Red Dress, by Mary Shea. Sketch from one of the Seattle Artist League online classes.
This is a post about a new member of the Seattle Artist League: Mary Shea. I’m proud to say she’s set up to teach drawing with us this quarter. I wanted to share some of her work that so excited me.
I met Mary Shea in one of our online art class during the pandemic. We were taking Jonathan Harkham’s Transcriptions class, and I loved how she used color.
There was one project assignment in which Jonathan challenged us to take a figure from the Villa of Mysteries and put it into an interior by Bonnard.
Piece of the Villa of Mysteries, a series of frescoes in PompeiiPiece of the Villa of Mysteries, a series of frescoes in PompeiiQuick pencil study of figures from the Villa of Mysteries by Mary SheaQuick pencil study of figures from the Villa of Mysteries by Mary SheaBonnard drawing for inspirationMary Shea’s sketch with Bonnard’s interior and figures from the Villa of Mysteries
Mary’s drawing is striking, with a beautiful sense of light and space and movement through the composition. It has a temporal feeling, as if it was just an extended second with us as guests at their table on a sunny day, the window open.
“Dark-Lunch” by Mary Shea (forgive the poor lighting)“Light-Lunch” by Mary Shea
Mary’s two resulting paintings show a possible light and dark completion. While the green and red in the first painting vibrate brilliantly, the abstract and suggestive nature in the second, the lighter of the paintings puts my mind into a more active dream-like state.
Below is a selection of some of Mary Shea’s other works. Look how she plays with light and color. If you find the work interesting, consider taking her drawing class. Basic Drawing starts April 13.
Drawings
Window at Dusk, by Mary SheaOn the Ferry, by Mary SheaDaylight, by Mary SheaPoppies – Italy, by Mary Shea
Paintings
Self PortraitSunlight, by Mary SheaMy Parents at the Table, by Mary SheaTwilight Garden, by Mary Shea
This creative challenge is different from a lot of other challenges out there. Designed to foster a wide variety of artists, these prompts are aimed at an unusually wide variety of creative skills. I’ve categorized prompts by type, so you can enjoy the things that come naturally to you, and strengthen the things that don’t. …
My apologies for the silence this last week. We’ve been putting our new Spring schedule online, and finalizing the summer teen camp schedule. Spring classes and workshops for adults and teens are now open for registration. Summer Teen Camps will be posted February 15th. Whew! #? Throughout the month of January, artists posted over 1,270 …
Raphael Soyer (December 25, 1899 – November 4, 1987) was a Russian-born American painter, draftsman, and printmaker. He is identified as a Social Realist because of his interest in men and women viewed in contemporary settings which included the streets, subways, salons and artists’ studios of New York City. He also wrote several books on his life and art. He was adamant in his …
Chinese-American artist Jeffrey Cheung’s hairy and intertwined queer and trans figures gave me a lift today. Playful and positive, and sweet as ice cream ads, Cheung’s 2016 exhibition featured comfortable peach and pink figures in couplings, but with some minor adjustments to his palette and the numbers of figures, his recent paintings depict multicolored figures in sexually …
Mary Shea; Drawn to Color
This is a post about a new member of the Seattle Artist League: Mary Shea. I’m proud to say she’s set up to teach drawing with us this quarter. I wanted to share some of her work that so excited me.
I met Mary Shea in one of our online art class during the pandemic. We were taking Jonathan Harkham’s Transcriptions class, and I loved how she used color.
There was one project assignment in which Jonathan challenged us to take a figure from the Villa of Mysteries and put it into an interior by Bonnard.
Mary’s drawing is striking, with a beautiful sense of light and space and movement through the composition. It has a temporal feeling, as if it was just an extended second with us as guests at their table on a sunny day, the window open.
Mary’s two resulting paintings show a possible light and dark completion. While the green and red in the first painting vibrate brilliantly, the abstract and suggestive nature in the second, the lighter of the paintings puts my mind into a more active dream-like state.
Below is a selection of some of Mary Shea’s other works. Look how she plays with light and color. If you find the work interesting, consider taking her drawing class. Basic Drawing starts April 13.
Drawings
Paintings
Mary Shea’s Bio
Register for Basic Drawing, beginning April 13
mary-shea.com
IG: marysheaseattle
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My apologies for the silence this last week. We’ve been putting our new Spring schedule online, and finalizing the summer teen camp schedule. Spring classes and workshops for adults and teens are now open for registration. Summer Teen Camps will be posted February 15th. Whew! #? Throughout the month of January, artists posted over 1,270 …
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