Mary Chandler
As an illustrator and designer, I’ve learned the importance of composition and telling a story. As a painter, I’ve found watercolor to be a wonderful medium to explore. By flowing colors into color, layering and glazing, one can create an allusive interplay of light and shadow and distance.
I find inspiration in the coastal landscape, where proximity to the shoreline creates an atmospheric setting. My eye looks for the harmony of light as it falls across the structural edges of architecture creating a contrasting effect against the rambling wild textures of the surrounding fields and marshes. I aspire to paint those moments where I have stopped, observed and listened to my surroundings, felt the warm sunlight on a quiet road or the foggy mist move across the trees.
In 2022 I was selected as one of the artists for a residency program to create paintings for the interior renovation of the White Elephant Hotel on Nantucket. I was commissioned to create a series of 9 watercolors to represent the floral names of the Cottages. The residency allowed me time to explore the special places I know and love about Nantucket, looking for floral landscapes indigenous to the island. The original paintings were then created into a series of limited print editions to be displayed in the rooms and available for purchase through the hotel gallery. The residency was a tremendous experience of creative exploration and expression.
Memberships
Copley Society of Art | Juried Artist Member
Rockport Art Association & Museum | Juried Member
Artist Association of Nantucket | Juried Member
American Artist Professional League | Elected Member
American Watercolor Society | Associate Member
New England Watercolor Society | Associate Member
Connecticut Women Artists | Juried Member