Mary Ness

Hi, I'm Mary Ness. I am happy you are here to see what I've been up to. I'm an abstract expressionist artist and designer living and working just outside Toronto, Canada.

My creative journey, with all of it's twists and turns, goes back to my early childhood. There I was, little me, lying belly down on the kitchen floor with my coloring book and crayons. I was caught in a sunbeam coming through the window - and that's when the magic began.

I paint with both traditional media such as acrylics and/or oils and cold wax, mixed media collage as well as painting with digital tools such as Photoshop and Corel Painter. Often I combine digital and analog to achieve my goal. Sometimes a painting is finished quickly and other times there are many layers and visits to the mirror with the painting, always searching for that elusive moment when I can say, that's it, I've got it!

I want the viewer to be drawn in, to see the layers, the brushstrokes - to feel the energy and emotion I experienced while making this piece of art.

Ontario College of Art & Design, Toronto, 1986 - 1988
Central Technical School, Drawing & Painting, Toronto, 1989
Toronto Image Works, Digital Publishing & Imaging, Toronto, 2000

Awards
C.W. Jefferys Chapter IODE Award Ontario College of Art 1988

"Revelations" Queen Elizabeth Cultural Centre, Oakville, 2025
"Impressions" Members' Juried Show Oakville Galleries, 2025
"Christmas Pop-Up" Arta Gallery, Distillery, Toronto, 2024
"International Exchange Exhibition Canada & S.Korea, 2000
"To the Moon Alice", Newman Gallery, Toronto, 1996
"Area" 401 Richmond St. W., Toronto 1995
"Café des Arts", 80 Spadina Ave., Toronto 1993

Publications
House & Garden UK, Art Edit, December 2024
House & Garden UK, Art Edit, January 2025
House & Garden UK, Art Edit, February 2025