Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Wendel.
Mary, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I grew up in the hill country outside of San Antonio and moved to Austin in 2011. I have always been a creative person and interested in art. I had a wonderful mentor at a young age who taught me how to paint with oils. I sold my first painting in an art show at age 14 and naturally, I thought this is what I needed to do for the rest of my life. After high school I sort of threw a curveball and attended cosmetology school, learning a completely different form of art. Although I kept painting on the side, my career as a cosmetologist ended up not being as fulfilling as I hoped, so for the last four years I’ve been focusing all of my energy towards painting again. I’ve been much more involved in my art community, investing in workshops and better materials, and learning as much as I can to take my art to the next level. I now work as a representational figurative artist out of my home studio by night, and scenic artist by day. I am covered in paint at all times and couldn’t be happier.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I paint empowering humans who make things and inspire me. I’m not a writer, and am usually pretty awkward in social situations so hiding in my studio, painting awesome people, is my way of showing my appreciation and saying thank you. I start by making a monochromatic sketch with thinned oil paint, then dive in with color and just go for it. In my paintings I focus on composition, interesting and sometimes unconventional surroundings, and detail in the face and expression of each subject. I’m inspired by old master techniques and strive for that luminous glowing effect found in their portraits. I like the mixture of painting very realistically and technical in some areas and leaving other areas looking a bit unfinished and loose. I want people to feel a sense of atmosphere in my paintings and enjoy a classically painted contemporary painting.
What would you recommend to an artist new to the city, or to art, in terms of meeting and connecting with other artists and creatives?
There are always life drawing sessions in, I’m sure, any city, even if you’re not a figurative artist, life drawing nights are extremely helpful and you meet other artists. Being an introvert, I struggle with this myself, but get out to opening art shows and look at real art that’s not on your phone and talk to real people. I’ve recently been taking weekend painting workshops by artists I admire and get sweet connections from that too.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Follow me on Instagram @marywendelart here I post a lot of process shots of my paintings and other weird side projects I have going at the time. For a more polished look at my work visit my website www.marywendel.com here you can view all of my complete paintings and buy prints in my shop. I don’t currently have a show going on right now but I post my upcoming exhibitions on my website.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.marywendel.com
- Email: mary.wendel@gmail.com
- Instagram: @marywendelart
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