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Mary Neville

Painting

https://www.marynevilleart.com

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ARTIST STATEMENT

“Painting is the processing of feelings into a visual form.”

“The layers I create represent engagements in a tactile way. Each piece is built with coats of paint, mark making with pencils, chalk pastels, pens and texture using paper scraps. I work on several pieces at the same time so a dialog is created, a conversation happening between the paintings that serve to create a story and allow thoughts to coalesce.”

“Making art, and especially abstract art, gives me a voice and the freedom to be intuitive, gain self-awareness, have insights, and observe external perceptions without being literal but rather lyrical. My work continually evolves and every piece is a personal time stamp of emotional evolution.”

As a Southern California native, Mary is inspired by the vivid colors and openness that the west coast is known for. While influenced by the beauty that surrounds her studio in Ojai, Neville approaches the canvas with the intent of expressing her physical and emotional response to personal and global events. Those experiences are reflected in her work through spatial awareness and use of color.

As a contemporary abstract painter, Mary emphasizes mood and feeling through her use of color, line and composition. It is her goal for people to feel immersed in the work, the paintings acting as portals for personal reflection.

Neville holds a degree in merchandising from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles and worked in the fashion, interior design and architecture industries for years before transitioning to working as a fine artist.

Mary has been a full-time artist for 15 years.

Her most recent solo exhibition at the Santa Paula Art Museum showcased her month-long residency in New Mexico at the famed Ghost Ranch.

To see this project and to view available paintings please go to www.marynevileart.com

VIEW THIS ARTIST'S WORKS

VIEW THIS ARTIST'S POSTS

Come See my new series "Somewhere Along the Way" IRL!

Somewhere Along the Way I have always loved Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" and its invitation to wander into the unknown. Somewhere Along the Way, a series of mixed media paintings built around photographs taken on long drives, is an homage to that idea. Along the seemingly lonely stretches of the West, where it's just you, the tumbleweeds, and the wild horses, time is measured in degrees of decay. Sagging barns rise from the farmland, announcing that they have stood for generations. Gas stations and cafés sit boarded up and covered in graffiti. Driving these roads, I feel a pull of nostalgia for slower times. At the heart of each painting is a photograph taken from a moving car, a moment of stillness pulled from motion. I move between bursts of intuitive painting and slow, methodical layers of mark-making, found paper, and photo transfer until everything merges and the layers beneath show through. I can control color and composition, but never whether the materials will take to one another or whether the whole will cohere. Chance shapes the work at both ends: in what the road offers and in how the layers meet. My "Paperweight" series explored parts of the past we hold onto. "Somewhere Along the Way" turns to what we pass by, and what stays with us even as we let it go. Like the view from the road, these pieces are not quite what they seem, familiar and otherworldly at once. Fleeting glimpses of roads seldom traveled.

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Small paintings have a way of pulling you in close.

Alongside my big paintings, I continue to work on these 8×8 canvases. They're lighter and more playful than the larger work. However, like the bigger pieces, these little experiments reward a closer look: bits of paper tucked under paint, marks that only show up when you lean in. That's the best reason to see them in person. Come visit my studio during the OSA Studio Tour, October 10–11. I am open 10 - 5 on October 10th & 11th and by appointment on Monday, October 12th. Looking forward to seeing you!

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"Sky Talk"

Turns out photos and paint like to fight for a starring role. I thought working photography into canvas would feel like collaging paper scraps — turns out photographs have a mind of their own. They hold a stronger presence and don't blend in easily. The real challenge is getting materials that don't naturally agree to find a shared language. This piece started with a photo I took in the high desert of Colorado. Cropped, printed on clear paper, and transferred onto a canvas already layered with underpainting and mark-making. Part of my latest series exploring where photography and painting meet. Come see it and more in person at the Ojai Studio Artists Tour, Oct 10–12. I am open 10–5 on the 10th & 11th, and by appointment on the 12th. Appointments: ojaineville@yahoo.com

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Playing With Paper - Mixed Media Workshops!

What I love most about paper is the irony of using something so fragile and fleeting to preserve our ideas, memories, and emotions Collage is a bit like alchemy: working simultaneously with the physical elements of paper, shape, and texture, and with the emotional ones, until something coherent yet unexpected emerges. In this four-hour workshop, I'll share what I love most about working with paper. How color, form, and texture can hold personal meaning, using paint, chalk pastels, stencils, and mark-making tools alongside it. All materials are provided, though you're encouraged to bring your own paper ephemera too — old letters, report cards, wallpaper, newspaper clippings all work beautifully. This workshop is offered as a private session, limited to 4 people. Gather 3 friends and let's find a time that works for you! Please contact me at ojaineville@yahoo.com to learn more...

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The Universe always has it Plan Checked

Dear Friends, I'm happy to share a small piece of good news! There’s a story… Earlier this year I submitted two works from my Paperweight series for consideration in Francis Gallery's Summer Exhibition. One sold before a final decision was made, so I re-submitted with Plan Check in its place and it was the piece they chose! And there you have it. You think you are steering the ship. And the universe has the plan in check all along. About Francis Gallery, Los Angeles… On a quiet stretch of famed Melrose Avenue, Francis Gallery LA is a calm oasis of harmony and natural materials. Founder Rosa Park built the space around soft curves and a palette of nuanced neutrals, with a curved partition wall at the entrance — shaped, from above, like a Korean moon jar that lets the art inside gently reveal itself. It's a quiet retreat on a busy street. I'm thrilled to be included in the gallery's summer open call exhibition! Please let me know ahead of time if you can make it and I will add you to the guest list. Warmly, Mary

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Caught in the Middle

Making marks to leave a mark. Does the art grow from me or do I from it? Part of me is there. Part of me is here. Is it possible to be in both places at once? And still, I don’t know. This Saturday my studio will be open and questions will step into the room. Waiting for other sets of eyes to see what I have yet to notice.

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Mary Neville

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