MRainy Day, 20 x 16 inches, acrylic on canvas.
ARET typically focuses on one painting at a time. This allows her
to move quickly — she’s been dubbed a “speed painter” by many
friends — while still enabling her to revisit finished pieces with
the perspective of some time and distance. Her pieces recall both
impressionistic and expressionistic styles in their attention to variation
in light and color and their palpable, relatable emotion.
This unique combination of features is motivated by an interest in design.
“My work is differentiated by color and design elements,” she says. “It blends realism
with abstraction and a little bit of impressionism — some people even call it expressionistic.
I do have a little bit more of a linear style than typical plein air. My work started off
like that once I started using acrylics; it’s always been my style and I can’t really tell you
why. I do really love the design elements and switching the components around to read
better as a whole.”
Maret hopes that others will enjoy her work in some way, but she doesn’t necessarily
think about cultivating an audience as a big part of her creative process.
“I hope they get the same feelings that I do from it, but I don’t think that’s necessarily
what does or should happen,” she says. “I don’t really think about it that way; I’ll never
know what others think. I think of it as trying to reveal what others are not able to see.”
Big and small, Maret’s paintings reveal something about the everyday that we may not
otherwise notice or appreciate — a subtle gesture of trust and affection between friends,
the special bond between siblings, a picturesque scene created by an inconvenient
storm. Maret’s compositions are unique in their appearance, but evocative of universal
and moving themes.
Wendy Laursen
MA, LPC, LCAS-A
(910) 251-7789
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WBM july 2018