Art Process:

When discussing the process that she goes through to get her work on canvas, Mavin stated that she sometimes draws the ideas first, and other times she decides not to. She did say that if she draws an image first, it almost always changes before the work is completed. Once Mavin has the ideas for paintings, she then has to filter through them and decide on a final creation. She states that the hardest part of what she does is getting the ideas in her head to come out on the canvas the way that she wants them. She believes that she has a tendency to overwork her pieces, which is why she will often be working on several pieces at the same time.

She works with several media, including oil sticks and drawing and painting on chiffon. When using the oil sticks, Mavin states that she uses her hands as the basic tool. In her use of chiffon, the idea is the creation of overlapping images. The idea to use this medium came to Mavin in a dream in which she was in a store and saw a particular piece of artwork she never could forget. These two distinctly different media create separate types of works as well. Mavin sees the chiffon works as delicate, and the oils as more strong and earthy, "a balance between male and female." She believes that there are restrictions placed on artists from using a variety of media due to the fact that it seems as though an artist should have a distinct style by which to be remembered. Mavin is glad that she does not have to be so restricted, because she is not dependant just on her artwork as a source of support.

Inspiration:

Much of Mavin's inspiration comes from the experiences of her life. She has expressed the emotions of these events through her artwork. In the case of people who were an inspiration, Mavin is quick to refer to her first art professor at Elmira College. She believes he was one of her most influential mentors. "He was a shrew. He was a real real slave driver. He really made us work." She reflects on his teaching, stating that he supplied her with the basic knowledge that she didn't have as a young artist. One of the reasons Mavin respects her teacher so greatly is that he really taught her the discipline needed in her field. On the same level, Mavin also sees her mom as a significant mentor, because she was the one that introduced Mavin to certain media, like watercolors.