MOOSE MOUNTAIN PROVINCIAL PARK - Mary MacKenzie was the latest artist to display and sell their art at the Artist Colony in Moose Mountain Provincial Park.
MacKenzie’s art is mostly abstract and painted with acrylic. Her art is inspired by landscape as well as shapes and colours. She also loves drawing interiors and still-life.
Basically, she explained, “I get the impressions from the landscape, and … I just play with palettes and acrylics and mixed media till something comes out.”
MacKenzie has been doing art for a long time. She started out doing paint by number when she was young and branched out over time. She graduated from the College of Art and Design and spent most of her career doing commercial art and illustration while raising her kids.
It is only recently during COVID-19 that she has become involved in the abstract paintings displayed in the revolving cabin at the colony.
Although MacKenzie is not originally from the Kenosee Lake area, the MacKenzie family had been around for several decades at White Bear, since they had owned a cabin for many years. She explained that it was actually her brother who found the Artist Colony and got connected first. She joined him in 2019, and this year — since he was unable to make it — she ended up coming alone.
Thankfully, though, she had a full stock of paintings done during the last year and was able to fill the cabin with her latest designs.
Overall, MacKenzie’s favourite part about art is the way that it absorbs all of a person’s attention and allows them to express themselves.
“I think it’s the expression and being able to just get lost in it. When you start painting or you start drawing, it’s like you go to another world … I’ll be drawing and I’ll look up and I’ll go ‘Oh … that was fast,’ and then I’ll see that an hour and a half went by.”
To know more about Mary MacKenzie’s art, you can go to her Instagram page: @mary.mmac. She will also hopefully have a website up soon for people to check out her works.
