Mare McClellan

"During transitional states like dusk and dawn, I find it easiest to sense that things are not as solid as they seem. Everything is composed of vibrating particles and waves, always in formation and changing. I am interested in making paintings that call attention to these qualities of lightness and impermanence within seemingly solid appearances."

"The living breathing, presense of nature compels me to paint. The peaceful vitality and luminosity I see around me in the river, sky, fields, and trees - all at once are the source, the goal, and the means of attainment."
-Mare McClellan

Mare McClellan used to be a jewelry maker, but eventually returned to painting. She gathers inspiration from the Delaware River landscape, and has spent time working in the studio of the late painter William Lathrop at Phillip's Mill in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

She works on her canvases with acrylic paint applied in layers of textural pastes and transparent glazes. "Reductive methods like sanding and scraping cause and reveal patterns that form beneath the surface. The process echoes the endless cycles of creation in nature, building up and dissolving through time and space. Noticing the subtle revelations is very meaningful to me," says McClellan.

She claims the influences of William Lathrop, Agnes Martin, and Robert Irwin and names colleagues as Fredericka Foster, Edie Sharp, Jane Gilday, Suzanne Douglass, Pat Martin, and Kevin Broad.

Education
BA in Fine Art, Rutgers University, 1983, New Jersey.

Design Experience
Artist collaboration with J. Dressler under the name of JAMP, 1985-1991

Designed and constructed limited edition sculptural wearable art shown in galleries and shops around the world including Henri Bendel, Martha International, NYC; Janis, Chicago; Joyce Boutique; Hong Kong

Groups
Beaver Pond Poetry Forum

Connection to Bucks County
"I was drawn to this area in the 1980's for much the same reasons William Lathrop was in the early 1900s - proximity to the city and the light and beauty of the Delaware River and its environs. I lived in a tiny space with an expansive view of the river for many years. The river and my mediation practice have informed and inspired my painting."

A longtime resident of New Hope, Mare McClellan uses the landscape of Bucks County as creative material for her paintings. Her residence by the river is evident in her work as is the use of natural surroundings.

Gallery Representation
Hrefna Jonsdottir Gallery, Lambertville, NJ, 2000-present

Selected Exhibitions
Phillips Mill Annual Juried Art Exhibition, New Hope, PA, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2006
Trenton City Museum, Ellarslie Invitational 2002, Trenton, NJ
Artsbridge Annual Juried Show, Prallsville Mills, Stockton, NJ, 2001
Coryell Gallery Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Lambertville, NJ, 2000
Hunterdon Museum of Art, Hunterdon County Cultural Commission Biennial Art Exhibition, Clinton, NJ
Bianco Gallery Juried Exhibition, Buckingham, PA
La Rue des Reves, JAMP window installation, New York, NY, 1987
Gracie Mansion Gallery, Small Works Group Exhibition, New York, NY
Now Gallery, Small Works Juried Exhibition, New York, NY
New Museum, Museum Store, Juried Ornament Show, New York, NY, 1986
Five and Dime Gallery, JAMP exhibit, New York, NY, 1985

Selected Collections
Splenda Headquarters, Fort Washington, PA
McNeil Nutritionals, Fort Washington, PA
Fran and Susan John, Solebury, PA
Bruce Norman Long, Princeton, NJ

Awards
Award for Contemporary Work, Philips Mill Juried Art Exhibition, 2006
Award in memory of Ellen Pearson Sutton, Phillips Mill Juried Art Exhibition, 2004
Michener Art Museum Purchase Prize, 2001