About the Artist

Mary Watkins

in her own words

I spent my entire childhood in eastern New Mexico, in the desert of the Caprock Escarpment.  The dry, high altitude, the flat terrain, and the abundance of warm sun light and cool shadows was key to my artistic formation.  I was constantly  seeking out the shade, taking great delight in the rare spaces where trees and grass thrived, always thirsty for green.  That thirst still manifests  in my paintings today.  

From my childhood, I wanted to be an artist, but I thought that if I had any talent at all, it should come easily.  My artistic efforts as a young woman were labored and clumsy,  and I truly believed that I did not have any hope of becoming an artist.  I gave up on myself  until, in my thirties,  my hunger to paint became so strong that I was willing to be a bad artist for a while so that I could eventually become a good artist.

I moved to Austin and began to study with an artist who emphasized a classical approach to drawing and painting.  I learned principals and tools that still serve me today.  I discovered that any artistic endeavor inherently has problems built into the process, and that in order to create a beautiful painting, I would have to face those problems and find creative solutions to them.  

As I have explored light, color, and movement through painting, I have discovered that our world is, in itself, a continuous creative act.  As a part of this world, I too, am still in the process of being formed.  Every painting for me is an exercise in trying  to allow beauty to find expression through me, opening my mind and my eyes to see in ways that I had not seen before.  I find that this means I have to step out of the way and let the still, small voice inside have its say.  It is  an exercise in deep humility, and I still find that I have to be willing to be a bad artist occasionally so that I can try something new in an effort to become a better artist.  

Memberships

Oil Painters of America

Plein Air Austin

Juried Exhibitions

2008, 2009 Salon International, Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio   

2009 Bosque Art Classic, Clifton, Texas  

2009 Rio Brazos Art Festival, Granbury, Texas

2009 Plein Air Austin Corridor of Arts, Austin, Texas

2008 Oil Painters of America Western Regional Show,  Devin Galleries, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho 

2010  25th Annual Bosque Art Classic, Clifton, Texas

2011   Oil Painters of America National Exhibition, Devin Galleries, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

2020  Oil Painters of America 29th National Exhibition of Traditional Oils, RS Hanna Gallery, Fredericksburg, Texas

2020  Oil Painters of America Virtual Western Regional Exhibition, Illume Gallery, Saint George, Utah 

Awards

2009 Salon International Award for Artistic Excellence, Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio, TX  

2020 Award for Excellence in Realism, Oil Painters of America Virtual Western Regional Exhibition