Mary Kane began painting at an early age, always loving patterns she saw in nature. She was always thinking outside the box. After getting a BFA in painting, sculpture and art history from Ohio State University she added more life drawing and painting classes at VCU in Richmond and at American University. She then taught art in public and private schools in Northern Virginia.
After moving to the Philadelphia area she studied with top art instructors, layering on and building more experience and confidence in painting.. moving from realism to abstraction..
Her abstract paintings have won many awards from prominent jurors. One described her painting as “a symphony of color, rhythms, intervals and vibrations…as if we were seeing music. One must take time to listen.”
Artist’s Statement
Although I majored in Fine Art and Painting and have a layering of art school experiences, I feel I have had to unlearn much of what I was taught…..or rather turn around what teachers have warned me against, to make their “no-nos” into possibilities that work.
In order to break down the fear of seeing a large white canvas in front of me, I have to blindly throw paint on it to begin. If I start with one idea, it changes many times before I stop as the painting leads me on in a meditative process.
I love what I see in Chester County..the barns, hills and trees..the birds…. and after a digestive process I enjoy reducing those images into basic shapes and simplified design.
“Compose…Simplify…. Eliminate the unnecessary…. Calm down…. Open up…. Stop judging it…. Be decisive….Don’t erase….Keep it fresh.. STOP!!.” But I still struggle, feeling the necessity to erase and paint over until somehow….finally…HELLO…. I give birth to a painting that works. I have surprised myself.
When is the painting finished? Perhaps when the telephone rings.
