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Secret Chambers of Magic
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2017/05 - May
We all have secret chambers of magic in our souls.
For four decades fine artist Pauline Marr incubated hers, never even knowing its existence. Then, without warning she had an epiphany, a makeover on a molecular level. She was transformed from a strict representational artist to what she calls an abstract-impressionist-realist.
“I woke up one morning, went to my easel, and everything changed,” she says. “A huge part of my artistic persona shifted. I abandoned a five-color palette for a boundless one. Pieces kept getting larger and larger. The transformation happened faster than I had time to process it. It was amazing and terrifying.”
That was six years ago and now the new techniques, color choices, and mediums are imbedded in her psyche.
“I choose the colors I love for the day, working in acrylic and oil primarily,” she says. “I use various tools to paint with. Sometimes I use concrete trowels, cake decorating equipment, spatulas, pancake turners, things I find on the ground…whatever will move large amounts of paint quickly.
“I start pushing paint around the canvas. Once all paint is off the palette, I take a break. Typically when I come back I find the painting is complete. It is very much like a happening. I don’t limit myself in any way. I just start throwing color and let the painting direct me while the Muse takes over.”
The magic of her work is that up-close it looks abstract, a hodge-podge of color. A few steps away the painting becomes an impression of a landscape, soft-edged, misty. At a distance the piece gathers its realistic identity, images become well-defined, and the landscape is steeped in realism.
To learn more about Pauline and her work, read the Art League article in this Laurel issue. To commission a painting of your favorite landscape contact her at [email protected] or call her at (828) 230-3211. Who knows? The encounter might reveal a secret chamber in your own artistic soul.
