Meet Magan Buxbaum

We had the good fortune of connecting with Magan Buxbaum and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Magan, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I didn’t always have a creative career or artistic focus. My first job was at a pizzeria. But I’ve been drawn to art my entire life, and was lucky enough to have family members who helped foster the interest from childhood. There was worry, of course. The stigma is art as a career is reserved for the ultra rich or ultra talented. It’s not meant for everyday people, and there was no way a girl raised in lower middle class would ever make a sustainable or independant career as an artist. I was encouraged to do almost anything else, including becoming a housewife and mother instead of full-time artist. It never let go of me though. My grandparents were talented hobbyists in watercolor, oil painting, and miniatures. My grandmother particularly was a huge influence on me as a kid. I loved going to her art showings and miniatures competitions. There were summertime sleepovers to her cliff house when she took me and my brother down to the beach. He would skip rocks and search for sea glass, and I would sit and sketch a rock or beach scene under her instruction. She taught me basic watercolor skills, showed me how to throw salt on paint and watch it change, and fostered my imagination with garden fairies, gnomes and mermaids. When I showed serious interest in my middle school years, my parents gave me a complete drawing set one Christmas and I dedicated my time to learning how to realistically draw my favorite actors in graphite. I loved the escape and the focus, how time slipped away and my mind and spirit calmed. I never wanted perfection, I just wanted them to look “right”. I remember being about 11 and I would pretend to be someone similar to Bob Ross for hours alone in my room, giving instruction as I traced a favorite coloring page or drew a picture of a horse. In High School I kept pursuing art in my free time, practicing for hours and hours. In the spring leading up to my graduation in 2002, my mother took me to the Art Museum in Seattle, and there was an Al Hirschfeld exhibit at the time. It changed my world. I fell in absolute love with inking, and practiced caricatures and line work from then on. To this day, inking is one of my greatest passions. It’s hard to explain the feeling of focusing on tracing a line that is so permanent, so fixed in space, and still being able to adjust it’s language or expression by making is slightly wider or thinner than the line next to it. After High School I attempted to complete a degree in Graphic Design, hoping to turn my love of art into a feasible income. However, my parents went through a bankruptcy as well as multiple serious health issues. Plus, 9/11 had happened crashing the economy, and things continued to turn for the worst for my family. At barely 18 I took a second job to help pay bills and everything I was chasing fell behind. Except my personal artwork. Luckily, after a big move to Louisiana, a promotional products company took a chance on me based on my art portfolio alone and taught me Production Graphic design. I learned Corel Draw and Adobe Suite (at that time very rudimentary compared to today’s abilities), and I worked very hard to apply my natural gifts to this proffesional realm without a college education. I’ve pursued it as a career ever since, designing graphics for everything from business cards to t-shirts to signage and awards. I’ve continued to carry that level of focus, enjoyment and escapism into my career, and have built a wealth of experience not only into my own artwork as a Multidisciplinary Artist, but as a Graphic Design Manager. It has evolved slowly over the last 12 years into a skillset that I love continueing to build, not only professionally but personally. I love the moment of inspiration when the excitement hits, and having the skills to execute it. I also love the challenge of expressing the depth of the human soul, or even just a moment in time. I don’t think art necessarily was a pursuit of mine, but, funnily enough, it continued to pursue me. I could have been a sue chef or a Preschool Teacher instead. But this, art and design, never let go of me even in my darkest days.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have learned a lot on my journey. I think my artistic ethos is in constant evolution, just as I am as a person. I’ve never been able to stay with one subject or one medium for too long, not even if it’s my favorite. Curiosity and growth is my mainstay. I always shift from seasons of only inking or graphite drawings, to painting in watercolor, guoche, or acrylic, to digital painting and illustration, to multi-media collages or painting on papyrus paper, and back to inking. For two years I did nothing but pin-up drawings in ink, exploring femininity, beauty, power and womanly existence in society. Then I did only acrylic paintings of dynamic backgrounds with white boats for about 6 months while I thought about the journey of life through both turmoil and unsettling peace. My collection of works could appear confusing to someone off of the street or any gallery director, as if I don’t have a belief system or specific style. I’ve been challenged on this more than once, encouraged to find a billable or sellable consistent style that the public can rely on and I can make a living off of. I have a sense of pride in not doing that though, because for me art has always been about the journey anyway. I don’t have just one distinct style, but multiple. And I do have my favorite tools or go to’s based on whatever brings me the most peace and joy or cathartic release at the time. I think that is what sets me apart a bit, and why I claim to be a multidisciplinary artist. That, and the belief that art isn’t for the elite alone but for everyone. I tend to give my artwork or art supplies away on instinct. I volunteer a few hours a month teaching drawing lessons at Muse Comics and Games on Academy in Colorado Springs, and if there is a student who doesn’t have paper or proper pencils or ink pens at home, I send the supplies home with them. I’m motivated by the belief that practice is not only necessary for improvement, but for healing in mental and emotional health, and I hate the thought of someone being unable to settle in and draw because they don’t have what they need. I also tend to under price my pieces. I’m not a famous artist, I don’t intend to be. It’s not the goal. So if someone likes my work and is driven to own a painting but don’t quite have the full amount I’m asking, I will lower it just so they can have it. The connection to a piece for someone is more important to me than anything. My ego disappears in that moment, and it’s more important to me than anything that they get to own the artwork. It’s not that I don’t believe my work has value, I know it does. It’s that the true value is in what others glean from my work and can gain something from it, not the money I may gain. I’m excited to go my own way with this, and not follow “the path”. Sure, business practices are what they are, but it’s more than that for me. I love going against the grain on this, I love rebelling against the elite, and I love the thought that maybe I touched someone’s life in this way, whether I learn about it or not. Art is bigger than us. It lingers, it stays behind as evidence of our existence, it’s passionate hard work and it’s for everyone to benefit from.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
One day I hope my brother and his family can visit, and if they do I definitely have some favorite places. For hiking I’d keep it simple, and take them to any of the open spaces in the city. Palmer Park is my absolute favorite, as well as Ute Valley and of course, Garden of the Gods. For food I’d treat them to Sushi Rakkyo, or for a breakfast of green chile breakfast burritos at Wade’s Cafe or Black Bear Diner. For a beautiful drive or shopping I’d take them up to Manitou, Castle Rock, maybe even go so far as to take them to Grand Lake for paddle boarding and hanging out on the water.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
It’s hard to pick just a few, there are so many talented women in my life that I am blessed to know! I always credit my grandmother, Helen, who is now passed on with my initial growth and inspiration. She left a huge impression on my life to this day, that I lean into and find great peace in. I wish she was here to be able to speak to you about her life and her passion for the arts. I am grateful to the company I currently work for, Glassical Designs, and the owner Nora LaMar who saw something worthy in me to not only hire me as a designer two years ago, but to mentor me into leadership of the Graphics Team. I’ve also met wonderful creative women since moving to Colorado 6 years ago, who keep me motivated, grounded, are supportive and inspire my heart. Carlee Clark, whom you’ve interviewed and who gave me a shout out, has made a huge impact on my life simply by being in it. Her passion for human rights, drive to build her creative dice business, fun loving and adventurous spirit, and mere presence has taught me a lot about the power of women in creative spaces, and her openness drives me to be a better person. Taylor Hughes, owner of Tipsy Nomad, was one of my team members when I managed a screenprint team, and her vulnerability, talent and passion for growth inspires me and brightens my day. She always offers an encouraging word, fresh perspectives, and just wants to do life with good people. Krystan Paynter is an incredibly talented Muralist and painter, perfect for her namesake. Sweet, kind, real, she lifts my spirits whenever she’s around and I love her work so much. Haley Seymour is one of the first friends I made when I moved to Colorado Springs, and she’s incredibly talented local hair stylist. Kind, fun loving, generous, she shows up for people she cares about in unexpected and very loving ways. And Rachel Wright I want to shoutout for always supporting and pushing me to do more, be more, teach more, take risks, and share more of my work. Not only is she a very close friend, but she reminds me of my worth and the value of what I create. And while I wont name him here, my husband has been a huge influence on my creative growth. No matter the venture I want to explore, his support gives me strength and enforces self-belief.

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