Mary Jo McGillivray

Landscape oil painter

I moved to Colorado over seventeen years ago, after earning a B.S. Degree in Art Education from the University of Minnesota and teaching art in Wisconsin  for fifteen years.   I had never painted a mountain before or even explored plein aire (painting outdoors).  Joining a Plein Aire Painting group immediately changed all of that and I began working in the Rocky Mountain National Park painting small oil studies.  During the winter months I would select my favorite canvass studies and enlarge them from  8”x10” to 24” x 30” size.

All paintings have an underpainting, almost completely done in the complementary colors.   First paintings look wild.  I put on about  3-4 layers of colorful underpainting with brush sketches between color layers, in a dark color ( to keep my subject clear to me)  then the 4-5 layers of color creating the final true color.  I use a lot of paint on the canvas, layering the brush strokes and building.   When I am finished the landscapes sparkle with  little glimpses of underpainting that has been purposely left exposed. 

My style is loose (or I try hard to be loose)- the paintings look very painterly.

I'm not interested in art fairs or big city galleries....
I'm not interested in deadlines and having to produce work for a gallery...
I enjoy the Art Center Gallery of Estes Park because there are no demands on me….
I can bring in paintings I’ve done whenever I want.
I sell about one a month, and that keeps me happy.

If any artist in the area is interested in painting outdoors with our group, they are welcome.
  Just contact the  EP Art Center and they will help .