Mai Wyn Schantz:
My paintings capture a moment…a majestic sunset bleeding crimson into the sky, turbulent stormclouds raging across the horizon, night skies silhouetting a distant treeline. They are a celebration of nature and beauty. Despite our fast-paced, industrialized world, we are still innately tied to the land and continually seek to reconnect with nature. What once was endless, we now scramble to protect. What once was feared, we now look on with nostalgia. Using aluminum as the foundation, I attempt to negotiate these seeming opposites, nature in the face of our high-tech world. Nature as seen through our twenty-first century lens.

The exposed aluminum edges create both a natural frame and an element of contrast to my landscape subject matter. Painting on aluminum is a process I have been refining for the last ten years. I get my inspiration from canoeing my native northwoods lake country and contemplating our place in a changing landscape.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION: Aluminum is the support for my landscape paintings. Working all aspects of the metal myself allows me to control how the exposed aluminum borders and shapes interact within the piece. The aluminum is first cut and often bent to fit around a traditional wood support frame. The areas I wish to remain raw metal are masked while the areas to be painted are prepared using industrial primers. This ensures good adhesion between the paint and metal surfaces. I love the look of the aluminum’s natural, reflective surface.

Alice Lake - 32 x 45 inches

Flowe Edge I - 48 x 60 inches (one of two available)

Grace Lake - 32 x 45 inches

Monday Night Show - 60 x 96 inches (two panels)

Morning Calm - 32 x 45 inches

Storm Front- 36 x 40 inches

Treeline Silhouette - 42 x 48 inches

Searching for Blue - 36 x 36 inches