what we wanted and encouraged to use our own style. I really enjoyed the class and would recommend her class to anyone from beginners to seasoned artists. I will certainly be seeking her classes out. ”

“My drawing of a cockatiel has been selected for inclusion in an exhibit called The Power of Small Things at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center. I submitted it on a whim and I am really amazed that it made the cut. It just shows what a good teacher you are! Thank you for your help and advice.”

“Thank you again for a great class. I really appreciated being exposed to some new materials and felt like I did some really good work in your class. I was challenged to really focus and pay attention to my drawing and my techniques, and it really showed in my finished products. I usually don’t complete anything I like in a workshop, but in your class I had the opposite experience. I will be doing a lot more work in charcoal, pen, and colored pencil in the future.”

“We want to thank the very talented local artist and children’s book illustrator, Maja Sereda, for her generosity and contribution to make this year’s Art of Discovery and Artist in Residence such a wonderful experience for our students!

Maja led the Artist in Residence lessons, one per grade, teaching the students to create various plants and animals and displayed some from each grade on a large tree she had drawn in the commons. Additionally Maja loaned us 13 pieces of her artwork to display in the library so that all students, with assistance from art docents, experienced an amazing Art of discovery during one of their class library times.”