Mary Ann Stafford, Maumelle
Dr. Mary Ann Stafford is a pastel and watermedia artist who resides in Maumelle, Arkansas. Although Dr. Stafford often works with watercolor, ink, collage, and mixed media, pastel is her chosen medium. Having drawn all her life, both as an artist and as a teacher, Dr. Stafford feels that pastel is a natural extension of drawing. Large, simplified shapes and strong contrasts of values, colors, and textures are exciting to her. Her colors are intense, her compositions dramatic; and she attempts to deliver an air of mystery to the viewer. She counts as her influences the paintings of Wolf Kahn and Edward Hopper.
Dr. Stafford was not able to pursue a serious career in the fine arts until her retirement from the field of education in 1993. Her education credentials include a BSE and an MA degree in English; art hours from Kansas City Art Institute and the University of Arkansas, and an EdD in Secondary Education with an emphasis in art education from the University of Arkansas. She began the high school art program at Pine Bluff High School where she taught English, humanities, and art for sixteen years and later became the school's assistant principal. In 1990, she became Staff Development Coordinator at the Arkansas Department of Education.
In addition to her formal art training, Dr. Stafford has studied with several nationally recognized artists, including Doug Dawson, Daniel E. Greene, Sally Strand, Gerald Brommer, Carol Katchen, Sheila Parsons, Bob Rohm, Larry Blovits, Alan Flattman, Maggie Price, and Skip Lawrence. Still an educator, she conducts pastel painting and drawing workshops throughout Arkansas, and also teaches drawing classes in her Maumelle studio. She is a faculty member of the Museum School of the Arkansas Arts Center, where she teaches advanced pastel painting and Advanced Drawing Techniques.
