About Rita Maria

Hello! I'm Rita, an artist and illustrator creating a small world of cats, crows, and the everyday moments that make life a little more magical.

My work ranges from oil paintings on canvas to tiny gouache and colored pencil drawings in my sketchbook series, Dear Cronies. It's a visual diary inspired by my two Siamese cats, Patchouli and Pyewacket, along with a cast of crows and other furry and feathered friends who seem to wander into my imagination.

I've always been drawn to crows. To me, they represent intuition, curiosity, confidence, and a certain kind of quiet wisdom. No matter how many times I paint them, they always seem to reveal something new.

I graduated from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design with a degree in illustration and am currently represented by Sadler Gallery in Milwaukee's Third Ward. While I love sharing my work locally, my real focus has always been creating art that feels personal, meaningful, and honest.

Over the years, my style has grown through the simple practice of showing up every day to sketch, paint, and experiment. The Dear Cronies pages, especially, have become a place where I can be playful, observant, and imperfect, capturing little moments, feelings, and stories as they happen.

I love creating work that feels familiar but a little unexpected. The kind of work that makes you smile, pause for a moment, or feel like you've stepped into a story you somehow already know.

Thank you for visiting my little corner of the world.

Rita