On July 7th, IS: Fine Art & Design gallery was elated to show the work of local San Francisco pointillism artist, Mary Ann Lawson.
Mary Ann Lawson is an emerging pointillist artist in the San Francisco Bay area, with a vast amount of potential. IS: Fine Art & Design was lucky to house Mary Ann’s work in our San Francisco Art Gallery located in Noe Valley, for her first ever gallery exhibition.
Detailed Pointillism Art that Focuses on the Details of Nature
Lawson’s work is centered on the technique of pointillism, in which small distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. To create the most heavily detailed image, Lawson prefers to work in the medium of India Ink. When speaking with the pointillism artist, her inspiration for painting such whimsical scenes of nature are personal and touching. Mary Ann Lawson began painting these often-overlooked creatures such as spiders, snails, ants, dragonflies, and praying mantes for their simplistic beauty and positive impact on the world. When questioning Mary Ann about a specific piece of hers titled Dragonfly II, she had expressed that “These are not just drawings, the dragonfly inspired me because it actually removes bacteria from the air with its wings – Dragonflies have tiny knife like extensions on their wings that break up bacteria in the air when they move. For me, this is an example of how important these tiny, beautiful creatures are to plant earth”. Lawson’s respect and admiration for theses creatures are further exemplified through her pointillism art works.
A New Format for the Pointillism Artist
Mary Ann Lawson started in her pointillism artistic way by creating these heavily detailed scenes of nature in a much smaller, and more intimate format for friends and family. “Ian suggested I step out of my comfort zone and use larger sheets of watercolor paper for my inks", said the pointillism artist. "I found the large space expanded my mind and opened up an entirely new perspective”. This newfound perspective has allowed Lawson to glorify these often-overlooked creatures by presenting them in a format much larger than their true sizes, forcing the viewer to really look at, and see these creatures. For example, the larger size makes it possible to see the textual details of the wings, feathers, and other characteristics of these subjects through the pointillism works. As a result, many of the works appear three dimensional, despite their black and white representation.
Unique Framing for Pointillism Art
Our San Francisco Fine Art Gallery paired Lawson’s work with one-of-a-kind frames from Atelier Aedicule, a frame store and studio, which specialize in the restoration and gilding of antique and vintage frames. Aedicule’s Peter Werkhoven is an award winning European master gilder and frame maker, concentrating on the conservation and restoration of picture frames, antique objects, and historical architecture. We felt that pairing such classically beautiful, black and white pieces with large, ornate gold and silver frames would be the perfect fit. The juxtaposition between the distinct styles of the frames and the artist’s pieces created the perfect balance representing how the creatures conveyed in Lawson’s works have a much larger impact on the world and by extensions us, than we think they do.
A New Fabric Line Based on Pointillism Art
The main attraction of the night lives inside of a restored classic armoire that has been in Ian’s family for years. Inside the armoire, the designer, and owner of the art gallery, Ian Stallings had the inspiration to turn the images in Mary Ann Lawson’s pointillism work into repeat designs on fabric. He had taken the images of her flowers, ants, bees, and praying mantes and reproduced her designs in a way that translated expertly to fabric. This personalized fabric hangs inside of the armoire and flows outside the open doors, pooling on the ground in a beautiful mix of art and fabric, creating the perfect installation piece for the gallery. The structure of this piece creates the perfect balance between the nostalgic warmth of the armoire and the bold designs of the fabric.
The fabric was a surprise for the pointillism artist, and the one of a kind designs can be found exclusively at the IS: Fine Art and Design gallery.
Pointillism Art in High Demand
Overall, this month's First Friday Opening at our fine art gallery featuring the works of Mary Ann Lawson was a huge success with significant sales. Lawson received the proper recognition for her first show, and there was an overwhelming amount of support and interest in her pointillism art pieces. Within the first few hours of the show, eight of her pieces were sold - "It takes me four hours to do a small four-inch by four-inch section of each subject", said the pointillism artist. "I am more than happy to see the pieces that I've poured so much of myself into, go to good homes with people who love and respect the intricacy of these artworks".
We encourage you to come by our fine art gallery at 3848 24th Street, in Noe Valley during the month of July to see her stunning pointillism works. In the future, we hope to represent more of Lawson’s work, as we continue to look forward to her growing success as a San Francisco pointillism artist.
Peter Werkhoven of Aedicule posed with pointillism artist Mary Ann Lawson and Gallery owner Ian Stallings
