Mara Light
There are countless genres of art out there in the world; Neo-Primitive, Post-Raphaelite, Subterranean Medieval Gouache...well, maybe not that last one. I like to whittle it down to old art and new art with the dividing line somewhere in the early 1900's. It's painfully inaccurate for most art historians but they have too much time on their hands, so to heck with them. The old art/new art thing has been a comfortable illusion for me to live in because "...ne'er the two shall meet." Then along came Mara Light and she became my exception to the rule.
To me, viewing Mara's work is like looking at a ghost from the Renaissance or Romantic Age. It has all the detail and skill of a beautifully intricate portrait but it is masked and layered with elements from the most modern art we have today. The old and the new DID meet and it wound up in Mara's wonderful oil paintings. She has the ability to combine human frailty with elements of a formidable natural world. Through the addition of some collage, she keeps layering paint and other materials until the it becomes a well-balanced portrait that perfectly merges the aforementioned old world style with new art techniques. Imagine if Titian and Bob Rauschenberg collaborated on a project together. It might sound like I'm a bit loony, but that's what I think of when I see Mara's work.
Mara grew up in SoCal where she was encouraged and sometimes prodded to paint by her artistic parents. They helped her stretch her imagination and hone her skills as an artist. She would later attend The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena where she received a BFA. Life, as it can be, led her to a job where photo realistic painting was required. While she learned a lot doing that, when she left, she had to unlearn all of it so she could paint what her mind and soul needed to get out. The work below is that magnificent effort. You can see more of her work at her website maralightfineart.com and on her Saatchi Art page at www.saatchiart.com. You may notice that quite a few of her works have been marked as SOLD. Of course they are! Everyone who has one of her works is pretty lucky to have such an artist hanging on their wall. I hope you enjoy her work as much as I do.
To me, viewing Mara's work is like looking at a ghost from the Renaissance or Romantic Age. It has all the detail and skill of a beautifully intricate portrait but it is masked and layered with elements from the most modern art we have today. The old and the new DID meet and it wound up in Mara's wonderful oil paintings. She has the ability to combine human frailty with elements of a formidable natural world. Through the addition of some collage, she keeps layering paint and other materials until the it becomes a well-balanced portrait that perfectly merges the aforementioned old world style with new art techniques. Imagine if Titian and Bob Rauschenberg collaborated on a project together. It might sound like I'm a bit loony, but that's what I think of when I see Mara's work.
Mara grew up in SoCal where she was encouraged and sometimes prodded to paint by her artistic parents. They helped her stretch her imagination and hone her skills as an artist. She would later attend The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena where she received a BFA. Life, as it can be, led her to a job where photo realistic painting was required. While she learned a lot doing that, when she left, she had to unlearn all of it so she could paint what her mind and soul needed to get out. The work below is that magnificent effort. You can see more of her work at her website maralightfineart.com and on her Saatchi Art page at www.saatchiart.com. You may notice that quite a few of her works have been marked as SOLD. Of course they are! Everyone who has one of her works is pretty lucky to have such an artist hanging on their wall. I hope you enjoy her work as much as I do.
Mara in her work space.
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