Senior Creative Practice Facilitator at Palette & Clay Pte Ltd
12 years guiding creative explorers through watercolour, pottery, and collage. She’s helped over 3,000 people in Singapore discover their artistic medium and build creative habits that actually stick.
How a single pottery class changed everything
In 2012, Maya was deep in corporate finance — spreadsheets, stress, and the constant pressure to optimize everything. She needed an outlet. A weekend pottery class at Goodman Arts Centre seemed random. But that one class shifted something fundamental.
Within two years, she’d left finance entirely. She completed a postgraduate diploma in Art Therapy at the National University of Singapore while volunteering at community art spaces across the island. It wasn’t a casual career change — it was a full commitment to understanding how creative practice transforms people’s lives.
What Maya discovered wasn’t complicated. People don’t need to be naturally artistic. They need permission to experiment without judgment. They need guided hands-on experience, not lectures about technique. They need to find their medium — the one that actually resonates.
She’s spent the last decade building that space. At Palette & Clay, she’s designed workshop programs for corporate teams managing burnout, conducted research on creative practice as stress management in urban environments, and mentored emerging facilitators throughout Singapore. Her approach bridges professional art training with genuine accessibility.
Professional qualifications and training
Bachelor of Fine Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts. Foundation in painting, sculpture, printmaking, and contemporary art practices.
Postgraduate diploma in Art Therapy from National University of Singapore. Evidence-based approach to creative wellness and therapeutic practice.
12 years leading workshops at Goodman Arts Centre, Art Sanctuary, and community centres across Singapore. Trained in inclusive teaching and adaptive practice methods.
Conducted research on creative practice as stress-management for urban professionals. Designed and piloted wellness programs for corporate clients and community groups.
Core areas of creative facilitation and artistic exploration
Starting with zero artistic experience. She teaches the meditative qualities of watercolour — how the medium itself teaches you to let go of perfectionism. Within weeks, people discover whether this is their language.
The clay speaks. It’s honest, immediate, and deeply centering. Maya guides participants through hand-building techniques, wheel work, and the surprising calm that comes from working with earth.
The most accessible entry point for many. Combining found materials, image, text, and intuition. It’s fast, it’s forgiving, and it works brilliantly for self-expression without needing technical skill.
The real work happens after the workshop. Maya helps professionals integrate creative practice into structured urban lives. Regular rhythm, accessible spaces, accountability — she’s got the framework.
She knows Singapore’s creative landscape inside-out. Goodman Arts Centre, The Substation, community centres in every neighbourhood. She connects people to spaces that match their practice and budget.
Creative practice isn’t therapy, but it absolutely works as stress management. She’s researched and documented how regular artistic engagement changes nervous system response in busy professionals.
Maya’s approach starts with one simple belief: everyone is naturally creative. The problem isn’t lack of talent — it’s intimidation. Most people grew up hearing they “weren’t artistic” and stopped trying by age twelve.
She reframes the entire conversation. Creative practice isn’t about producing gallery-worthy work. It’s about discovering which medium feels like home. It’s about the meditative flow of painting, the grounding weight of clay, or the intuitive freedom of collage. Different materials speak to different people, and that’s the whole point.
Her workshops aren’t instructional in the traditional sense. They’re experimental spaces where you try things with guidance, not judgment. You discover whether watercolour makes you feel calm or frustrated. You figure out if pottery’s tactile nature is exactly what you needed. You realize collage is the permission you didn’t know you were waiting for.
The real magic happens when people realize they can sustain this. When creative practice becomes a regular habit that balances their structured urban lives. When they’ve found their space — maybe it’s a community centre studio, maybe it’s their kitchen table — and they’re actually showing up.
“Most people think they’re not artistic. They’re not — they’re just waiting for the right medium. I’m here to help them find it.”
— Maya Lim
What happens when creative practice becomes part of someone’s life
“I wasn’t sure about pottery at first honestly. My hands felt clumsy and I thought I’d just wreck everything. But Maya doesn’t make you feel judged about that. After six weeks I’d made three pieces I actually liked, and now it’s my stress relief on Tuesday evenings. That’s the thing — I didn’t become an artist, I just found something that actually works for my brain.”
“We brought our whole team to a workshop at Palette & Clay for a corporate day. I expected it to be awkward, but Maya structured it so that everyone could participate at their own level. Some people found their thing, some didn’t, but everyone left feeling calmer. We’ve booked three more sessions.”
“The collage workshop changed my perspective on what counts as art. I was making mood boards at first, then it became this whole thing about expressing feelings I couldn’t put into words. Maya helped me realize I didn’t need permission to call myself creative.”
Read Maya’s guides on creative exploration in Singapore
How to begin watercolour with zero artistic background. What supplies you actually need, how to approach your first painting without perfectionism, and why watercolour is the best entry point for many people.
Read the guideDiscover why pottery is a powerful grounding practice. Hand-building basics, the meditative qualities of wheel work, and how clay teaches you to embrace imperfection as the actual point.
Read the guideWhy collage is the most accessible creative medium. Mixed media techniques, how to use collage for self-expression without needing technical skill, and building a regular collage practice.
Read the guideA detailed guide to Singapore’s creative spaces — Goodman Arts Centre, The Substation, community centres by neighbourhood. What each offers, how to find your fit, and how to sustain a creative habit long-term.
Read the guideStart with one of Maya’s guides. Whether you’re curious about watercolour, pottery, collage, or finding the right community space in Singapore — there’s a path forward that works for you.
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