Mary Anne Porter Is Still Trying to Find Her Style

Anderson Artists Guild member Mary Anne Porter was always drawing as a kid, and her parents were proud. “They thought I was really great,” she said. “They kept everything.” One of the drawings she remembers best captured the backyard burial of her neighbors’ big Newfoundland dog.

In high school, Porter majored in art, but after graduating, she said, “I got married instead of going to college like I should have.” She and her husband ran their own electronic subcontracting business in Oregon for 13 years before moving back home to New York to help care for a family member. They worked for other electronic companies there for another 15 years before deciding to retire, when they found the perfect house in Belton, a location they called “Florida light.”

Over the years, Porter has taken art classes, including watercolor lessons from AAG members JoAnne Anderson and the late Ruth Hopkins. Watercolor is Porter’s favorite medium though she also likes colored pencils and pastel pencils. She often paints from photos, including shots she finds on Pinterest, and has sold some pet portraits to high school friends and others through her Facebook page. She prefers painting figures rather than landscapes.

As for style, that’s still evolving. “I’m still working on that,” she said. “I don’t know if I have a style. I would like to be more artistic. I’d like my work to be more flowing and loose.”

For more information about Porter, visit https://www.facebook.com/MaryAnnePorterArtist/.