Marjorie Mason

Marjorie Mason was born in New York City in 1955 and grew up in Palm Beach, Florida and on Cape Cod. For 23 years Mason's paintings have depicted the changing light and seasons of the Martha's Vineyard landscape. Her work flows with the genuine grace of the living seashore as only the monotype process can uniquely capture. Mason discovered monotype at Rhode Island School of Design where she majored in Illustration. After obtaining her BFA in 1981 she went on to New York City where her monotypes where well received by an elite corporate market. There she studied with Master printmakers Cheryl Pelavin and Kathy Caraccio. After moving to the Vineyard permanently in 1987, Mason focused more on the demands of private collectors and Island galleries. She has continued her formal education studying with Island artists John Di Mestico and the late Lois Mailou Jones who was a dear friend. She has also studied with Provincetown impressionist Lois Griffle and Monhegan artist Don Stone.

Mason has exhibited her work in one-woman shows on Martha's Vineyard and New York City and is displayed internationally in many private and corporate collections.

" I am constantly asked about the monotype process and why I choose it as my main form of expression. This lesser known printmaking technique gives painters a way to create a permanent oil painting on untreated paper. There is no other way to do this. The result is a unique image with the richness characteristic of oil paint and the delicacy one associates with watercolor. The white of the paper works with the paint translucence to achieve this. As the name implies, there can only be one painting produced this way which is fine by me. Monotype is a painting done in one sitting because the print must be pulled while the paint is wet. I love the spontaneity of this process and also the mystery. One never really knows how the print will come out and there are many beautiful discoveries. To me, the process works like nature itself and echoes my love of the land and seascapes I seek"