Product Information

It has taken me half of my life to answer the question, “Why do I create?” My answer…”To express my individuality through observation of the world around me and see all the possibilities for creating my personal interpretation”. My paintings are my feelings of the moment but my life’s journey, timing of my existence and the southern culture of that time period plus my choices in life influences what becomes my creative expression… painting. With my art, I have made a contribution to the world around me.

I start with a main idea that works in my mind for an undefined period of time, then, I sometimes do a photographic study of the main subject. I am not interested in reproducing the exact image that I refer to, but as I manipulate the water based paint…surprises occur and the fantasy begins. It is fascinating what happens between the starting point and what really appears as the finished product.

Developing my own special color pallet that represents my style takes time and experiment. I am drawn to both hot and cool colors. I love playing with the light areas against dark rich colors on both watercolor paper and metal… When I am working on hard metal surfaces with water based paint, the challenge of knowing when to control the action of movement and knowing when to stop…and let it go. It is exciting and challenging to experiment with ideas outside of my training.

The hardest part of artistic expression for me is developing the self-confidence to say, “I like it…I love it…DON’T TOUCH IT WITH THE BRUSH ANY MORE, don’t tear it up and believe that it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.” I have to paint for myself or I lose my spontaneity and my creativity…it is not me.

Mary Lou