BIO

Mary Chandler had an intuitive feeling to create her destiny as an artist at the very young age of seven. Her education in the arts focused on illustration, with training in traditional realism. Her teachers included portrait artist Deane Keller, trompe-l'oeil artist Ken Davies, painter Charles Sovek, and book illustrator Leonard Fisher. Mary worked as an Illustrator/Art Director in educational publishing for fifteen years while balancing a career in fine art. Now retired from publishing, Mary focuses on painting full-time. Her paintings of coastal New England include Maine, Cape Ann, Boston, Nantucket, and her home state of Connecticut. In 2022 she was awarded a commission, through Nantucket Island Resorts, to create a series of nine paintings for the White Elephant Hotel's interior renovation. 

Mary has received multiple awards as a Signature Member of New England Watercolor Society, the Copley Society of Art, and the American Artists Professional League. She is a member of the Artists Association of Nantucket, with one of her paintings in their permanent collection, and has been awarded for her plein air paintings in 2024, 2025, 2026. She is a juried member of the Rockport Art Association & Museum where in 2025 she received a Gold Medal award for her watercolor in their National Exhibit. Her paintings have been included both in the Guild of Boston Artists and North Shore Art Association Regionals. Recently, Mary joined the International Guild of Realism where she exhibited her work in their 20th International Exhibit at the Principle Gallery in Charleston, SC. A list of sponsored competitions to note include Plein Air Salon July 2025 Honorable Mention for Building, September 2025 Best Floral, and finalist three years in a row in Artist Magazine's Best in Watercolor Splash 25, 26, and 27. Her work has also been featured in Plein Air Magazine's March 2026 portfolio series City Livin' and Fine Art Connoisseur's April 2026 America The Beautiful.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I find inspiration in the beautiful light and atmospheric scenes created by coastal New England's proximity to the sea. I am a contemporary realistic painter working in watercolor and gouache. My work focuses on capturing the relationship of architecture as it exists in harmony with the gardens and ocean vistas of Nantucket, Cape Ann, and Maine. Artists who have influenced my vision along the way have been Winslow Homer, the Wyeths, Edward Hopper, and John Singer Sargent not only for their compositional and technical skills, but for their ability to tell a story. We live in a rapidly evolving world where our surroundings of past and present converge. I am inspired by the story of endurance as it’s told through the coexistence of historic architecture woven into the current landscape. There is a resonance of timeless connection that I feel when I experience the color, light and shadow in these moments of time. I strive to communicate a sense of wonder of the natural world in my work. Whether I am working in the studio or en plein air, each new discovery is an opportunity to share a creative expression of place and history.