I'm an artist and a mother, on a journey to create.
Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Mary Landavere’s life story weaves together her desires to both help people holistically and use her creative gifts to paint works that resonate with the viewer.
Mary was introduced to oil painting in the third grade when her mother observed Mary’s strong interest in art. Weekly lessons provided a structured, guided environment where she learned to apply and hone her gift. Exercises in still-life, landscape, and portraiture painting allowed Mary to develop her skills of observation while absorbing the techniques of paint application.
As a young adult, after the loss of her father, Mary recognized that suffering was a shared experience that draws all of humanity together. This realization molded her understanding of the world, and she felt drawn to those who were less fortunate than herself. Wanting to make a difference in the lives of others, she lived and worked for eighteen months among the West Indies’ poor.
Upon return, Mary gained skills that would help her influence people holistically; she earned a degree in social work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Realizing that she felt confined by the regular nine-to-five grind, Mary took from social work her desire to help people, and tied that to her creativity, spending the bulk of her career as a professional decorative painter. In 2000, Mary had an opportunity to study and work as an apprentice with Nancy Pascale, an instructor at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Since then, her decorative finishes have been showcased in The Baltimore Sun, Home and Design magazine, multiple decorators’ show houses, the Baltimore City State Attorney’s Child and Family Protection offices, Gaines McHale, Pure Wine Cafe, Bus Boys and Poets and many residential and commercial locations throughout the Baltimore, Annapolis, and Washington D.C. region.
Since then, Mary’s artistic direction has grown as she has embraced a desire for atmospheric work that connects with the person looking at the artwork. In each of her paintings, many of the techniques and media used in decorative painting—like the use of Venetian plaster, crackling, and antiquing—are seamlessly fused with her traditional training and inherent ability.
She says, “My paintings are each like individual children to me; children that I have created and cared for. As a parent the goal is to assist in development, so that one day the child may be released into the world.”
Mary was introduced to oil painting in the third grade when her mother observed Mary’s strong interest in art. Weekly lessons provided a structured, guided environment where she learned to apply and hone her gift. Exercises in still-life, landscape, and portraiture painting allowed Mary to develop her skills of observation while absorbing the techniques of paint application.
As a young adult, after the loss of her father, Mary recognized that suffering was a shared experience that draws all of humanity together. This realization molded her understanding of the world, and she felt drawn to those who were less fortunate than herself. Wanting to make a difference in the lives of others, she lived and worked for eighteen months among the West Indies’ poor.
Upon return, Mary gained skills that would help her influence people holistically; she earned a degree in social work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Realizing that she felt confined by the regular nine-to-five grind, Mary took from social work her desire to help people, and tied that to her creativity, spending the bulk of her career as a professional decorative painter. In 2000, Mary had an opportunity to study and work as an apprentice with Nancy Pascale, an instructor at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Since then, her decorative finishes have been showcased in The Baltimore Sun, Home and Design magazine, multiple decorators’ show houses, the Baltimore City State Attorney’s Child and Family Protection offices, Gaines McHale, Pure Wine Cafe, Bus Boys and Poets and many residential and commercial locations throughout the Baltimore, Annapolis, and Washington D.C. region.
Since then, Mary’s artistic direction has grown as she has embraced a desire for atmospheric work that connects with the person looking at the artwork. In each of her paintings, many of the techniques and media used in decorative painting—like the use of Venetian plaster, crackling, and antiquing—are seamlessly fused with her traditional training and inherent ability.
She says, “My paintings are each like individual children to me; children that I have created and cared for. As a parent the goal is to assist in development, so that one day the child may be released into the world.”
