Mary Beth Barrett

Lily

Oil on Canvas

16 x 20 x .88", framed to 19.12 x 23.12 x .63"

$1,200

This little cutie pie was at a neighborhood event running around with all the other kids. Her joy for life was contagious. I loved working on capturing that smirk of a challenge in her eyes and those curls! She was a ball to paint.

Artist's Statement: 

I am fascinated with the illusion of three dimensionality on a two dimensional surface. Creating depth, texture and the illusion of reality is magical to me. I want the viewer to feel that they can pick up the objects, touch the faces, feel the breeze. I love the challenge of creating those tactile impressions. My years as a dancer/choreographer working in a three dimensional, rectangular space and creating impermanent work have led me to seek its opposite. But the irony is that what I create with paint on a flat surface feels more spacious than the works I created on stage. That tension between reality and illusion, dimensionality of space and making the impermanent permanent is what motivates all my work today.