About Mazie

Mazie Cash was born in Fairfield, California into a military family. After moving multiple times along the east coast, she lived in Charleston South Carolina for almost 10 years studying percussion, baking and pastry, and enjoying the city. At age 24 she left the sunny town of Charleston to hike the 2,189 mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. 

After completing her thru-hike, Mazie renovated her van to be like a tiny-home and traveled across the country farming and selling crocheted hats. Colored pencils became her creative catharsis and joy after traveling.

Hiking brought Mazie to the White Mountains of New Hampshire where she’s been living since 2018. She finds an endless supply of inspiration for her drawings from exploring the trails and summits of the Whites. Traveling the U.S. has become a recent muse and inspiration for her work. In 2020 she painted multiple murals at the local Bethlehem restaurant, Rek-lis, as well as two murals for the North Country Mural Project. Although she enjoys painting occasionally, her real passion is in her self-taught medium of colored pencil.

Mazie showed her colored pencil work for the first time at WREN’s “Small Works Show” in 2019 and a second time in 2020. Her first solo show was at the Littleton, NH Co-Op in May-June of  2021, and her second solo show was at Maia Papaya in Bethlehem, NH in September-October of 2021.

I love colored pencils! And I love the feeling of decending from a summit and knowing I’m heading home to recreate something I experienced while in the woods. The process of bringing a memory to life connects me more deeply to my home and its landscape. My highest intention is to honor the magnifacence of the environment around me. 

 Combining my excitement for art and adventure fills me with creative energy and joy. Working with colored pencils teaches me to think ahead, to have patience, and to trust. There are rarely second chances with colored pencil; erasing is hardly effective and covering up mistakes is barely possible. This knowing becomes an endearing dance of intention and devotion. 

I love working with bold colors and even bolder layers. The last pencil layer I apply I’m typically pressing firmly into the paper to blend and bring as much color as possible to the surface of the drawing. Occasionally I’ll use turpentine and a paintbrush to carefully blend sky-scapes into a more even tone.

I get the most satisfaction out of filling an entire page with color. When a finished piece POPS, I’m happy