Mary Aslin » About the Artist

"Soft....light....a story of mystery....timeless....Old World but contemporary......you capture the light.....ethereal....drama with tranquility....these glow from within"......these are the words Mary Aslin consistently hears by those who view and collect her still life, landscapes, and figurative paintings in pastel.

Mary was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and, at a young age, made her way with her family to the Pacific Northwest area of southern Oregon.  Her earliest playtime memories involved coloring with crayons, subconsciously and consistently juxtaposing complementary colors--red with green, blue with orange, and yellow with purple--coloring and drawing pictures, and studying her uncle's original watercolors of loosely painted still life, sailboats, and Salt Lake street scenes.  "I can still recall with perfect clarity the technical virtuosity, expressive brushstrokes and contemplative mood of his paintings."

Years later, when she was 11 years old, her parents gave her a Christmas gift of a box of art supplies.  The "box" was a gray, plastic briefcase.  "When I opened the lid of that box and saw the art supplies inside, I spontaneously and very unexpectedly choked up.  That gift touched something in my soul that I hadn't known was there until that moment."  Her grandmother, always eager to promote the arts in any form, gave Mary her first oil painting lessons.  "She loved to paint, and taught me, as she had been taught, to work out the composition on the back of the canvas with a little thumbnail drawn with thinned paint. She also taught me to work all over the canvas and would say with conviction, 'Mary, every good painting should have a little red in it.'"  Mary continued to paint and draw, copying drawings in books or on album covers, setting up still lifes and painting them in oil, painting small watercolor landscapes, and drawing in pen and ink .  She spent hours as a teenager perfecting the art of calligraphy with India ink on parchment, and although she didn't know it at the time, this skill would be instrumental for the many decisive and confident paint strokes she would make years later.

She also didn't realize until years later that the composition and design component of fine art would be nurtured in her study at the University of Washington in Seattle--not in the fine art department, which lacked rigorous, classical training--but in the Geography department in the study of cartography.  She studied map design and composition, where the very foundation of excellence in map reading resides in the savvy editing, organization and aesthetic presentation of information, also a key to excellence in painting composition and design. 

Mary's several years a cartographer were followed by the birth of triplets.  "I had this deep-seated knowledge that with my new life as a mother, it was also time to finally pursue my passion for learning fine art."   Concurrent with her own interest was a general resurgence in the art world for a return to the lessons of the masters of the past, where rigorous classical training--life drawing from the model and still life for rendering form--was paramount for any serious art student.   In the evenings, after her babies were asleep, she read anything and everything about art and artists, spent hours drawing and painting as time allowed, and began taking one evening painting class per week.  Drawing from the live model weekly began as soon as her children were school age and continues to the present day.  "I believe that the development and maintenance of sound drawing skills is similar to an accomplished musician practicing scales.  Daily or weekly practice is important and necessary for expressing the flourish upon the foundation."

Mary started with oil painting, moved to watercolor for several years, returned to oil and then finally, and most recently, has worked in soft pastel.  She let the muse guide the experimentation with different mediums, seeking always to build decisive marks, atop the soft-edged foundation of a beautiful design. 

Facility with several mediums afforded Mary the opportunity to do several watercolor portraits, pet portrait, and house commissions, working through a gallery and from referrals by friends.  For a short time she lived in Minnesota with her husband and children and painted an 18' x 40' snow scene backdrop for a production of The Nutcracker by her daughter's dance school using special opaque paint on muslin.  A year later, as Artist-in-Residence of the local elementary school, she lead 700 students through simple classical drawing exercises, culminating in the school-wide acrylic painting of a trompe l'oiel style mural. 

"Each medium and painting style has it's own beauty.  By learning several mediums and studying all styles, I have come to understand those specific elements of fine art processes that are universal and those that are unique. That understanding and breadth has allowed me to transcend the medium and get to the message, which for me is the drama of light telling a story with poetic shapes and lines." 

After moving back to Washington state, she continued to refine her skills, studying with Ned Mueller, Alex Powers, Teresa Saia, and through an advanced figure painting class at the Gage Academy of Fine Art, and with continual study from the live model and the still life.  Working in short spurts, as her schedule allowed, often resulted in still life elements that had faded or wilted.  However, the fresh and immediate nature of the pastel medium, not requiring the timing of watercolor or the varying drying rates of the oil pigments, made it the ideal choice for thoughtfully and carefully honing her technical competence and artistic vision.  And hone both of these she did.

Acceptance to juried shows began soon thereafter, and then a few years later, she began to receive awards for her pastel work.  More recent awards include Fifth Place in The Pastel Journal 100, Fine Art Views September 2009 Finalist out of 560 entries, and Best of Show by a local pastel society.  Last year, she was granted Signature status in the Pastel Society of America.

Moving to sunny Laguna Beach, California three years ago, where the area is rooted in the legacy of plein air painting, gave Mary an opportunity to round out her understanding of natural light.  One of the artists she had studied years earlier, Everett Raymond Kinstler, gave advice to an aspiring student:  to improve studio portrait work, go outside and paint in the natural light.  Mary took this instrumental message and the providence of living in California and went outside and painted.  Studying different light conditions--soft, diffuse, bright, sharp, dull, vivid--and acting quickly to capture nature's beautiful shapes has greatly enhanced Mary's understanding of the poetic and harmonious way light organizes form.  She also had the opportunity to study at the Watts Atelier and with plein air painters, Kenn Backhaus and Gil Dellinger.  Volunteering for the annual Laguna Plein Air Invitational afforded an up-close and personal look at the legacy being continued by contemporary plein air painters and their interpretation of light on the landscape.

The culmination of her early influences, combined with a nearly twenty-five year focus on learning from the great classical masters, along with consistent drawing practice, workshop study with notable instructors, and the timely opportunity of living in California, have all given rise to a reality that has resulted in gallery representation and exhibition opportunities, drawing enamored collectors, numbering nearly 75 at present.

Although any subject organized into a beautiful composition by light is compelling for Mary, her recent work has focused primarily on painting the still life in pastel, relishing the richness and permanence of the pastel medium for depicting both brilliance and subtlety, and relishing the still life as a subject for telling a story, a story of light falling across forms, where the viewer finds their own specific story in her work.

She maintains a rigorous studio schedule today, painting most often directly from life, teaching a few workshops each year and exhibiting her work at the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach and at Chemers Gallery in Tustin, California.  Meeting her collectors and working with students is a particular delight, and always, the focus is on light and how it reveals beauty and meaning, a meaning that will be different for each viewer.

"Composing a painting to mimic nature's harmonies is an endeavor where I am a grateful participant in a grand mystery.  Light, revealing such truth and beauty, is the real star of the show and I applaud with each paint stroke."


Awards
Finalist, Fine Art Views Competition, September 2009

Award of Merit, Southern California Plein Air Painters Members Show, April 2009

Best of Show, United Society of Pastel Artists (USPA) Members Exhibition, November 2008, Laguna Beach, CA

2nd Place, Figure Category, USPA Members Exhibition, November 2008, Laguna Beach, CA

2nd Place, City of Tustin Plein Air Competition, October 2008, Tustin, CA

Best Pastel Artist, Art-A-Fair, International Juried Art Festival, August 2008, Laguna Beach, CA

2nd Place, Favorite New Artist, Sawdust Festival, July 2008, Laguna Beach, CA

3rd Place, San Clemente Plein Air Quick Draw Competition, June 2008, San Clemente, CA

Honorable Mention, San Clemente Plein Air Competition, June 2008, San Clemente, CA

Honorable Mention, Tustin Art League, “Scenes of Tustin”, April 2008, Tustin, CA

5th Place, Still Life, Pastel 100 Competition, The Pastel Journal, February 2008 Issue

1st Place, Landscape, USPA Members Exhibition, October 2007, Laguna Beach, CA

2nd Place, Still life, USPA Members Exhibition, October 2007, Laguna Beach, CA

Best Pastel Artist, Art-A-Fair, International Juried Art Festival, August 2007, Laguna Beach, CA

Best New Artist, Art-A-Fair, International Juried Art Festival, August 2007, Laguna Beach, CA

Dakota Art Award, Northwest Pastel Society, 21th International Open Exhibition, September 2007, Tacoma, WA

Merchandise Award, Northwest Pastel Society, 20th International Open Exhibition, September 2006, Tacoma, WA

Recent Group Exhibitions and Shows
2009, Festival of Arts, Laguna Beach, CA

2008, United Society of Pastel Artists Members Juried Exhibition, Laguna Beach, CA

2008 and 2007, Art-A-Fair International Juried Art Festival, Laguna Beach, CA

2008, Sawdust Festival, Laguna Beach, CA

2008, Northwest Pastel Society, 22nd International Juried Open Exhibition, The American Art Company, Tacoma, WA

2008, Two-woman show with Bonnie Holmes, Chemers Gallery, Tustin, CA

2007, United Society of Pastel Artists, Members Juried Exhibition, The Esther Wells Collection, Laguna Beach, CA

2007, Northwest Pastel Society, 21st International Juried Open Exhibition, The American Art Company, Tacoma, WA

2006, Northwest Pastel Society, 20th International Juried Open Exhibition, The Harbor Gallery, Gig Harbor, WA

Organizations
Signature Member: Pastel Society of America, Northwest Pastel Society, United Society of Pastel Artists

Member, California Art Club Southern California Artists Association, Southern California Plein Air Painters Association

Education
B.A. with Distinction, 1984, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Additional Art Studies: Watts Atelier, Gage Academy of Fine Art, Gil Dellinger, Ned Mueller, Kenn Backhaus


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