Hi,
I am so glad you have landed here, on HappyFamilyArt.
I am Mariya, the creator, editor, admin, designer, the chief cook and bottle washer, of this website. (Now read that sentence again, but with the grandeur of Wizard of Oz, The Great and Powerful.) All jokes aside, it is true. I am the one person team behind everything that happens here, which is why it all happens so slowly.
Well, actually, the reason it happens so slowly is because I do have a life outside of the internet. I promise. I have kids and a husband, several grumpy grandparents, and an unusually large amount of pets. All of whom, other than the pets of course, I like to drag to field trips, and places to visit. Something you can read about here, on HappyFamilyArt. In fact, it was my kids who came up with the name for this website, as all the names I was coming up with were either lame (according to the said kids), or already taken (yes, art.com, I am looking at you). The name did work out for the best though, as it makes way more sense. We are happy, and are a family, we go to places together, and quite a few of us make art. See? That works. Makes perfect sense.
Usually, when asked to include a brief bio in projects that I get involved in, I write something along these sentences: “Mariya is an artist and photographer who loves living in New Jersey with her family and an unusually large amount of dogs. She runs Happyfamilyart.com. There you can find art tutorials, crafts, more coloring pages and more about the places we visit.” That about sums it up. You probably figured out that I am from NJ because it does say NJ Travels, and the art thing is pretty obvious. You also probably already know that hiking, biking, and camping is something I am really into. Photography is certainly a passion of mine. I rarely go a day without it. While I am pretty bad about updating the photography section here, it is something I pursue vigorously. I also teach a small art class of adorable, smart and sometimes sassy kids. They are awesome, and I love them all! We do all kinds of fantastic art projects. Sometimes I write about them here, most of the time I am too busy cleaning up to take photos, so I don’t. What you don’t know about me is that I really don’t like to cook. I do it, but I don’t like it.
When I first started, people would tell me: Mariya, you should make sure to find a niche for your site. The truth is, I just couldn’t. I like doing it all. In one place. Here. The trips we take, the art we make, even an occasional craft project. It is all here. Well, almost all. Some of it I put in my Etsy shop. The one thing you won’t find here is cooking.
I am usually the one hiding behind the camera, not in front of it. After searching my computer high and low, I have found a few of these dorky photos. Yes, this is what I usually look like, and yes, my youngest really does not pose for photos either. We are related, after all.
