With a love of detail and vivid color, I knew that I was at home from the first watercolor painting that I was assigned in high school art class. As a graduate-level chemist, I believe that my scientific background allows me to notice and replicate the fine detail in everyday objects. With a focus on still life and flowers in particular, I often use a technique where I leave and come back to paintings frequently, allowing specific sections of the painting to fully dry to allow for highly defined detailing. Some of my most prized paintings were completed over a period of years. As an artist, I feel that I have created a stylized-realistic watercolor expression that is uniquely my own.
In a world and human experience that is constantly changing, I find comfort in creating beauty that does not change. The static quality of a spectacular flower, captured in time in the form of a painting, is something that brings me great joy and satisfaction.
Maria Witmer-Rich, 2018