Mary Ann
Salomone

After a long career in the Garment Industry designing prints for children's clothing, drawing teddybears every day, the flavor of my fine art tends to lean toward fantasy. My retirement allowed me the time and space to explore painting, pastel drawings and illustration all from the imaginative images in my mind. It felt like quite a natural transition. My work life was mostly a drawing affair and illustration with Colored Pencil was where I started to express. It took about a year of experimenting to figure out where to go with my new found freedom. I really love pastels because, to me, they provide the joy of drawing with color. So I often fall back into my comfort zone and play with pastels. At first, I was intimadated by that little wiggly bunch of hairs on the end of a stick so painting was a challenge to approach, but once I did, I was hooked. There is something special about painting. The lusciousness of paint offers a very tactile experience and smoothing color into color and creating shape and form is almost sensual. Somehow, when painting I feel a connection to all the painters that have ever been. There is a lineage to the act of putting paint to canvas. It feels very timeless. I always listen to opera when painting and imagine myself in a rooftop apartment in Paris. Call me a romantic, because I am one. But, my work strays far from the works of old. My subject matter will alway take a turn to the surreal. It feels comfortable to me. I like the idea of taking my viewer out of their own reality into someplace different. Inspiration can come from anywhere so my eyes are always open, a lovely way to live. It is a funny thing, and I think most artists will tell this, but once you start a piece it takes on a life of its own and all you can do is follow your heart and the muse within. It is always an adventure. So I invite you to come along with me on the wings of a dove and over the rainbow. It will always be fun, I assure you!