Mary Berg Artist

Cedar Grove artist Mary Berg retired eight years ago with a blank canvas, not really knowing what the future held.

As a young girl she'd always enjoyed and excelled in art. She migrated to Australia from Holland with her family when she was eight years old, and the family lived in a cottage near Archerfield. The wood stove was moved outside for cooking during summer, and Mary used the fireplace alcove for her favourite activity of drawing.

Later she studied drawing for a year at art college. She married young however and raising a family took up all of her time for the next few decades. It was only five years ago that her interest in art re-emerged.

She took painting classes with Margaret Dennis and hasn't looked back, investing her supennuation in a beautiful studio attached to her home. She is a prolific artist, and her works are in demand. Her first exhibition was held last year at the Logan West library's walk-through gallery, and her work has been shown at local exhibitions, including the Nindooinbah wool shed exhibition last year, where five paintings were sold. She has also won awards at the Beaudesert and Boonah shows.

Mary's garden is beautiful, and it's not surprising that her roses have inspired her painting. She paints many subjects though, and most recently has been interested in Asian subjects, including China's entombed warriors and Japanese geishas. Beginning five years ago with acrylics, she has branched out into oils and pastels.

Mary describes the process of painting as completely engrossing and almost meditative; painting whilst listening to music takes her to another world, where hours "disappear in a flash"