Artist Spotlight: Mary Powell

Group of Three

The first time I met Mary Powell, I felt instantly drawn to her. We had both been in Peace Corps Africa, lived on Bainbridge Island, were drawn to the outdoors, and both had a passion for art. I was captivated as she shared her story.

Somehow, Mary Powell always knew that she wanted to be an artist. She received a degree in Fine Art from Berkeley in the 60s, focusing on Abstract Impressionism. She illustrated text books for the Ministry of Education as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia in 1964, which inspired her to study illustration at Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. She also studied painting in Mexico at San Miguel De Allende. Yet it wasn’t until she became a student of Russian Impressionist Ron Lukas that she realized she was destined to be an impressionist painter.

Powell was born in Visalia, California. She and her family moved to Bainbridge Island in 1973 where she owned an art gallery as well as a preschool, and subsequently taught high school art. She moved to the Methow Valley in 1998. Now, Powell spends time capturing views that she sees throughout the Valley.

Mary Powell’s work will be displayed in the Confluence’s upcoming exhibit: Interpreting The Methow, Plein Aire To Studio. The exhibit will run from June 8 until July 27. The opening will be held on Saturday, June 8, from 4-8pm.

Interpreting the Methow, Plein Aire to Studio

June 8 - July 27
Opening Reception June 8, 4-8pm

Rod Weagant, Barn Study

Plein air, a French word, literally translates as 'open air', and is defined as art created outside in the open air. The term is largely associated with the Impressionist artists of the late 1800s, a time when artists began to come out of their studios into the open air to create art, to paint real people doing real, everyday things, and real landscapes. Impressionist artists were particularly interested in the influence that the natural changing light had on color.

Rod Weagant, Barn Final

Plein air artists attempt to capture an immediate impression of what the eye sees, rather than what the viewer knows or feels about the work. They study how light transforms subjects in different weather and at different times of the day. They prefer to work outdoors in natural light, and often their art incorporates brilliant colors that shimmer in their intensity.

Interpreting the Methow, Plein Aire to Studio is an exhibit of works created on-site in the Methow Valley. Artists will display their final works alongside original studies created in the field. Exhibit artists include Wally Bivins, Rod Weagant, Mary Powell, Rich Davis, Charlene Monger, Sue Marracci, Robert Nelson, Michael Caldwell, Caryl Campbell, Ed Maher, Kathy Meyers, Suzanne Powers, Donna Keyser, Nora Eggers, Paula Christen, Patty Yates, Gene Barkley, Robin Nelson Wicks, and Becky La Verne.

Wally Bivins, Horse 2

During the course of the exhibit, Confluence offers Live Clay, a demonstration workshop with renowned ceramic sculptor Wally Bivins. Workshop participants will examine the manner in which a dialog with the material can be a path to originality and “owning” the work. Wally will demonstrate working with thrown and hand built parts and discuss discoveries made when returning to a form over time, and incorporating those discoveries into one’s work. A reception and slide lecture with Wally Bivins will be held Friday June 21 at Confluence Gallery and Art Center, 7-9pm. Cost for the workshop is $85.

Confluence Gallery hosts an opening reception for the artists on the evening of the spring Twisp Art Walk, Saturday, June 8 from 4-8 pm. The exhibit runs through July 27.