Sobremesa with Maxine McCrann

On building a practice rooted in joy, play, and creative freedom.

May 07, 2026

∙ Paid

Welcome to Sobremesa, an interview series featuring some of the most creative people around the world. Each conversation explores the stories, creative processes, and perspectives that inform the artist’s work.

There’s something about Maxine's work that always transports me to happier moments of life. Rooted in joy, pleasure, and the beauty of everyday moments, her practice invites us to pay attention and appreciate the mundane things in life. In this conversation, we talk about following your own creative voice, making space for play in adulthood, and building a creative life beyond algorithms.

Meet the artist 🫒

I’m Maxine, and I’m an artist based in Toronto. I love thinking and painting about joy, pleasure, fun, delicious foods, and spending time with people we love. Life is short and often difficult, and I find a lot of happiness in creating beautiful scenes and painting memories of joyful, simple times.

Florencia: I’m a big fan of your style and the bold, colorful universes you create. Worlds where tables full of flowers and desserts are often at the center. Can you share a bit about your journey toward finding your visual language, and some of the references or influences that continue to inform your work today?

Maxine: It’s funny you bring up flowers being at the center, because I often think I should paint them more. I’m pretty sure doing flowers was how I got here, in a way. I was a florist for many years and even had a flower farm with a bestie of mine in Detroit. COVID put all of that work to a dead stop, so I began doing what I secretly loved most-drawing- all the time and feeling less shy about it, since it felt like the world was ending anyway.

I realized that making beautiful scenes was what I loved most about doing florals, but I love that in painting, I don’t need to keep anything alive or make anything sensible the way you have to when setting a table for real human beings. I love the freedom to paint my own worlds, which can be completely wonky and unrealistic.

“Your job as an artist is to follow your own voice and trust that the right audience will find you.”

Florencia: Being an independent artist today involves giving visibility to your work online. It can be life-changing to find an audience that resonates and supports your creations. Do you have any advice on how to balance staying true to your creative vision while also navigating algorithms?

Maxine: Gosh, it’s a good question. I used to get really bummed out when I’d love a piece, and it wouldn’t get any traction online. But then I realized that the people who really get me and want me to expand and grow as an artist are always the ones who show the most love anyway. There will be people online who love what you do, but really want you to stay in the lane that they know you from.

That’s all so nice, and it is wonderful to be supported, but your job as an artist is to follow your own voice and know that the right audience will find you eventually. Compromising your vision for the sake of the algorithm just makes me think of Black Mirror or something and is totally antithetical to making art, though trust me, I am guilty of it from time to time! Oh, and even if you’re shy, post pictures of yourself sometimes. That always gets a bit more love, haha.

“Life is short and often difficult, and I find a lot of happiness in creating beautiful scenes and painting memories of joyful, simple times.”

Florencia: There is a section on your website that I really loved titled ‘Play’, kind of a video archive of the art projects you embark on just for fun. Can you share a bit more about the role of play or experimentation in your work as an artist?

Maxine: Yes! I often do little made-up projects to get myself out of funks. I rarely take videos or photos of them, but sometimes do, and I thought I might as well include them on my site. I’m not totally sure why. I guess I feel if I have to represent myself, that’s a big part of it; play.

I think we all need to play around and connect with our inner child, as trite a thing to say as that is. I also love seeing big brands bring artists on board to create in a whimsical way, and I would love to work more with forward-thinking brands that allow me to work in a playful way and experiment.