Maria Abeyesekere the Artist
My beginning as an artist
Well, painting runs in the blood in my family. There had been several ancestors who have excelled in this field before me. My paternal grandma was also an artist as was her mom before her and her mom before her. I am an entirely self taught artist. As long as I can remember I have been a humble student of art in all its manifestations, am used to drawing or painting things that I am attracted to and have always been fascinated by realism in art.
My ancestral homes were full of artefacts and portraits of my ancestors painted by English painters in the colonial era. I have spent some of the happiest hours of my life looking at pictures and objects, both originals and reproductions of artists of various cultures and periods. It is an exercise I can recommend to anyone who is in the least sensitive to line, form, colour and composition.
How I became a professional Artist
Though I showed promise in art from an early age , I did my higher studies in Business and worked as a Marketing head. I fell into the life of a full-time artist shortly after becoming a housewife two decades ago. In that time I've sold paintings and drawings to collectors internationally, worked on commissioned projects and I've had sell out private shows and been invited to represent my country at Art shows, engaged in juried exhibitions and awarded for my work locally and internationally.
To me, art is a special sort of language and it is impossible to appreciate or begin to understand it unless one learns the rules of grammar & composition which painters employ. It is a hard and demanding discipline to succeed in realism into a painting. It needs devotion, patience and practice.
What is Art to me
Though I was born (1970) and bred in the city, for the last 20 years, I have been living in the wilderness of the Central highlands of Sri Lanka with my husband and son. Serenity and the scenic beauty of where I am, makes the perfect environment for me to paint more.
Best Young Artist - Colombo Sri Lanka 1990 (Dr. Ian Goonetileke bought the winning painting. He was the 1st Chairman of the Gratiaen Trust and Director of the University of Peradeniya Library who donated his art collection to the University before his death in 2003 )
Portrait of the Show - Frankfurt, Germany 1993
"Animal" Honorable Mention Award - 2021 International Juried Art Competition, Art Show International Gallery
"Portrait" finalist award - 2022 International Juried Art Competition, Art Show International Gallery
"Landscape" Honorable Mention Award - 2022 International Juried Art Competition, Art Show International Gallery
In the near future - Linked INNYC Women of the World organized by South Art Dealer
2022 - Far Away Places online juried exhibition organized by Las Laguna Art Gallery
NOAPS 2021 Associate online juried exhibition, Oct. 2021
8 solo private shows in Sri Lanka for the last 20 years
Young Talent, Colombo Sri Lanka 1990