About Maureen C. Berry

One thing I know for sure. Unless you start, you’ll never discover what you’re capable of. 

Hi, I’m Maureen, a professional creative for the last ten years.

I’ve published two books and numerous magazine and blog articles. I produce and host the podcast Green Fish Blue Oceans (currently on hiatus). I’ve spoken nationally (pre-COVID) with topics from how to self-publish a book to how to support wild and framed fisheries and becoming a good steward of our planet by cooking with responsibly-sourced seafood. My recipes are easy-to-prepare, delicious, and geared toward the home cook.

You can find my photography and recipes in print, online, and on social media. My work specializes primarily in food and nature with a commercial slant.

I also commission mixed-media watercolor art to help support ocean and plastic pollution awareness. Ocean Friends includes Octavia the Octopus, Shelley the Shrimp, Fina and Fineas the Sharks, Tango and Telly the Sea Turtles, and Juneau the Jellyfish.

Embracing your creativity is not for the faint of heart.

Sometimes life is crazy and chaotic, ideas spew forth faster than you can manage them. Other times, the proverbial well is bone dry. I’ve found that the in-between is the sweet spot. It’s in this sacred space, where the real work gets done.

You must write your ideas and nurture them. More stuff gets done when you write by hand than when you simply let it simmer inside, or type it on a Word doc. Being creative means taking a chance. Will all your ideas work? Um, no, more than likely not. But in order to get to that golden nugget, you must chisel away all the extra fat and gristle. That may mean walking away or working on another project. Having multiples.

One thing I know for sure. Unless you start, you’ll never discover what you’re capable of. 

As a cancer survivor, I know how life can beat you down if you let it. In 2019, I survived a rare, life-threatening cancer—stage IIIb dedifferentiated liposarcoma. If you’ve never heard of liposarcoma, don’t be surprised. Liposarcomas are only one percent of all cancers diagnosed. I didn’t know about my disease until I was a healthy, fifty-seven-year-old. But cancer doesn’t define me. In fact, it has empowered me to live my best creative life.

Please email me to help you write your self-published book, design your book cover, develop recipes for your brand and website, or if you want to commission my art for your home office, classroom, aquarium, art, or hospital gallery.

I love to motivate people to stay positive and upbeat and channel their inner badass. It’s my superpower.

More About Me

♥ My books include Salmon From Market To Plate: When You Want To Eat Salmon that is Good for You and the Oceans. This cookbook features thirty recipes and defines both wild and farmed salmon, and why you should care, shopping tips and resources, and cooking tips for the busy person that you are.

♥ I co-authored and designed the cover for Midlife Cancer Crisis: A Memoir. This book explores one woman’s (not mine) search to understand her parental influences as she battles colon and liver cancer in her late-40s while raising her teenage godson. Midlife is a story of family, choices, friendship, and faith.

♥ My mixed-media watercolor series, Ocean Friends, evolved during my cancer recovery. During my final hospitalization, once a week, music and art therapy kept me sane. When I returned home, my concept spawned to become art with a message. The Ocean Friends series includes Octavia the Octopus and Shelly the Shrimp, Fineas and Fina the Sharks, and Tango and Telly the Sea Turtles. Shop my wearable art to help support ocean and plastic pollution awareness. Please email me to commission art for your home, office, aquarium, or art gallery.

♥ In 2017, I launched the podcast, Green Fish Blue Oceans, to help people learn about the seafood on our plates and the challenges the oceans face. S1 tackles one of each, a species and a challenge, for every letter of the alphabet. S2 focuses on aquaculture. Green Fish Blue Oceans is also a speaking and cooking event. I tailor each program to fit your needs and situation. GFBO is a terrific learning event for Zoom classrooms, aquarium talks, corporate events, and hospitals, and can include cooking demos and stations, a full photography slide show featuring my food photography, and a thirty to ninety-minute talk with Q&A to follow.

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