About the Artist

Maureen Mitchell is an award winning artist who has had a life-long
affinity for drawing and for drawing out the essence of her subjects. Born
and raised in the Chicago area, Maureen relocated to Seattle in 1975 where
she earned her BFA in Printmaking at University of Washington. During the
past five years she has focused primarily on commissioned children’s
portraiture and commissioned Alaska landscapes in pastel and colored
pencil. Maureen is a Signature Member of CPSA, Colored Pencil Society of
America,: her work has been influenced by favorite artists Degas, Hopper
and Wyeth.

Maureen’s nostalgic children’s portraits have a rare slice-of-life quality
of freshness, innocence and wonder. The artist loves to capture the beauty
of kids caught up in the simple moment of just being kids. In addition to
commission work the artist also experiments with a variety of media and
subject matter. Hauntingly beautiful still life scenes and block print
collages based on animal and plant forms are just a few examples of this
personal work.


While experimentation is integral to the progression of Maureen's work,
portraiture is the mainstay. "It is always a joy to begin a new portrait.
Capturing the essence of the subject in addition to a likeness, is 90% hard
work and 10% magic. There comes a moment during each portrait where I feel
the subject has truly come alive. That very gratifying experience is
complete, when, upon delivery, the recipient is just bowled over and very
often moved to tears. “


“I cannot imagine a greater reward for my talent and effort than that."