Artist CV:Mary Anne graduated in Interior Design & Architecture from the Ontario College of Art in 1954. As the recipient of the Gordon C. Leitch Travelling Scholarship she attended the Fontainebleau School of Fine Art & Music in France, during 1955.At O.C.A. she was mentored by Carl Schaefer - on how to look at the world John Martin – on design and grid layouts Earl Wilson – on techniques in water colour. While in France, she developed her unique colour palette under the watchful eyes of the then contemporary French masters Professors Remondet and Moutteau. For the next 25 years, she became a prominent contract designer involved in creating major projects in Toronto’s booming office towers. Her projects included corporate head offices, golf clubs, medical clinics and law facilities. Her clients included Elizabeth Arden, Canadian Cancer Society, Canadian General Electric, Household Finance and the first head office of the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1980, her interests changed into creating works in the medium of water colour. By mid decade she had been elected to the prominent Canadian organizations CSPWC, OSA & SCA. As a participant in over 70 juried shows, Provincial, National and International she has received over 30 major awards. Her work is in both private and corporate collections around the world and she is represented by the Roberts Gallery of Toronto. As a painter, she finds design in the world around her, in the city streets of Toronto, the hills of the Beaver Valley, the lakes of Ontario’s cottage country, the fishing coves of Nova Scotia, the inlets of Newfoundland, the snow and ice of the Arctic, the vast spaces of the Prairies or the Inland Passage of British Columbia. Her years as a designer have much to do with the way she paints. She responds to order, structure & balance, light, shapes & patterns wherever she finds them – in the land or the man made environment. Her artistic work depends on the visual, on finding and expressing design & pattern rather than from an emotional point of view. Her subtle and unique colours are achieved by many transparent layers of water colour applied over many days. BORN: Oshawa, Ontario 1931. Currently lives in Toronto. STUDIED: Ontario College of Art, with Honours, 1954 School of Fine Art & Music- Fontainebleau, France, 1955 Workshops with various Canadian & American watercolourists SELECTED EXHIBITIONS: Retrospective Exhibtion, Nelson Park Creative Centre, Etobicoke, 2008 Coast to Coast, Celebration of Canadian landscape painting, Roberts Gallery, 2008 Roberts Gallery 1988,90,92,94,2007,2010 Three Watercolour Artists, Roberts Gallery, 2005 Waterways of Ontario, Roberts Gallery, 2003 (featured artist) Heliconian Hall, Toronto Heliconian Club, Toronto, 1998 Bancroft Public Gallery, Algonquin Arts Council, 1997 Horizon Art Galleries, Vancouver, 1993 Horizon Art Galleries, Edmonton, 1991 Beckett Gallery, Hamilton, 1986 Windsong Gallery, Mississauga, 1983, 84, 85 Rails' End Gallery, Haliburton, 1984 McDowell Gallery, Toronto,1981,82 Water Colours of Fontainebleau, O.C.A., 1956 SELECTED JURIED EXHIBITIONS: Mary Anne’s work has been shown in over 70 juried exhibitions, Local, National & International: Adirondack Nation Exhibition of American Watercolours 1989,91,93,95,97,98,99,2000 Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour 1991,92,94-98,2000,01,02,04 Niagara Frontier WC Society National Exhibition (biannual) 1998,1990,92,94,96,98,2000 Ontario Society of Artists1980,81-85,89,92,94,97,2003,06 SELECTED AWARDS: May Anne has received over 30 major awards in Regional and international juried exhibitions: Curry’s Art Store Award, CSPWC 75th Open Juried exhibition, 2000 Grumbacher Gold Medal, CSPWC annual open juried exhibition, 1997 Best Watercolour, OSA 125th annual open juried exhibition, 1997 National Fine Arts Competition, Second in Landscape, 1993 SELECTED COLLECTIONS: Bell Cellular Weston Golf & Country Club McMillan Binch Tridel Corp., Skyview on Young Sumitomo Bank of Canada The Great Lakes Reinsurance company National Bank of Canada Maitland and Co.(Vancouver) British Airways Islington Golf Club Glaxo Canada Inc. IBM Toronto C.I.L. Inc. Four Seasons Hotels Noranda Inc. First Interstate Bank of Canada Ontario Energy Board Canadian Satellite Communications C.I.B.C. Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants Crown Life Assurance of Canada Peat Marwick Thorne Etobicoke Board of Education Wellington Insurance Co. Etobicoke Hydro Magna International Inc. Rowney Artists' Materials Whitehall-Robins Inc. Fuji Film Royal Trust Corp. of Canada Rodman Hall Arts Centre College of Nurses of Ontario Royal Collection of Water Colours, Windsor Castle Brewers Retail Ltd. Seabord Surety Company of Canada Richardson Greenshields of Canada Proctor & Gamble Inc. MEMBER: Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour (CSPWC) Society of Canadian Artists (SCA) Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (ARIDO) Associate Ontario Collage of Art (AOCA) Niagara Frontier Watercolour Society (NFWS) Ontario Society of Artists (OSA) ARTIST'S STATEMENT I paint the world, not as it is but as it might be. My years as a designer have much to do with the way I paint. I respond to order, structure and balance, light, shapes and patterns - wherever I find them - in the land or in the man-made environment. Hence my artistic work depends on the visual, rather than the emotional. The use of transparent watercolours allows me to express these images in a clear direct way. My subtle and unique colours are achieved by many transparent layers applied over many days. Many owners of my work tell me they find it restful, relaxing and thoughtful, helping them to cope with today’s stressful society. When I paint the world as it could be, I am creating a more balanced atmosphere for all to see and benefit from. My background in design and order enables me to do so. At the Ontario College of Art, I was mentored by Carl Schaefer - on how to look at the world John Martin – on design and grid layouts Earl Wilson – on techniques in water colour. While in France, at the Ecoles ‘Art Americaines de Fontainebleau, School of Fine Art, I developed my unique colour palette under the watchful eyes of the then contemporary French masters Professors Andre Remondet and Jacques Mottheau. An early reviewer wrote “Mary Anne comes endowed with a special ease for blending realism with the abstract, adding at times a touch of wispy eeriness to her landscape paintings while preserving perfect balance at all times.” A reviewer of my most recent exhibition wrote “This is great work, an excellent example of the artist making a great painting out of what some may consider very uninteresting subject matter. True art comes from the mind of the artist. Congratulations.” |
