Maya Gohill was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1974. She graduated in 1997 from the University of Calgary, with a Bachelor of Fine Art degree in painting. After an extensive period of travel abroad, she moved to San Francisco to study at the Academy of Art College, where she earned her Master of Fine Art Degree in illustration, in 2001. Maya recently moved back to Calgary, after several years of teaching as a tenured professor of Fine Arts at Antelope Valley College in California, USA.
Her artwork is derived from two significant components; her life's experiences, and her life's education. She incorporates her current ideologies with her classical based knowledge to develop the images she creates. Her artistic influences include Ingres, Bouguereau, Sargent, Gerome, Mark Ryden, Steven Assael, and Daniel Adel. Her most poignant influences are derived from life itself. From people, music, human nature, nature, religion, philosophy, and dreams and the power of the human imagination.
Her work has been credited by the New York Society of Illustrators, both in 2002 and 2001, with awards for the paintings entitled "Bingo Pyjama" as well as "Namaste". Her future plans include freelance illustration, gallery exhibition, and the continuing development of her style.
