Every year, Inweekly names a handful of Rising Stars, young people across Northwest Florida professions who show real promise to help shape our community. This year’s class includes Mathaya Hills, a local artist who just launched her own brand, Paintsacola.
Hills has been creating art since childhood and doing commission work and murals since at least high school. Paintsacola, which she started only last week, gives that body of work a name and a home. Her most visible project so far may be the senior parking-space murals at Gulf Breeze High School, where she painted fourteen spaces this year alone. She’s also currently working on a mural for the Build a Dream Foundation, a group that supports women business owners.
“There’s like I live in a constant state of imposter syndrome, I feel like… but whenever I start doing a project, God takes control of my hand and somehow it ends up looking like it does in the picture.”
Her favorite subjects: Hills gravitates toward downtown East Hill scenes, shaded canopy streets and Pensacola’s nightlife, over straight beach imagery. She describes the city’s festival culture as having a “baby New Orleans” quality, rich in history and art.
Congratulations to Mathaya Hill on being recognized for her artistic talents. We are proud of her talents from afar. She just got engaged to one of our grandsons, Tim Tyler, who is serving our country from the Navy in Hawaii. So we are thrilled to have her as part of our family. She also does beautiful commissioned potraits of pets. We love her.