SUPPORT LOCAL! If you want to buy a beautiful book of poetry by a St. Louis poet (my sister,) with the cover art by a St. Louis artist (me) from a St. Louis  bookstore,  you can  order it  from  Left Bank Books - the oldest and largest independently-owned full-line bookstore in St. Louis. ​Photo Credit: Theodore Turner

A Moth Collection
​by Anna Ojascastro Guzon
 
It’s a pleasure to quote, and to praise, “A Moth Collection.” Few first books of poetry are as easy to like. The variety is striking; Guzon offers us succinct prose poems, a pair of sestinas, skinny poems, an ode to forbidden fantasies, and a poem composed entirely of accusatory questions. The attractive and refreshingly modest speaker trusts God, is susceptible to the “draw of pyrrhic applause,” and has the wit to title a poem “She Changed Her Name to Judy.” I love the first stanza of “How to Live Large: A Debate”: “She said she’d take Ella’s voice / The pixie frame of that Broadway dancer / Maybe the anatomy of Heidi Klum / And Frank O’Hara’s charisma / She’d be a poet. And live in New York City / She’d be a flirt. She’d be young.” Guzon defines herself beautifully when she addresses the good gray poet by name: “I’m no genius, Mr. Whitman. I’m just often alone until you and everyone’s aloneness wraps an arm around my waist and I don’t mind.”
                                     
 –David Lehman, Editor, The Oxford  Book of American Poetry Series Editor, The Best American Poetry, Editor-in-Chief, BAP blog

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  Artist's Statement    2026-27     2010-2021  ​ArtShop    Magenta Door Art Studio 

I am grateful to the amazing Visionaries who hosted a joyful celebration and to all the women who are making the world better through the arts.

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SPIRIT OF THE TREES
​The Red Gate Gallery
​​January 16-April 12, 2026
​Curated by Mel Watkin

On May 16, 2025, an EF3 tornado struck St. Louis, leaving a deep physical and emotional impact. In addition to the loss of lives, homes, and infrastructure, thousands of trees across the region were damaged or uprooted. I am proud to have my artwork titled Wow, it's been a Long Road  included in Spirit of the Trees - a group exhibit by artists responding to this event and to the enduring symbolism of trees—as forces of life, renewal, knowledge, and loss.

To read an interview with the curator, go to Red Gate Gallery explores loss, growth, and identity in dual exhibition.

Red Gate Gallery is a platform for experimental and socially engaged art. Rooted in the community of Wydown United Church, it invites artists and audiences to explore new ideas, question assumptions, and imagine shared futures through creative practice. The church’s commitment to inquiry and inclusion shapes Red Gate as a space where art and dialogue intersect.

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​​Wow, It’s Been A Long Road,  watercolor on paper, hand-colored photo, mono print on arches, acrylic on canvas, 21x21” framed, 2025. The tree reminds me of the plum tree that was in the front yard of my childhood home. I still dream about that home. From that time of innocence to now … Wow, it’s been a long road. ​
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Solo Exhibit: 10,489 Steps
Keystone Gallery at Five Oaks ~2025

10,489 Steps is the amount of steps I took when my older sister took me for a walk in her park right before it flooded. It was significant because just a few months prior, it took great effort to break 2000 steps when I was having school shooting flashbacks. Walking 10,489 represents me getting physically and emotionally healthy. Choosing to walk with an imminent flood is symbolic too - can’t live in fear of the future. Metaphorically, I have to choose to take 10,000 steps every day.

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Both this artwork and my poem are titled Emerge. Linoleum prints and mono prints on Bristol, acrylic on fabric and canvas, and flowers from my garden, 36x36”, 2025.

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Emerge

Drown.    
Drag along the muck.    
Push up.    
Float through Turquoise
Emerald
and Gold.    
Breathe.    
Tread.    
Float.    
Feel the sun.    
Emerge.    

​~ Maria Ojascastro, 2024

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Hover over individual image for more information.

“Marry Well” Flowers on paper, acrylic on canvas, 2025, 12x12”. Marry well doesn’t just mean your life partner. It also means who you do business with, who you befriend, who you choose to be around. I wrote this in my journal while at a six-day retreat. Sold.

“Bodhisattva” Photo of watercolor, Prismacolor pencil and yarn on paper, flowers, and acrylic on magazine pages on canvas board, 21x21x 3” framed, 2025. After I was in the 2022 CVPA shooting, someone told me I was a bodhisattva - an enlightened being on the path who postpones nirvana to remain in the earthly realm and help all sentient beings achieve enlightenment. Sold.

“Maybe When the Sun Shines” Prismacolor pencils, monoprint, and pencil on paper, acrylic on canvas, 21x21” framed, 2025. Most of the artwork has phrases collaged into them from Mary Oliver’s poem “Hallelujah” because Oliver’s reverence for nature and contemplative way of seeing the world resonates with me. Sold.

“Wow, It’s Been A Long Road” Watercolor on paper, hand-colored photo, mono print on arches, acrylic on canvas, 21x21” framed, 2025. The tree reminds me of the plum tree that was in the front yard of my childhood home on Dover Hill Drive. I still dream about that home. From that time of innocence to now … Wow, it’s been a long road.

“Make Peace” Monoprint on paper, acrylic on canvas, and dried flowers, 13x13” framed, 2025. Women often feel like they have to power through. With age comes the wisdom that we can make peace with the fact that it’s ok to ask for help. Sold.

“A Perfect Breeze Invigorates the Mother’s Soul” Watercolor and ink on paper, Starflower Scabiosa seeds, acrylic on canvas, 12x12”, 2025. The title represents the summer of 2022 - the first summer in my small house that has a big yard and studio. I thought I was living my best life after a lot of really challenging years. Sold.

“Let Go” Collagraph print on Arches, linoleum print on Bristol, Brown-eyed Susans, Celosia, gel pens on Bristol, and acrylic on canvas, 14x11x3” framed, 2025. In this piece, water symbolizes life, transformation, and resilience.

“Permission to Breathe” Monoprint on rice paper, Bells of Ireland, Starflower Scabiosa seeds, linoleum, and monoprints on paper, and acrylic on canvas, 21x21” framed, 2025. I originally had titles from Mary Oliver’s poem, Hallelujah. I reached out to the publisher for permission and was denied. So, I opened my journals and pulled out phrases that became the new titles - a better outcome, if I say so myself.

“Sparkles of Rain on the Porch” Flowers from my garden, photo and collagraph print on arches, 2025, 15x12” framed. The title is how my twenty-five-year- old son described our porch when the sun came out after a rain.

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​My Garden ~ my Muse

My art studio exists as part of a magical outdoor garden—alive with birdsong and bursting with color. It is a three-dimensional extension of my two-dimensional art. In this nurturing space, I not only create art but cultivate whimsical bouquets for others, share harvests of fruits and vegetables, and welcomes bunnies, butterflies, and other small creatures into my creative ecosystem. 

Oh my! Some of my visitors in my outdoor studio.

Solar powered bird/bug buffet made during drought and created with hand-me-down flower pots..

Ephemeral Works

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Collaborations

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Pedal the Cause 2025 ~ Living Mural
​What is the art - The paint on the board or the people who create hope?

To read more about my family's cancer journey, go to Hope in Action.

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Into the Depths ~ 2025

May Peace Prevail on Earth ~2023

Collaboration with my COCA teen and adult students. Linoleum prints, gel prints, wire sculptures, oil pastel and watercolor sea creatures .

Commissioned by ​the St Louis Arts Chamber of Commerce in 2023 to be installed in the Thomas Dunn Learning Center in 2026 as part of the Hodiamont Tracks Greenway project.  

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The Mandala Project: An Artist Collective ~ 2023

The artists first produced eight collaborative paintings during a live art event in the Cherokee Street art district. Then each artist started a new acrylic on canvas, then passed it along to each of the other artists to respond and add to while in their own studio. The artists hosted a live, shared painting event during the opening reception at the St. Louis Artist Guild.  It concluded with a silent auction with proceeds benefiting Central Visual and Performing Arts High School.

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CVPA Strong ~ 2022

Read about my call to action in Gracie's article "It's Way Beyond Too Late" 

In her back yard, my Tita Marites squats amongst fuschia hyacinths, small popping corn and towers of lettuce. She puts her palms in the dirt just to feel it between her fingers. It’s therapeutic, to return back to the ground.                   ~ Gracie Eppler, The Observer

I've been thinking about when and where I can do an art installation about my journey after the CVPA school shooting. To see my concepts,  visit  my Sketch Book Page.

 Artist's Statement  2010-2021     2026-27    Ojascastro ArtShop    Ojascastro Magenta Door Art Studio 

Questions? Email [email protected].