Mid Modern Abstract Painting, Oil-On-Board, American 1970’s.

Mid modern abstract painting, oil-on-board in simple maple frame; The overall effect of this piece by Mariani is vital and personal; hues of salamander, ochre, amber, rust create an emotional experience through brush strokes and the interaction with the texture of the painted surface. Signed, “MOSSSR 78” Artist: Shirley Mariani, née Moss, Rapp. American, circa 1978.

height: 25 in. 63.5 cm.
width 37 in. 94 cm.

Artist’s statement: Shirley Mariani (Rapp) (b.1941, California) grew up in Georgia and on the family farm in a small Midwestern town. Her imagination was influenced by an emblematic horizon that was offered the possibilities of bright lights and big dreams, beyond the American farmlands. Journeys across the states and moving often brought many tales, opportunities, and changed her life. Art is a medium in which Mariani expresses herself by bringing memories of her past into her present life. She loves abstract and calls it both a piece of heaven and a representation of herself. “I think I’ve been abstract my whole life and it’s a representation of how I see all things. I did abstract things. In fact, I think my whole life has been an abstraction. As a child on the farm I would work in the garden and I would think, vegetables are strange, unique, curious. Whereas the barn, which you see often in my work, represented stability for me.” https://shirleymariani.com/artist-copy/