I am a Paper Fiber Artist.  In my graduating year of Fine Arts at the Ontario College of Art and Design, I was fortunate to be selected for a year of advanced studies at the OCAD College in Florence, Italy. Entranced with Florence and its surroundings, I continued to live and work there for many years.  Ultimately, it was Florentine light and color and my love of paper that inspired my very first venture into my personal style of collage.  

Figure1. Chrysalis

For over a decade I have evolved a process of creating pictures as paper collage mosaics. Neither term quite does justice to these works, as you can see from Figure 1, but these are the best descriptors I have found.Piece by piece, paper on paper, a visual and emotional journey captivates my mind and my soul. I will work on a picture for hours, over periods of weeks and months.  I will let it sit and percolate a bit, while I begin a new piece, then return to add to it.

Figure2. Dragonflies

A child once looked at my work and said "You made this with just pieces of paper?"  This is the key.  How does one know when to stop?  What makes it a composition that works and not look just like scattered pieces of paper?

Every new piece of art has a special beginning.   I start with the first tear of paper.  Sometimes it's a conscious decision. At other times the muse speaks and it is an intuitive selection.  It could be the texture or color that I'm drawn to or the challenge of working with a new palette and unexpected tear.  Then, each subsequent piece that is applied is individually selected depending on the previous piece and overall composition that is beginning to transform before my eyes.  I take risks.  I experiment and feel great joy in the process. This has become my language, my expression of what comes from within.  The images speak what words cannot articulate.

What I think is most important when I sit down to create my abstract images is not to concern myself with the finished composition.  I must put all my concentration and focus on what is before me at hand, clearing my head of other thoughts.  I have come to realize that this must be my way of meditating.

Figure 3. My palette My materials, in preparation for images.

 Figure 4. Imported papers
   Fragments of paper are the palette of colors in my art.

Figure 5.  Fragments of paper Individually selected and torn by hand, each individual segment is applied, piece by piece, layer upon layer... The images evolve... The final surface is an orchestration of fragments of colors composed into realistic and abstract images.

I often work on one piece for a while, and then I will take a break from this piece and work on another, letting the patterns percolate inside me until I then return to the first work with fresh eyes. 

Figure 7. May Mirage I challenge myself always to do something different with the approach and be open to see where it takes me. I love to create original art because there is the element of the unexpected.   The finished art is an exciting surprise!  It is my dialogue with the viewer.

Figure 8. Rainbow Rock The challenge is to create images that are visually exciting and evoke an impression, mood or emotion.  My personal style surfaces memories of travel and expresses my life- long love of color, music and nature. Rainbow Rock is an image that had feelings of the sun highlighting the plants growing through the crevice in the rocks at sunset in beautiful Georgian Bay.

Figure 9. Despena When people look at my art I love to see their choices.  They take their time to select the piece that speaks to them.  I love that art can be a universal language that offers a connectedness between people and between them and the art.

Figure 10. Burst of Clarity Burst of Clarity has a musical influence created through line and color. After an image is completed, I can see a common thread intuitively surfacing from life.   This was one of the realizations when I had one of my first shows.  Upon completion and reflection, I noticed many images made reference to the Native Indian, their Culture and traditional dress.

Figure 11. Polynesian All my senses are highlighted in their interpretation on canvas or watercolor paper.  The finished art is a spontaneous abstract or highly representational image. Each piece is colorful, textural and highly detailed.

Mary Karavos has been exhibiting her art for over fifteen years. Mary�s work can be seen in various galleries throughout Ontario.  She participates in many juried shows throughout the year.  The next venue for her work will be at the Toronto Art Expo- Toronto Convention Centre in March.

Presently residing with her family in Guelph, Ontario, Mary locally shows some work at the Guelph Farmers Market most Saturday mornings.

www.karavosart.com    info@kravosart.com

Original art and limited edition museum quality prints are available.

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