Bio
Mary Alice was born in Niles, Ohio and is the oldest of 8 children. For more than half a century, she has been providing joy through her skills as artist, musician, teacher and mother.
From her present home/headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, she continues her career as a celebrated and credentialed artist. Her present collaboration with her "little brother", Tom, has resulted in the forthcoming PBS series, Rome 360º, The Churches. Watercolors of the Roman Basilicas and Chapels will be a featured part of the program.
Mary Alice balances being Mom to her four children, Nona to her five grandchildren and High-Demand Visual Aficionado to her many clients, colleagues, collaborators and friends.
ARTIST STATEMENT
From a very young age I have been compelled to describe my world visually. I have always been more comfortable expressing myself in images rather than in words. When one looks at a work of art, one sees not only an image or a set of colors and designs, but the soul of the artist as well. Look, and see, and you will know who I am.
In my journey I have always returned to portraiture, though I have worked with all subject matter and in all media. Through the years I have found myself teaching art to all ages from Kindergarten through college, sometimes for a semester, sometimes in increments of many years. Now in my sixties, it is time to distill all the experiences of a full life into an artistic description, to have a visual dialog with the world, to accumulate, to feel life’s joy while creating in whatever remaining time is allotted to me.
Presently I work on watercolor images of the Eternal City, Rome. On a trip there several years ago I saw that the Italians were interested in my interpretations of the people, places and monuments that surround them. There are frescoes, sculptures, magnificent oil paintings, and grand architecture. But a watercolor is transparent, clear and immediate.
I set about interpreting what I saw as a stained glass artist would – no color upon color, but color adjacent to color. The paper is the light, the paint is the glass. The colors are side-by-side. There is no way to lie or fool the eye. It is what I see. It is my soul.
