ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: July 2023

Maybeline Perey is an artisan jewelry designer, small business owner, and mixed media artist from Moreno Valley, where she has lived for most of her life. Maybeline (or May to almost everyone who knows her) has been the artist behind Que Sera Designs for over 12 years. May has also participated in various city Artwalk events all over Southern California, including but not limited to the Venice Art Crawl, Downtown Anaheim Art Crawl Experience, Temecula's Art off the Walls/Art Night, and participated in art events hosted by the Riverside Art Museum. Her  focus, and the focus of Que Sera Designs, has been to offer unique, one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces that have a story and make people happy to see.

May is often inspired to create her work by the individual gemstones or beads that she works with. She tries to focus on highlighting the natural beauty of gemstones with the way she sets or  strings them. May also pays attention to current and/or upcoming trends in the fashion industry to prepare to make pieces that fit that style. She is also fond of bright colors and shiny things such as gemstones, and narwhals because they are the unicorns of the sea. May Expresses  herself through her art and it brings her joy, especially when she sees and interacts with other people who love and appreciate her work. As a business owner whose business is to sell her art, May also has to consider paying her bills and the administrative side of the work, but she takes a lot of satisfaction from knowing that other people like the work she is creating because she likes to see other people happy.

May has been participating in Riverside Artswalk since before the Artist Vendor Lot had been established in 2011 and Artswalk is how she keeps track of her official business anniversary. May tries to participate every month and tries to participate in other Riverside art events as well when they occur, such as the Riverside Art & Music Festival, Saturation Fest or events hosted by the Riverside Art Museum. May has participated in Artwalk events all over Southern California, from Los Angeles, to Venice, and Temecula to San Bernardino but she tends to  focus more on the Inland Empire. May feels that Riverside Artswalk has been the place where she learned to develop her art, run a business, and participate in vendor events. She has met so many people and artists over the years and has learned many valuable skills along the way. The  welcoming community is something that May appreciates the most because without it, she would not have lasted as long as she has as an artist.

For more information, visit May at ko-fi.com/queseradesigns @queseradesigns on IG.