Artist
Marie Panlener

Biography
Watercolor Artist
Past President of NorthStar Watercolor Society
Past Chair of NorthStar Watercolor Society Members' Exhibition
Member of Gallery 96
Member of Minnesota Artists Association
mariepanlener.com
Artist Statement
Marie Panlener is a St. Paul watercolor artist who paints personal interpretations of natural landscapes, abstracts and portraits. Her style includes highlighting brights with contrasting neutral grays, and using water-resistant fluids to save whites, which become sparkling water or a bright leaf catching the sun. These same fluids play a part in her loose abstracts, where layers of transparent paint create subtle changes in hue.
Watercolor paint itself is one of her inspirations. It provides endless combinations of luminous transparent layers with varieties of opacity and granularity. When painting abstracts, she removes the figurative and concentrates on the qualities of the paint.
She also finds inspiration in the places around us and the varying light and atmosphere that create a sense of space. Panlener captures the damp, foggy morning, the crisp autumn afternoon, and the deep shadows on bright winter day. The viewer recalls squinting into sparkling light bouncing off the water while viewing her paintings.
Panlener says a person’s watercolor style is as unique as one’s handwriting and tells a story of their artistic practice.