Mary Schaefer has lived in Arizona since 1935. In 1950, she graduated from Arizona State University and married Art Schaefer. Her husband's career in mining engineering gave her an opportunity to travel. In 1975, Art was promoted to the position of safety director in North and South America, and, for the next 15 years, the couple traveled to 200 mines staying in each location for six months of each year. This experience provided Mary with the chance to experience great scenic vistas. Always involved in art as an avocation, Mary seriously began to paint in 1990 when they returned to Tucson.
Mary is recognized by her love of color and sunlight that dominates her paintings. The pureness of color lends a radiance and luminosity where sunlight plays. Deep shadows tend to strengthen and enhance the light that washes upon the gardens. Her strong affinity for color and a passion for flowers lead her to paint gardens that move one emotionally through intimate landscapes creating a sense of peace. An avid gardener, she uses her own gardens as a source of inspiration for her color palettes and shape. "I never exactly recreate any flower," says Mary. "I'm portraying the pleasure, the peace, the happiness of a garden. I'm not doing botanical drawings."
She paints on oil-primed Belgian linen and uses underpainting, the technique of layering paint before adding colored glazes, to give great depth to her work. She believes her work is always changing -- impressionistic, as well as realistic. Her love for music and dance is evident in the rhythm and fluidity of her paintings. She portrays life and forms of landscapes and architecture from European countries as well as from her favorite areas of northern New Mexico, central Mexico and coastal California.
Mary's work is collected by many in the corporate world as well as private collections including President and Mrs. Bush and Congressman Jim Kolbe. She has been a member of the American Academy of Women Artists, a board member of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Arizona and is currently a member of the Oil Painters of America and a signature member of the Knickerbocker Artists Association.
Mary has written and published a book, "The Life That Gave Me Art", which contains 131 full color reproductions of her oil paintings along with some of her biography and philosophy -- a testament to the inspirations and adventures that have inspired her work.
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