Maja Pavlovska - Maja Angel, International certified artist (ICA), self-educated painter, lyrics writer and translator, born 1968 in Skopje, Macedonia, living in the Netherlands since 2008 with my son, Boban. I would never be completely satisfied like I feel, without my son`s and my family’s love and support in everything I do. Painting is one of the jobs that makes me feel happy and relaxed, fulfilling my soul. I paint from very young age, but I have never been educated professionally in this field. My profession is a Manager of tourism, but I am most of my life in the Art, as a self-educated artist painter, guided mostly by Academic professor of Art, Ratka Ilieva - Lale (From 1984, until 2008, when she died). I attended many exhibitions, trainings, workshops and colonies under her supervision. I paint even more after I got paralyzed in 1991. Painting is part of my “soul therapy” since then. I was right-handed and left-handed at the same time, but after the illness, I use only my left hand for painting and writing, because it was the first one that recovered faster.

I had three successful independent exhibitions in Macedonia in the cities of Skopje, Ohrid and Kumanovo in 1996 and 1997, which passed with very positive art critic by the audience, but also by the Curator in the Art museum in Skopje, Macedonia, Zarko Tozi, and the Curator Ljupco Malenkov, the Director of the Cultural Informative Centre of Skopje, Macedonia, that time.

In 2007 I was attending as a guest painter and lyrics writer at the exhibition of Nena Sesic – Fisher, at KCN in Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. I was also one of the 45 painters who attended the big traditional exhibition in WVT Bilthoven, region of Utrecht, named “Kunst uit eigen provincie” 2013/2014. From 2018 I am member of the National association of the visual artists of the Netherland, in short NABK. In 2020 I became a member of NGO Art Studio | Irena Gapkovska. In October 2020 I was awarded by the Italian Curator internationally recognised, Francesco Russo, as an Ambassador of Art, as representative of my birth country of Macedonia and my living country of The Netherlands. More detailed about the exhibitions which I attended, you can read in the parts of Exhibitions or Events, below.

I mentioned above that painting is “one of my jobs”, because I am also on the Macedonian stage as a songwriter, especially lyrics writer and translator from Macedonian into English and Serbian and vice versa, since 1990. I had a lot of successful collaborations with many known composers – Aleksandar Cekredzi, my brother, a guitar player, Zoran Pavlovski – Zozo, Gjoko Mishkovski, Goran Alacki, Dimitar Masevski, Manolis Vlahos, Trajce Stavrevski – Buzuki, Mihail Parusev; arrangers – Sasha Nikolovski - Gjumar, Aleksandar Cekredzi, Ljupco Trajkovski – Fis, Damir Imeri, etc.; music producers and singers, from my birth country of Macedonia and from abroad. The singers I have collaborated with include: Tose Proeski, Lidija Kocovska, Ana Kostovska, Marjan Stojanovski, Martin Vucikj, Dule i Koki, Silvi bend, Pece Ognenov, Joce Panov, Aleksandra Koteli, Capaj, Tanja Angelova, Robert Stojanovski. Attending many music festivals, Eurovision selections, albums, musicals (17 songs of Chicago musical, Macedonian version, played in Macedonian National Theater - MNT Skopje) etc. You can find more about this in the section “My lyrics”, where you can hear my songs and lyrics, sung by the singers, mentioned above.

Through both, painting and songwriting, I am very often “mind traveling” to various known and unknown places, and thinking about different people and mentalities, but all of them with similar emotions. Actually you can very often see all those thoughts and “travels” in my paintings and also hear it in my lyrics and songs. I am always trying to express certain emotions of the object I paint. Therefore, in my artworks, you can notice lonely objects, mostly women acts because of the natural beauty and perfection of the woman`s body as the only space of a growing new life and giving birth, occupied with their own thoughts, whether melancholic, happy or amorous, and more of them connected to the music through certain musical instruments. Some of the paintings are abstractions, again motivated by specific thoughts of how I see some life events… There are also paintings of known and imaginary landscapes, as well as different races and entities living all together in a beautiful harmony.

So there are few different styles of my artworks, depending on my inspiration during different periods of my life. The techniques which I use are mostly acrylic on canvas, aquarelle in combination with ink in different colors and dry pastels, frequently choosing warm, light and pastel colors. I also create a digital art from scratch, using various digital vector programs, so some of the original files can be printed in any dimension and on any desired medium including canvas, plexiglass, textile, wood, etc. I would be very happy if my artworks and their messages touch everyone’s spirit, the same way, and with the same positive energy I want to transfer to the audience.