Ryla Maeve Designs

My painting has unfortunately taken a backseat lately—I typically used the school hours to get most of my painting in, and the anxiety of the pandemic has really been stifling to my creativity. However, I just found a new way to create—underwater photography! I bought a waterproof case for my phone from and their lenses as well—I got macro, wide, and super wide to experiment. These photos were taken with both wide and super wide lenses in our pool around noon (the overhead light gives the best sun dappled effect on the bottom of the pool, and the fish eye effect from the ultra wide lens allows you to see the reflection on the surface! A bit of cropping and the vivid warm filter, and voila! Definitely will be playing with this a lot more in the coming days (weeks, months...who are we kidding?)
@ Sullivan's Island, SC

🎉Congratulations! Thank you to everyone that entered, and congrats to the following winners! Day 1 , day 2 (thanks to for the touching nomination), day 3 (I have a little something extra for you as well!), day 4 and , and day 5 ! I’ll be in touch with each of you to arrange delivery!

Tuesday giveaway! Quarantine has been difficult for everyone in different ways. Some are struggling with lost jobs and loss of money, others are battling kids to get home school assignments done, some have had illness or even death in the family from coronavirus, and almost everyone struggles with anxiety of the unknown. Tag someone that you think could especially use a calming marsh scene to help brighten his or her day! You can tag one person or fifteen, with the option to share a testimonial to how that person has soldiered through Covid quarantine. I will randomly pick one of your nominees on Saturday May 9!

I don’t know if you are like me, but quarantine has brought out my inner Marie Kondo and interior decorator impulses, and I have really enjoyed making little improvements to my space during this time. If this is you also, read on...I have decided to have a WEEK of giveaways, contests, and auctions to spread cheer during quarantine and make some room for new paintings in my cute little studio. Every day will be a little different, so pay attention! All of the winners will be announced on Saturday, May 9th! Ok, first up, a straight giveaway. This cute little seashell is begging to brighten up a powder room or add some color to a gallery wall. To enter, tag two friends and tell me where this 12x12” cutie would go in your house! You have until midnight tonight to enter!

Day 13 of the Today’s challenge was to post a proud moment—it feels more like an update to the 1st day’s challenge to post a self portrait. For those of you that I don’t know, I am a trauma and general surgeon. I work part time, out of town, and this is my first time out of the house in 6 weeks. I thought that the hospital would feel scary or strange, especially after being off for so long. But all I felt was camaraderie and a sense of purpose from everyone in that hospital. It felt great to be back at work—doing what gives me a sense of pride.