Maria Hernandez Art
Florals
More Works
My Journey
I grew up surrounded by music and art. My mother took me to the museums, botanical gardens and plays in New York City. She also was an artist. My father was a pianist and composer, so my life was full of music and art. My mother bought me my first camera, so I thought I wanted to be a photographer. I was good in art but didn't know in what direction I wanted to go at that time. I took workshops and night courses at the Art Students League in New York, the Connecticut Art Institute in Connecticut, and Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.
My inspiration came when I was living in California and saw my first Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit, that’s when I knew that I wanted to paint closeups of flowers. This is where I could combine my love of photography and my art. I loved watercolor paintings. I loved the watercolor floral paintings of Birgit O’Connor. I took a workshop with O’Connor and was on my way. I am now a resident of Arizona.
My painting process is to take a closeup photograph of the flower and try to get the composition that I want through the lens first, then make changes in the drawing process. The colors, the lighting and the feeling I get when I look at the subject is what motivates me to want to paint it.
I am also inspired by the life force common in all things, in all of creation. It is unseen but tangible and impossible to capture. It is that which continually challenges me to slow down, observe at a deeper level, and allow myself to connect.
It helps me to really see, feel, and understand what a great artist the creator is. There is beauty in every living thing if you look for it.
To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.
- William Blake