Mary Elizabeth Tilley

I love the way paint can transform a canvas into something beautiful. I've been creating as long as I can remember. My recent passion was to try my hand at oil painting. Why not? The vibrant colors and even the muted ones spoke to me in a language I was familiar with; I finally found my niche! Acrylics did not give me that magical sense of realism that oil does; they also tend to dry quickly and interrupt my creative process. I love watercolor and I adore Pen and Ink too; however, oil painting continues to be my primary medium.

I'm currently in love with the tonalist style which is associated with the French Barbizon movement; I would say that my greatest influences are John Singer Sargeant, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, and Ralph Albert Blakelock especially because, like me, he too was self taught.