About the Artist

Mary Forbes

In 1980 Mary Forbes gave up High School English teaching to persue her passion for painting and drawing. Unfortunately her output was limited because of the onset of a severe debilitating illness. This illness, the exigencies of family life and the particular demands of a highly detailed style have meant that she has not been prolific and therefore unable to have a conventional career in the commercial gallery system. As a consequence of the limitations on the oeuvre, Mary has decided to keep the body of work as a whole, releasing limited edition prints of the originals.

Mary's style is inspired by the oil techniques of Renaissance painters. She works in successive layers of fine transparent paint. This method is painstaking but very satisfying. She is fascinated by the obsessiveness suggested by richly patterned objects such as oriental carpets and is inspired by the beauty of nature. From a realist starting point, perception is altered by elements such as intensified colours, metaphysical considerations and unexpected juxtapositions. Mary's work is committed to the image as a vehicle for symbolic suggestions. She explores the beautiful qualities of the oil paint itself on a foundation of realistic drawing. Her aim is to bring beauty, contemplation and reflection into the world through her art.

Mary is committed to animal welfare and the environment. She grew up in Sydney, lived in the Blue Mountains and now lives on a rural property near the ocean on the mid-north coast of NSW, with her husband, two horses, two cats and a tribe of wallabies.