About Me
Landscape Painting, through my eyes.
I observe leaves, colors, movement and textures and step into the energy of universe.
I observe and envision the essence of nature using color, movement and composition.
Art is a tool to understand the outside world.
Creating art is like a tornado it grips your interest using color, movement, flow and energy to inspire a composition.
Artistic Statement
Mara Berman was born in Washington DC in 1960. She studied fine art at the Maryland College of Art and Design, Graduated with an AA in 1982, Then she finished up with a B.A. In Fine Arts from the Univ. of Maryland, in 1985. Mara started painting in 1964. The creative genes came through at an early age. Her mother was an artist and her father is a musician. Artistic composition and creative expression became one her life paths. Another life path involves psychic development, palmistry, light meditations using twelve dimensional rings, and emotional healing.
Mara went to the library and looked at many different styles of arts. She was first attracted to abstract expressionism, then impressionism, and realism. The emotional appeal of abstract expressionism combined with color was an way to express the inner self to the outside world. The study of impressionism and plein air painting, combined the observation of nature, sunsets, leaves, textures, flowers, and plants, and the world around her led to landscape painting.
She works at events, as a psychic, reading tarot card, and palms, she also does face painting at parties. Her other interests are, aura reading, meditating with twelve dimensional rings, figuring out solutions to problems and putting people together like puzzles, earring designs, and sewing.
What Inspires You
Sunsets with expanding color
Mountains the promote the energy connection to the universe
Flowers color and variety of shape
Leaves texture and movement
Healing energy of nature
Energetic flow of the universe
My Art Story
My Creative Start
- The Journey of My Artistic Growth
Phase One: - In the beginning I believe artistic expression has always been my destiny. At four years of age I remember having access to a box of pastels. As they lay there before my eyes they called to to explore all the colors and textures. I found I could use them in shading, texture an sharp lines. I covered a whole sheet paper (18x24 inches) with color. My parents are creative, mother who is an artist had the gift for expression, analyzing problems, and composition. My father who is a musician had the gift for interpreting compositions. As a family we lived in atmosphere independent creativity. Spending time alone doing drawings was locked into the brain, and fun. My parents divorced when I was eight years old, I went further into myself.
- When I was fourteen, on a trip to the library and discovered big thick books filled with, color, artwork, drawing and paintings. I was especially inspired by Abstract Expressionists, with the creation of art filled with emotional expression. An act a raw emotional expression be created on a blank canvas creating a painting. The art of Franz Kline, Robert Raushenberg, and William Dekooning were my favorites.
- The ability to fill up a blank canvas from inside of yourself with no worries was invigorating to a lonely depressed young women. The expressive way of painting was the only way my inner emotional mind could be expressed to the outer world. I painted with abandon and ease of expression.
Phase Two: - The analytical mind springs forth I uncovered my hidden skill of composition, flow, movement, and use of color. Learning and analyzing artwork was like a lost gift being discovered in my brain. I could think through a composition, test out a color combinations, and to make changes to create a unified painting. I learned to analyze and figure out what did not work and what looked good and how to build a better compositions of artwork. Underneath frustration, depression and anger was my ability to think through and analyze problems and make changes. I also used these same skills to step through depression and figure out the problems of my life. I studied with artist and teacher, Oscar Chelimsky.
Phase Three: - Mulling and thinking the gift of composition I collected bits of fabric from my sewing, broken plates from thrift stores, and textured mulberry paper. Experimenting with everyday items began a series of artistic designs that combined, patterns, movement and texture. I like putting together bits and pieces of vibrantly fragmented colored objects into a balanced composition. Mixing color, bold edges, made the artwork unique from everyday life. Putting together fragments on a blank kanvas is the way to intellectually amuse the mind with composition.
Phase Four: - The inside mind combines with with outside world Looking out the window and observing leaves, textures and movement thinking about new ways to paint compositions is a goal of landscape painting. Color in nature is the spark of the mind, through flowers, sunsets and trees. With landscape painting the outside world is coming into my life. I am making sense out of color, texture, and movement. I translate the energy or the environment into a composition. Artwork is like a tornado it grabs the viewers mind transforming the world into something that captures your imagination.