Mary Chandler
Fairfield, CT
My paintings focus on historic architecture in the landscape. I find inspiration in the atmospheric scenes of the rich vistas prevalent to Coastal New England.
Message
A small seven year old girl approached her first Impressionist painting in a sunlit room in a Chicago art museum. Appearing before her were thick brushstrokes of paint applied in a riot of vivid colors. When she stepped back there was a visceral feeling of wonder and delight to see what it all revealed formed a garden of color, defined by light and shadow. At that moment, the intuitive feeling to create her destiny as an artist was significant.
Mary embarked on an education in the arts with a focus on illustration and training in realistic painting. Artists who have influenced her vision along the way have been Winslow Homer, the Wyeths, Edward Hopper, and John Singer Sargent. She began her first successful career as a painter on Nantucket, exhibiting her work with Main Street Gallery, then one of top galleries on the island. Her fascination with the historic architecture and the island's vistas, which are so prevalent on the island, were inspirations to her a painter.
Six years after exhibiting her paintings in the Boston area and Nantucket, in mid-career Mary was resolved to put her painting career on hold and pursue full-time career in educational publishing as an Art Director for Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and Scholastic.
Mary made a conscious decision to plan her retirement and return to painting after fifteen years in publishing. The fortuitous timing of this event came with a large commission from the White Elephant Hotel on Nantucket through an artist residency. She created nine paintings, producing limited edition giclée prints of the paintings, which were hung in the newly renovated cottages and rooms at the resort. This began the jump start for resurrecting her painting career. Mary embarked on creating new work of Coastal New England, traveling to find those scenes rich in the vistas where she finds inspiration from coastal Maine, Boston, Cape Ann, and her home state of Connecticut. Mary is an award winning member of New England Watercolor Society, Copley Artist with the Copley Society of Boston where she serves on the Artist Selection Committee, an artist member of the Artist Association of Nantucket where she has received multiple awards for her plein air paintings, a juried member of the Rockport Art Association & Museum, and has exhibited at the Salmagundi Club with the American Artist Professional League as well as the Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club where she has been awarded two years in a row for her watercolor paintings.
Contributing to a culture of like-minded creative people is particularly meaningful to Mary as she understands the challenges of maintaining a supportive artist community. Whenever possible Mary volunteers her time by giving back, whether it's helping with graphic design, hosting a plein air event, or hanging a show.
Mary lives in Fairfield, CT with her husband who is a professional photographer.
Statement
My paintings focus on New England architecture in the coastal landscape. I find inspiration in the atmospheric scenes created by the proximity to the shorelines of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine. There is a harmony between the structural edges of rocks or architecture against the rambling wild textures of the surrounding fields and marshes that draws me in as a painter.
Working mostly in watercolor, I am a traditional realistic painter using my understanding of watermedia and strong sense of light, shadow, and color to create atmosphere and depth in a painting. I am a skilled draftsperson who is fascinated with the lines of architecture and perspective. I aspire to have my paintings instill a sense of calm or reflection, leading the viewer further into the scene through a quiet road or path bringing them back to discover a vignette of buildings or trees in the distance.
My first and foremost inspiration came at a very young age when viewing Monet’s paintings at the Chicago Art Institute. When I embarked on an education in the arts I was focused on illustration with training in realistic painting. I work mainly in the studio, but recently have been exploring the spontaneity of plein air and the exhilaration of chasing the light. Artists who have influenced my vision along the way have been Winslow Homer, the Wyeths, Edward Hopper, and John Singer Sargent.