About Connie Mae
I create oil paintings that celebrate my love of nature, transporting the viewer into the scene. I paint both en plein air and in my studio using my own photographs for reference. I paint in a realist style utilizing light, shadow, and color. While I enjoy discovering details that give a sense of realism, I also focus on creating the feeling or the spirit that I sense in each place. After my classical art training in college, I followed up by taking courses in painting in the style of the old masters. These courses and studying on my own have influenced my technique of beginning with an underpainting and building on that with color and transparent color glazes.
I am most inspired when I am in nature and have been through many difficult times including great loss and have found that, along with my faith, being in nature restored my soul with strength and hope. My passion is to bring a spark of peace and joy to others through beauty, which can be found anywhere, even a flower growing through a sidewalk crack, and I aim to encourage others to stop and take it in, if just for a moment.
Artist History
Award winning artist Connie Mae grew up hiking and camping with her family, developing an ever-increasing love of nature. Never without a pencil or paintbrush, she drew and painted from her experiences throughout her life. Connie’s paintings celebrate her love of nature transporting the viewer in to experience the peace that nature offers. She paints in a realistic style capturing light, shadow, and color in a manner that unites the spirit or feeling she senses in each place with the joy she finds in observing each detail.
Connie majored in fine art at Spring Arbor University with a concentration in oil painting, received additional education at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, and has studied under renowned artists including Lorenzo Chavez, Derek James, and Katriel Srebnik. Her studies have led her to paint en plein air and also to use photos for reference when painting in her studio. After studying the old masters, her technique generally begins with an underpainting, then builds with color and glazes.
During her earlier adult years, Connie's artistic attention was devoted to teaching art classes to middle and high school students. Since moving to West Virginia in 2012, she enjoys the state’s wild and wonderful outdoors, and her art celebrates the beauty she finds. Her artwork has won many awards, appeared in several exhibitions including juried, solo, and group shows, and has been purchased by several private collectors across the country. An active member of her community, she has served on her local council for the arts, created public art, and contributes to educational art programs. Professional memberships include Tamarack: The Best of WV and Allied Artists of WV.
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