Mary Ann Mengel is an award-winning oil painter inspired by the connection between humans and their surroundings. She grew up in Schuylkill County and now resides in nearby Berks County. Her work is primarily figurative--directly, implied, or symbolic. Her color palette is grounded in nature, imaginative, and leans toward abstraction. With layered marks created by brushes, palette knives and other tools, she invites an element of emotional depth and reveals the significance she finds in her subject.

Although you may occasionally find Mary Ann painting the landscape en plein air, she works primarily in her studio from her own reference photos of people and landscapes. Her painting process, in which the familiar is entwined with a sensory overlay, is guided by intuition and imagination. Mengel's work can be seen at Art Plus Gallery in West Reading, the Art & Craft Gallery of Hamburg, and Studio B Art Gallery in Boyertown. 

Prior to painting full-time, Mengel worked in the fields of graphic design, marketing, web design and instructional multimedia design. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Communication Design and a Master's degree in Instructional Technology. Learn more at www.maryannmengel.com