“I am most inspired by seeing light falling over everyday objects and surfaces. A hazy morning can send me back to my grandmother’s backyard when I was four. I want my viewer to share that sense of the familiar, as if she or he has seen or felt a similar light, location or mood at some earlier time. Painting outdoors on location (‘en plein air’) lets me try to capture those elusive qualities of atmosphere, luminosity and shadow. While I subscribe to the Impressionists’ theory that what we see in nature is not form, but rather light on form, I believe that paintings need to convey shadow and mood as well.”
Mary Lou Epperson grew up in a working class suburb of San Francisco and was taught drawing by her father, who was a figure and wildlife painter. She studied painting at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, and has studied painting with John Budicin, Ken Auster, John David Phillips, Kim English and others. She now lives in Washington County, Oregon, minutes from the farms, rivers and vineyards that are the subjects of many of her works.
She works primarily in oil because of its texture, vibrant color, and ability to suggest both transparency and opacity. Her paintings are executed on canvas, linen or gessoed panel. She uses her plein air paintings as both finished work and as source material for larger paintings that are conceived and completed in her studio.
She has won numerous awards for her studio and location work, and her paintings hang in private and corporate collections across the U.S. and Western Canada. She teaches studio and plein air painting classes and workshops.
Recent Exhibitions and Events (Selected)
September 2008, Oil Painters of America Western Regional Exhibition, Coeur d'Alene ID
June 2007, Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts Oregon Chronicles Exhibition, Lake Oswego OR
June 2006, Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts, Juror’s Award, Lake Oswego OR
June 2006, Portland Arts Festival, 1st Place Award, Painting Category
September 2005, Best of Show Award, Jackson Hole Paintout, Western Plein Air Artists Association, Jackson Hole, WY
July 2005, Artist Award, Quality of Work/Creative Presentation, Salem Art Festival
March 2005, Featured Artist, Caswell Gallery, Troutdale OR
August 2004, 1st Place Judge’s Award & Artists’ Choice, “Paint the Gorge” Plein Air Art Competition & Exhibit, Caswell Gallery, Troutdale OR
July 2004, 2nd Place Award, Tualatin Art Splash, Tualatin OR
July 2003, Best of Show Award, Tualatin Art Splash, Tualatin OR
July 2002, Honorable Mention Award, Tualatin Art Splash, Tualatin OR
December 2001, Award of Merit, Northwest Pastel Society Members Exhibit, Edmonds WA
November 2001, 20th Annual National Exhibition, Pastel Society of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM
