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Dona Mara is a painter with a 45 year continued exploration in two dimensional space and surface. Her paintings are infused with an abstracted vision of nature and an individual field of color, line and texture, influenced by her personal connection to her surroundings. She exhibits regularity in the regional Northeast and is included in numerous private collections throughout the U.S. She is a member of New England Wax which curates juried exhibitions composed of artists who incorporate encaustic in their work. “Breaking New Ground, Making Great Art” Elayne Clift, in Vermont Magazine included Mara as one of eight VT Women artists who shared innovative work grounded in a love of nature, respect for life cycles and joy of creation. “Visible World, Refracted through Inner Life” Telly Halkias, Hill Country Observer, 11/17 “This is the world of the creative and the mind's eye, one that the Rupert artist Dona Mara believes has always flourished inside her.” “My paintings are dealing with planes of space that convey implied places of interest, beauty and wonder. Often a painting begins as I glimpse a particular textural field through a screened or rainy window. With connection to my surroundings I paint a memory that stays with me. My recent work was first influenced by the isolation in the covid years. I became more aware of my immediate surroundings. Walking the trails in my neck of the woods, old, abandoned barns speak of a past and highly productive time. Built by hand with wood, cut from the immediate area, they often contain individual architectural features that have been prized by designers. I see them as cathedrals for utilitarian purposes, “American Icons” which keep my relationship with history alive. With repeated use of barns as a taking off point I began to see them as pure elements- squares, triangles, lines with the colors of the angles playing off one another. This led to a synthesis of representation and abstraction which I am still working with." Dona Mara 2024
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