Like Matisse, local artist Mary Bull’s style of painting strongly relates to the artistic movement “Fauvism”.  A technique embraced by artists in the early 1900’s, characterized by its expressionistic brushwork and the arbitrary use of brilliant and intense colours. 

Bull, who deals with figurative images and portraits in an expressive and colourful manner incorporates the vibrant use of colour that makes her paintings dynamic.  Her paintings are lively in their distorted forms.  The figure’s long legs and oversized feet go hand in hand with the overall playful approach to the painting.  The manipulation of figure and space is not only essential in describing the subject’s personality, but also epitomizes her unique and personal relationship to her subjects and her art.

Active in the local arts community for the past fifty years, Bull has been a long standing resident of the Okanagan.  Her studies include the Vancouver School of Art, Ontario College of Art and extensive travel in Mexico, where she developed a technique in portrait and abstract painting as well as in batik.

Exhibition images

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