Mary Chandler, a watercolorist based in New England, was born in Eugene, Oregon in 1953. Mary moved from the midwest to coastal Connecticut where she attended Paier College of Art in New Haven to study illustration and fine art with a focus on traditional realism. At Paier Mary took classes in portraiture with Deane Keller and trompe l'oeil painting with Ken Davies. Her biggest influences were, and still are, Winslow Homer, Andrew Wyeth, John Singer Sargent, and Edward Hopper.
Inspired by Nantucket's beautiful light and historic architecture, Mary decided to pursue a career in painting. From 1989 to 2002, she exhibited and was represented by a series of Island galleries that included Sun Gallery, Main Street Gallery, and Robert Wilson Gallery.
In 2000 Mary was commissioned by Island Resorts to create an watercolor rendering of the renovation of the White Elephant hotel. Working from architectural and landscape design plans, Mary created a painting depicting a view of the new hotel as it would look from the harbor. The original painting remains on display in the hotel lobby.
In conjunction with her painting career Mary worked as an Art Director and Design Project Manager for educational books publishers including Oxford University Press NY, Scholastic, and Curriculum Associates. She recently retired to pursue painting full time.
In 2022 Mary's earlier painting of the hotel was recognized by the owners of the White Elephant and their art consultant who was looking to establish an artist residency program in conjunction with the renovation of the hotel interior. Mary was selected as one of the artists and commissioned to create a series of 9 watercolors along with limited print editions of the work to be displayed in the rooms and available for collectors.
Mary is an award winning member of the New England Watercolor Society and American Artist Professional League, as well as a member of the Copley Society of Boston and Rockport Artist Association & Museum. You can see more of Mary's work at www.chandlerstudio.com, or follow her on
instagram.com/chandlerstudio
StateCT
