Mary Joette Vannice paints in pastels and watercolor. She was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota, in 1954. Joette is primarily self-taught, but Jay Fenwick, a gifted artist and founder of the Albert Lea Art Center, was an early childhood mentor. After Joette moved to southern Oregon, she took a workshop from Eugene Bennett, briefly studied drawing and painting with Gabriel Lipper, and studied mandala painting from nationally-known GIM authority Carol Bush. Joette has been included in group exhibitions at the Rogue Art Gallery, and she placed second in a Southern Oregon Society of Artists critique. She currently lives in Phoenix, Oregon.

I work with pastels most of the time, applying the colors to paper, then shaping them with my fingers. I used to sculpt a lot, and working the pastels with my hands reminds me of using my sculpting tools. I feel as if I’m sculpting color. Pastels also enable me to begin working with virtually no preparation, allowing me to be free and spontaneous. I add pencil for energy and I use an eraser for motion, depth, and texturing color.

I often begin with the color blue, which is the color I saw in my near-death experience. Blue feels loving and calm to me. Otherwise, my color choice is mostly spontaneous. Color reflects what’s going on within me that wants to be expressed. Color leads the way. I don’t always know what I’m going to paint before I begin. Usually, I begin painting and let things happen as my subconscious gives me symbols.

My goals are: to sense the infinite, to keep evolving and moving, and to experience a fabric of love and compassion. My inner and outer realities merge in order for me to feel more of life, to allow life to move through me.