Mary Pachikara

I have lived a long life. That’s a lot of seconds, minutes, hours, days and months.

And the passage of time is something I have always noticed.
When I drive thru the fields of Southern Illinois there is the fleeting play of light on the landscape. And the landscape is different from one day to the next, and from one hour to the next. When I am among people, be it at church, the mall, or a family get together, I see the passing moments between two people. Especially moms and their young ones. The looks. The gestures. And I cannot help but notice how different the interactions can be as the infant becomes a baby becomes a toddler becomes a child. What you see in “this” moment will be different in the next. Each is its own thumbprint or snowflake.
It is partly due to my fascination with time that I love watercolor as a medium. The wetness of the paper changes so rapidly! The way the paints flow into each other, or don't, can be entirely different in the matter of seconds. And what comes out are colors and contours that echo back the images I see in the landscape, and the people around me. Moments that want to dash away are locked as memories in paper and inks. The only thing that has escaped is the water I used to start the comp...

Studio Courses in Drawing and Painting, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Illinois

B.S. in Botany, University of Kerala, Kerala, India

SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2017
Carbondale Community Arts, Carbondale, IL
Locality, a multimedia exhibition

2016
The University Museum, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL
Artists on Love, a multimedia juried exhibition

2015
Jacoby Arts Center, Alton, IL
St. Louis Watercolor Society Travelling Exhibit

Creative Arts Gallery, St. Louis, MO
16th Annual Juried Exhibition of St. Louis Watercolor

2014
OA Gallery, Kirkwood. MO
Big Splash 2014, St. Louis Watercolor Society Membership Award Exhibitions

Creative Art Gallery, St. Louis, MO
14th Annual Juried Exhibition of the St. Louis Watercolor Society

2013
Civic Center Corridor Gallery, Carbondale Community Arts, Carbondale, IL
Expressions Exhibition

Creative Art Gallery, St. Louis, MO
St. Louis Watercolor Society Annual Juried Exhibit

The Ober Anderson Gallery, Kirkwood, IL
Big Splash 2013. St. Louis Watercolor Society Membership Award E...