Statement
My paintings are influenced by nature and inspired by the abstract patterns found in the landscape against atmospheric color and scattered light in the sky. My work describes the solitary discovery of a place in time and the unconscious forms and meaning generated from the experience. An emotional connection is vital to my imagery, and my use of paint is expressionistic within this framework. The landscape is a launching point for imagination and interpreting the experience through painting my form of meditation.
I paint with Acrylic on linen and canvas, board, and aluminum panels in sizes ranging from ten inches to four feet. I am primarily a studio painter and also paint outdoors. I use photographs from my walks or window views to start a painting. I work on a series of landscape subjects that includes bare trees, changing sky, and the movement of light and color to suggest the passage of time. My palette is luminous, with color fields and transparencies blended during the painting process. I start my paintings from observation but finish with my attention to the painting's composition, color, and mood.
Biography
Mary Powers-Holt born Philadelphia, PA has lived and worked in the Greater Philadelphia area most of her life. Her home and studio are on a historic farm in Chester County, PA where the landscape and farm buildings inform her work. She studied visual arts at the PA Academy of the Fine Arts and Art History at the University of Pennsylvania through the Academy and Penn's coordinated B.F.A./Certificate program. In her fourth year at the PA Academy, she was awarded the J. Henry Schiedt Traveling Scholarship.
Mary Powers-Holt is a Cerulean Arts Collective Gallery member in Philadelphia and has exhibited her work with the gallery since 2017. She was an Artist in Residence at the Fitler Club in Philadelphia from June 2021 to April 2023, where she exhibited four paintings and her work is included in the "Artist in Residence" Catalog. In 2023, she also exhibited her work in the group show "Crafting Nature" in the Inliquid Gallery in Philadelphia and in group shows at the DaVinci Art Alliance. She has exhibited at The PA Academy of the Fine Arts Alumni Gallery in the exhibit "12 x 12" and the 2017 PAFA Fellowship Show. She was awarded the Caroline Gibbons Granger Award for her painting "A Walk in the Field" in the 2001 PAFA Fellowship show at Historic Yellow Springs. She exhibited in many group shows at the Jeffrey Leder Gallery, formerly in Long Island City, NY and solo at the Rivers Edge Gallery at Bridgeton House in Upper Black Eddy, PA sponsored by InLiquid. Another past solo show was "Open Space" at the Burrison Gallery at the Penn Club of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. Mary has exhibited her work widely and is included in many private collections.
My paintings are influenced by nature and inspired by the abstract patterns found in the landscape against atmospheric color and scattered light in the sky. My work describes the solitary discovery of a place in time and the unconscious forms and meaning generated from the experience. An emotional connection is vital to my imagery, and my use of paint is expressionistic within this framework. The landscape is a launching point for imagination and interpreting the experience through painting my form of meditation.
I paint with Acrylic on linen and canvas, board, and aluminum panels in sizes ranging from ten inches to four feet. I am primarily a studio painter and also paint outdoors. I use photographs from my walks or window views to start a painting. I work on a series of landscape subjects that includes bare trees, changing sky, and the movement of light and color to suggest the passage of time. My palette is luminous, with color fields and transparencies blended during the painting process. I start my paintings from observation but finish with my attention to the painting's composition, color, and mood.
Biography
Mary Powers-Holt born Philadelphia, PA has lived and worked in the Greater Philadelphia area most of her life. Her home and studio are on a historic farm in Chester County, PA where the landscape and farm buildings inform her work. She studied visual arts at the PA Academy of the Fine Arts and Art History at the University of Pennsylvania through the Academy and Penn's coordinated B.F.A./Certificate program. In her fourth year at the PA Academy, she was awarded the J. Henry Schiedt Traveling Scholarship.
Mary Powers-Holt is a Cerulean Arts Collective Gallery member in Philadelphia and has exhibited her work with the gallery since 2017. She was an Artist in Residence at the Fitler Club in Philadelphia from June 2021 to April 2023, where she exhibited four paintings and her work is included in the "Artist in Residence" Catalog. In 2023, she also exhibited her work in the group show "Crafting Nature" in the Inliquid Gallery in Philadelphia and in group shows at the DaVinci Art Alliance. She has exhibited at The PA Academy of the Fine Arts Alumni Gallery in the exhibit "12 x 12" and the 2017 PAFA Fellowship Show. She was awarded the Caroline Gibbons Granger Award for her painting "A Walk in the Field" in the 2001 PAFA Fellowship show at Historic Yellow Springs. She exhibited in many group shows at the Jeffrey Leder Gallery, formerly in Long Island City, NY and solo at the Rivers Edge Gallery at Bridgeton House in Upper Black Eddy, PA sponsored by InLiquid. Another past solo show was "Open Space" at the Burrison Gallery at the Penn Club of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. Mary has exhibited her work widely and is included in many private collections.
