Marguerite Takvorian-Holmes

"My field studies are faithful to the scenes that surround me. These sketches are the notes i use for my studio paintings. However, It is there that improvisation takes a central role, defining a visual concept which better renders the impression I received in nature. Although I try to be faithful to the images I represent and to nature’s harmonies, I often find myself simplifying and abandoning details and learned formulas that encumber the directness of the experience felt in nature to reach the essence of the vision that stroke me."

I came to this country in the mid 1970s and studied at the Art Student League for several years. I was introduced to the techniques of the old masters by Frank Mason and studied drawing with Robert Beverly Hale. Later, with Richard Poussette Dart, I was introduced to Abstract Expressionism, where I began searching for my inner vision. In the early 90′s I also studied photography at the International Center for Photography. Living in New York City at the time, I bridged my learning of Abstract Expressionism old masters technique, and photography to experiment with oils, acrylics, and photo- transfers in large abstract work often depicting landscapes. When I moved to Washington County, New York in 2000, I felt an overwhelming desire to go back to a more descriptive form of expression by studying nature and finding a way to translate my understanding of its harmonies . I took my French easel back into the fields and let nature guide my brushes.