Mandy Main
Rancho Mirage, California
Artist Mandy Main captures nature's beauty through her panoramic vistas. "My works are a spiritual outpouring, a reflection of my inner being," says Mandy. After earning her bachelor's degree in art in the late 1970s and her master's in the 1980s, she initially struggled to connect with the market's focus on edgy and conceptual styles. It wasn’t until the 1990s, when landscape compositions became popular again, that she began selling her work. By 2003, she had transitioned to a full-time artistic career and became an art historian. Mandy paints in a small, converted studio in her rental property, adorned with an oriental carpet. In her spare time, she loves traveling, exploring museums and gardens, and cooking—particularly Thai cuisine, a skill honed from living in Thailand for 18 months and visiting nearly 30 times.
Artist Statement
My paintings are informed by nature and capture a sense of place, but I take great license in interpreting what is actually seen.
I love panoramic vistas and a sense of depth and movement and I push these elements to draw the viewer into the painting.
The fleeting nature of light and clouds become dramatic subjects in my work. I use a subdued palette of warm colors, applied in layers of glazes to achieve a luminous effect. I work on six paintings at a time, usually working on two per day with two days of drying time between layers. Before I begin a series of paintings I envision where they will ultimately take me. I paint in silence and in total concentration. The paintings are with me constantly, I even work on them while sleeping. I am continually coming up with ideas of what I want to say about nature and the world and I never want to stop painting, I have to keep expressing these ideas. In this way, the paintings are a spiritual outpouring. A part of my inner being is woven into every painting I create.
I love panoramic vistas and a sense of depth and movement and I push these elements to draw the viewer into the painting.
The fleeting nature of light and clouds become dramatic subjects in my work. I use a subdued palette of warm colors, applied in layers of glazes to achieve a luminous effect. I work on six paintings at a time, usually working on two per day with two days of drying time between layers. Before I begin a series of paintings I envision where they will ultimately take me. I paint in silence and in total concentration. The paintings are with me constantly, I even work on them while sleeping. I am continually coming up with ideas of what I want to say about nature and the world and I never want to stop painting, I have to keep expressing these ideas. In this way, the paintings are a spiritual outpouring. A part of my inner being is woven into every painting I create.
Artist Background
University of California, Los Angeles
Master of Arts, 1980
Stanford University
Bachelor of Arts, 1977