Mary L. Parkes - contemporary realism artist

Artist Statement:

I am currently working in oils over acrylic glazes. Oil paint gives me workability so I can get the fine detail that I want in my paintings. My canvases are gessoed and sanded until quite smooth then covered with many glazes until the desired color and depth is achieved. All these processes are quite time consuming needless to say!

I have painted in Watercolors, which I love, acrylics, air brush, drawing in all mediums and have done some sculpture. I also owned and operated a Custom Picture Framing Shop and small Gallery for fifteen years, and what an education that was!

Objects such as grasses, leaves and natural objects are the subjects that interest me at the moment. They are painted with a gleeful, whimsical, dancing feeling so they don't look as if they are a photograph. I hope to capture the nature of the subjects without being too serious.

Like so many of my fellow artists, I believe that I paint because I have too! My thanks go to Larry Mullins, an artist from New York that came here with his family to teach at Santa Fe Community College. He share his vast knowledge of the art world and painting techniques with his students and with his help I found the comfort zone I have been searching for all these years.

After many years of raising a family and letting life get in the way I can now donate all my time painting and what a pleasure it is! My studio is in my home in Santa Fe, N.M.