Hello George, Thank you so much for the compliment! I've been working on art since I was very little and really enjoy working with pastels. The piece you are referring to is really vibrant in color. The sky is a mixture of pinks, fuchsia, magenta and a touch of blue and yellow. There is a lot of yellows and orange tones in the building, the windows are a gradation between yellow and marigold, with some touches of magenta. THere are also some vibrant lime hues in the trees. I used ultra soft pastels for this piece. Pastels are one of the oldest mediums in art, it is pure pigment powder bonded together. I enjoy the richness of the color. Best, Maria

Maria, youre work is amazing, I am thinking of purchasing "Autumn Estate." It reminds me of myh favorite Artist Chuck Conelly, what kind paint is used and can you describe the overall colors in this beautiful painting? Thanks, George (Fellow NY'er)

Dear M Lamm, Thank you so much for your purchase and it's makes me very happy to hear that your wife enjoys the piece as well. I hope it brings you joy for many years to come. Best, Maria

I just purchased 'Sky Dancers' for my wife - she loves it... the strength of the ballerinas expressed in the painting is just amazing... thanks so much!

I've lately been thinking about my love for painting with pastels. The history of pastels goes further back then even oil painting. It was the use of pure pigments that were used to create oil paints and quality pastels are regarded as having the greatest longevity of all the mediums. Some people maybe worried about the fragility of pastels but if framed and encased behind glass pastels can outlive even oil paintings. The beauty of pastel paintings is in their vibrant hues, the rich texture on paper and the remarkable blending capabilities. I love working with pastels and I hope this blog could shed some light on an traditional practice that to this day is a high fine art. Hope you enjoy pastel art as much as me. Thank you for supporting my art.

See Maria's work in our recent exhibition, "We Are Women," on the Ugallery blog! Here is the link: http://www.ugallery.com/blog/2009/07/ugallery-art-exhibition-we-are-women.aspx#

My poor English does not make it possible to express that the fact that I feel. This is excellent

To moki, Thank you for the comment, I was really touched by it because yes that piece was deeply personal so I was very pleased to know that I was able to effect others by my message which I feel though is different for each person. This is why I make art, not only for myself but to connect with others and express feeling through my work that others can relate too.

While perusing this website, Damaged literally knocked the breath out of me. This piece is so powerful! It took me back to my moment and I just cried.

Maria, thank you so much for putting a perspective on that piece. It's even better now that I know! I've been corresponding with some of the folks at ugallery.com, and wanted to share some of what I wrote: I just got my MM in Vocal Performance. It was hard enough being a student, let alone a poorly compensated artist. Not too long ago, I was really discouraged about the compensation I was getting for one of my regular singing gigs, and the lack of lucrative opprotunities within my field. Eventually, I found my current marketing job, and am so surprised at all the encouragement I'm receiving. Young artists deserve the opportunity to be encouraged and earn their living without being slighted, so I was VERY happy to purchase from Ugallery.com. Heck, if I wasn't a recovering broke artist myself, I would have bought more! Stay encouraged. Your work is GREAT! Beena