Born in Massachusetts in the year of 1990, Stefanie Anna Muto-Graves already had creative genes coming from both sides of her family. Her great grandparents on the side of her father, Mark Muto, were artists. In addition her mother, Bettina Graves-Muto, had an aunt who was a wonderfully talented painter.

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"Growing up I was lucky enough to be inspired right away by my own family. I remember I was so mesmerized by the Christmas ornaments that hung on Nonno and Nonna's Christmas tree. Nonna always loved telling me how her mother made them all by hand using remnants of old linens she had around the house-old outgrown childhood dresses, even parts of her own wedding dress-all these memories captured in a little Christmas ball that hung on a tree. Just beautiful. And of course every Christmas we would also get to see the large fiberglass nativity scene that sat on Nonno and Nonna's front lawn, made by my great grandfather in his studio. I also remember the beautiful watercolors from my great Aunt Caroline. One of my favorite things to do was hunt for her signature that she would strategically hide in all of her work. On a family trip to Italy I also discovered there were many other creative family members. I really was very inspired from the very beginning."

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At a very young age Stefanie had already developed a love and passion for the arts. Though school was often challenging for her, art was always a subject she came home to.

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"Yes, school sure was tough-particularly at the beginning; but it made me a stronger human being today and it introduced me to abstract expression in art. It wasn't that I was a bad student, in fact I was always known as a very hard worker. I even was able to maintain a decent grade point average throughout my education; but from the moment I stepped into my first day of kindergarten moving forward it became more and more apparent that I was a little different than the other kids. I certainly saw the world a little differently than a lot of my peers. I was much more of a visual/auditory learner which would help me greatly when it came to recalling things for art and even occasionally music, but the catch was the struggle of trying to absorb a dense page out of my history text book (she laughs). A lot of teachers had a hard time trying to figure me out-and it made a lot of them very frustrated. As a result I was sometimes labeled as "stupid" by those who didn't understand. It was indeed a very stressful time for me; but I knew I could always count on art and my family to remind me of my self-worth. Sometimes art even became a place where I could release some of that frustration in a positive way. This is where I first discovered how much I loved abstract expressionism. There was something so freeing about throwing a bunch of paint around on a canvas."

 

As Stefanie grew up all she wanted to do was expose herself to as many realms of the arts possible. Her supportive parents frequently brought her and her sister, Nicole, to museums and offered them plenty of opportunities to travel and see art from all over the world. You often can see the worldly influences throughout Stefanie's detailed artwork-especially in her ceramics.

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"I've always had a love for art...and from the beginning I've always sough to explore as many areas of the arts as I can. I would love to be the most versatile artist around. Lately my favorite thing to do is mixed media-which would not be nearly as fun had I not delved into so many art realms already."

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Through high school and college she really got to experiment in many areas of the arts-ceramics, fiber arts, jewelry, culinary arts, music, you name it she was going to try it!

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"It was very hard for me to pick a major in college. I picked painting because it was what I believed to be my foundation and origin of my love for art. A lot of professors and peers thought I was an oddball for jumping around fields so frequently (she laughs) especially when I mixed media in my work. There were a lot of debates as to whether what I made was actually a technical "painting" or not...and also how in the world it could be hung...or transported for that matter. Fortunately my best friend and high school sweetheart, Michael Nickerson, went to college at SU with me. He was a huge help and support system through it all. He would always help me carry ridiculously huge pieces of art in the elevators and would sit back cringing while I excitedly painted a gladiator battle in our college apartment living room (it was a huge mess). He even slept in the studios with me all night so I wasn't alone and would remind me to drink water, eat, and use the bathroom every so often (she laughs again). Must have been true love!"

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One professor joked and said she could always count on Stefanie to make the biggest mess out of any artist in the room, but that she would also clean everything up like nothing ever happened. College professors often commented on Stefanie's ability to create a lot of good quality art very fast. They always had to take the projects to the next level to keep her busy.