Artist Spotlight – Mary Anne Shafer

By Yvonne Wright • The Current Contributing Writer

The profound influence that parents have on the psychological development of their children cannot be overstated, especially observable during the early stages of children’s growth, when an intuitive awareness of the world around them progresses into an ability to understand its various complexities.

An artistically imaginative parent can stir in a child a true love for art that not only lasts past puberty, but informs such a person’s future destiny – in other words, becoming a professional artist rarely happens accidentally… but rather, it is often a glorious legacy of an imaginative parenting that creatively stimulated a child.

The Lehighton born painter, Mary Anne Shafer had the privilege and good fortune to grow up with an artistically inclined father, in a home atmosphere encompassing a genuine appreciation of art. Mary Anne’s father’s love of drawing and woodworking inadvertently affected the curious child’s future.

An eager observer of her father’s projects, Mary Anne’s creative sensibilities began to be shaped under her father’s guidance, subsequently affecting her career choices. The artist warmheartedly credits her father with instilling in her the discipline of careful observation, analytical thinking and an appreciation and respect for everyday life.

Eventually, Mary Anne pursued the arcana of fine arts in a professional way, taking up classes under two prominent Pennsylvania artists: a wood sculptor and furniture maker, Tom Sternal (at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA), and a realist painter, Myron R. Barnstone (at the Barnstone Studios in Coplay, PA) – both respectable art teachers who emphasized strongly the fundamentals of drawing, colour theory and composition along with the ethics of studious art practice and commitment.

The large body of works that Mary Anne has produced over the years has enabled her to blossom into a highly skilled and wonderfully perceptive realist painter. Furthermore, the artist’s extensive training in art has enabled her to successfully incorporate some of the aesthetic principles into her professional teaching practice – informing and invigorating the Language Arts classes she taught for thirty five years at the middle school level.

Upon retiring, Shafer was finally able to commit herself entirely to her first love – painting – now working primarily in oil and pastel mediums, and depicting “life’s simple times” as she calls it, hinting at Andrew Wyeth, considered one of Pennsylvania’s greatest artists, whom she most admires. Andrew Wyeth’s “ability to incorporate the utmost importance of light and shadow to create drama in otherwise ordinary scenes” always inspired the artist.

A keen learner, Mary Anne has been continuously refining her skills, never satisfied, always analytical and at times taking up more art classes with artists she respects. Under the tutelage of Jay Davenport, a nationally known painter of high realism, Mary Anne has mastered the magic of trample l’oeil – making this ‘fooling-of-the-eye’ style her own milieu. Her mediums of choice are usually charcoal, pastels and oils, which the artist uses with high proficiency.

The Dragon Shadow still life painting is her favourite work. 8” high and 10” long, it is executed meticulously in oil on canvas, with delicate brush strokes and confident layers of glazing. The painting’s highly realistic style narrates the charm of rural life and nature in particular, inspiring in the viewer a sort of quiet contemplation for the subtle beauty of ordinary things like pumpkins.

Indirectly, the painting’s genre gives praise to the activities associated with growing and harvesting the land. Painted as if they were precious objects, four pumpkins in various sizes are carefully positioned on a smooth-surfaced wooden ledge. Their skin pigmentations vary from light beige, greenish-yellow to deep-orange, giving the impression of glowing in the afternoon sun, while bulbuls bellies distinguishably gridded by ribs and shallow ridges define 3-dimensional space.

The pumpkins’ porous textures differentiate masterfully from one another, rendered lovingly as if harvested fresh. But suddenly, as our eyes adjust to the contrasting effects of light and shadow, we notice that one of the pumpkin’s stems casts an ominous, dragon-like shadow onto another. The darkly aggressive shape of a ‘monster’  juxtaposed against a deeply orange tint, invokes an unsettling notion of flames, teasing the senses with an imminent dread.

Many artists have been inspired by the pumpkin’s unusual textures and colours. Originally called large melons, or pumpion, these humble fruits popularly called vegetables are believed to have originated in North and Central America, and were introduced to early American settlers by the Native Peoples, saving them from starvation.

I encourage wholeheartedly to visit Shafer’s website: mashaferfineart.com, to fully appreciate her many extraordinary works executed in a variety of mediums.

The artist has enjoyed a rewarding career dotted with prestigious awards. She is a member of the Carbon County Art League, and has participated in numerous art exhibitions in Pennsylvania, Arizona and Texas: including the C. Leslie Smith Gallery in Allentown, PA; the Green Leaf Gallery in Beaver Meadows, PA; the Scottsdale Fine Art Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ; and the Galerie Koryne West, Fort Worth, TX, to list but few. The artist’s professional determination and genuine love of art assures Mary Anne Shafer’s long and successful career in the future. Her dad would be proud.

Yvonne Wright is the owner of STUDIO YNW at 100 West Broadway in Jim Thorpe.

She can be reached at studio.ynw@gmail.com

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