Mary Ross Buchholz is from a pioneering, ranching family heritage and those time-honored traditions and values are a tremendous part of her life today. Mary and her husband live and ranch in rural west Texas near the town of Eldorado. For 20 years, art has been Buchholz's devotion. She offers a glimpse of her daily ranch life using the most primitive of mediums, charcoal and graphite, and also by sculpting and painting.
"When using charcoal and graphite, I enjoy subtlety rendering the details, the different textures and the individual characteristics of my subjects. I marvel at how black and white images seem timeless and impart a simplicity without other distractions. And, I feel this is one reason why I choose to use charcoal and graphite as my primary medium. When drawing, I think in terms of shapes, planes or plane changes and incorporate a wide range of values to describe form which in turn gives my work a realistic and three-dimensional quality".
"I hope to capture the viewer’s attention both from a distance and up-close. I intentionally lead the viewer’s eye around the various areas of my drawings and paintings. This can be achieved by designing works with strong and balanced compositions, having interesting lighting, deliberately placing fine detail in specific focal areas, and using negative space. Another important aspect of my work is having areas of rest within the artwork. What does that mean? Well, much like beautifully composed music, art needs areas of rest or areas that have only subtlety suggested detail. For me as an artist, it is all a balancing act in creating both a successful and intriguing piece of artwork".
Buchholz is represented by InSight Gallery in Fredericksburg, TX and Montana Trails Gallery in Bozeman, MT and participates in many museum shows across the country. She has been featured in publications including the Western Horseman, Fine Art Connoisseur, Art of the West, Western Art Collector, Southwest Art, America's Horse, Quarter Horse News, True West, Western Art & Architecture, Cowgirls Magazine and Cowboys & Indians. Recent awards include “Best Sketchbook Award” for Feb/Mar 2018 in the PleinAir.Salon Competition. Buchholz was also selected as both a winner and finalist in the 10th Annual ARC Art Renewal Center Salon competition and as a finalist in the 11th, 12th, & most recently, the 13th ARC Salon competitions.
* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 14th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.
