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Mary Jo Zorad Contemporary Fine Art Mary Jo Zorad PhD Original Paintings from Colors of Life Studio (dba) Animal and Modern Fine Art Here I am with my dog Shaba, a Rhodesian Ridgeback. As a hound dog she enjoys the outdoor activities. Occasionly we run into local Black bears in the forest (gratefully without incident!). Biography Mary Jo Zorad was born in 1952 during the summer months in Indiana. This was her family's home for the first five years of her life. A wooded place where children had no worries and played outside through all the seasons. A place where the neighbors knew each other and talked regularly. At an early age she spent most of her time outside exploring and viewing nature. At barely five years of age her family made the choice to move to California, to the suburbs of Los Angeles. Her exploration of nature continued with almost daily outside excursions in the neighborhood hills, and streets. During most of these years Mary Jo spent her time caring for her many animals. These included her rabbits (all had their individual names), guinea pigs, parakeets, lizards, family cats and many dogs. It is here where she learned about nature and creativity of life and began to draw. Art was natural to her as she states “I believe it was part of my genetic makeup.” Her family and neighbors encouraged her artistic talents. (Many years later she was contacted by one of her childhood friends who remembered her art hanging on the household walls and wrote “I knew then she would be an artist.”) It was in High School that she had her first art showing. These were landscapes and abstract paintings exploring shapes colors. Here the acknowledgment she received from the art patrons encouraged her onward and her painting continued. After High School her path continued in fine art. In college she studied art history and behavioral sciences, both psychology and religious studies. It was a deep interest of hers to find out what motivated people to behave the way they did in life. Why were some people creative and happy while others seemed unhappy and self-destructive? During these years of studies she never stopped her creative expression. She expanded it to include poetry, music and photography. She published a few of her poems in local newspapers and gave away most of her paintings to friends young and old. She was never far from her true calling of creative expression. Mary Jo attended graduate school and pursued her Ph.D. in Psychology with an emphasis in art therapy. During her years as a psychologist Mary Jo continued to paint and explore. Today she continues part time in the psychology profession as a life coach consultant, and paints the remainder of the time. Mary Jo states “I am fortunate now to realize my expression and passion for art and make a living with this creativity. It is the expression of life and nature surrounding me that I seek to portray. I paint what I see and feel in my soul. “ Of all the paintings that Mary Jo creates she explaines that the animals are the most exhilarating to paint. She is most fond of the domestic animals such as cats, dogs and horses. Additionally, the North American wildlife, such as elk, deer, bears and birds warm her heart. Mary Jo now lives live in Olympia Washington, a wonderland of nature and landscape scenery. She ventures outside daily with her dogs to explore nature just as she did as a young child. She continues to find these excursions enlivening and spiritually inspiring. With digital camera in hand she documents the seasons and occasionally the wildlife. During these excursions she has encountered wild bears, deer, coyote and the plentiful hopping rabbits, observed cougar tracks in the mud and snow, and watched the wildflower seasons come and go. An extraordinary place for a wildlife artist. I prefer to paint in oils and acrylics, although I am known to unpack the watercolors to formulate an idea on the paper. Many times a painting will take form in my mind while I'm out enjoying the Washington forest. When traveling in other states I photograph wildly to capture the nature scenes for later composition work. When a painting is beautiful and evokes an emotional response in me I enjoy sharing the experience with others. I strive to capture the beauty and realistic expression of the animals that I put on the canvas. I hope the viewer can enjoy the beauty and majesty of the animals too. I paint with a limited number of colors, usually about 5 different pigments. This technique helps unite the composition with visual intuition. Her first Gallery show since moving to Washington was hosted by Cosa Bella Gallery and Gift Shop in October 2004. Earthworks Gallery 2006 with the 5 Graces. Her art is represented by Earthworks Gallery in New York And Sedona sun House in Arizona Rustics in the Barn in Olympia, WA NEW On Cover of Animal World USA .org Mary Jo Zorad Studios Copyright 1999 - 2009 Mary Jo Zorad All Rights Reserved Listings To protect bidder privacy, when the price or highest bid on an item reaches or exceeds a certain level, User IDs will be displayed as anonymous names. For auction items, a bold price means at least one bid has been received. Note: Anonymous names may appear more than once and may represent different bidders. Current Auctions Item Start End Price Title High Bidder/Status 120426142310 May-26-09 Nov-22-09 07:04:57 $24.99 MJ ZORAD ELK WILDLIFE ART LIMITED ED PRINT WITH MAT Private Listing 120493676448 Nov-15-09 Nov-22-09 12:13:05 $89.00 MJ ZORAD TEXTURED FLORAL CALIFORNIA POPPY OIL PAINTING No Bids Yet 120494608773 Nov-17-09 Nov-24-09 15:04:33 $9.99 MJ ZORAD ACEO GOLDFINCH BIRD ART CARD OIL PAINTING ORIG Private Listing 120494610399 Nov-17-09 Nov-24-09 15:08:30 $9.99 MJ ZORAD ACEO ORANGE TABBY CAT CARD OIL PAINTING ORIG Private Listing 120494831290 Nov-18-09 Nov-25-09 07:18:07 $5.99 ACEO PRINT ABYSSINIAN CAT PRINT FROM ORIGINAL PAINTING No Bids Yet 120494832439 Nov-18-09 Nov-25-09 07:21:22 $5.99 ACEO PRINT CAT PRINT FROM ORIGINAL PAINTING ZORAD l***e 120494833351 Nov-18-09 Nov-25-09 07:23:44 $5.99 ACEO PRINT TUXEO CAT PRINT FROM ORIGINAL PAINTING ZORAD No Bids Yet 120494835613 Nov-18-09 Nov-25-09 07:31:03 $5.99 ACEO PRINT COUGAR CAT PRINT FROM ORIGINAL PAINTING k***p 120496213004 Nov-21-09 Nov-28-09 10:33:54 $5.99 ACEO PRINT DALMAION DOG T FROM ORIGINAL PAINTING ZORAD No Bids Yet 120496213155 Nov-21-09 Nov-28-09 10:34:08 $5.99 ACEO PRINT ABBYSINIAN CAT PRINT FROM ORIGINAL PAINTING No Bids Yet 120496213278 Nov-21-09 Nov-28-09 10:34:17 $5.99 ACEO PRINT HORSE COWBOY FROM ORIGINAL PAINTING ZORAD No Bids Yet 120496213373 Nov-21-09 Nov-28-09 10:34:28 $5.99 ACEO PRINT HORSE ARABIAN FROM ORIGINAL PAINTING ZORAD No Bids Yet Go see all current items for sale by this member. FeedBacks User:06164312( 13)  Date:Nov-11-09 17:26:48 PST Praise: She reminds me of my cat. Love her. User:fishingjackan( 158)  Date:Nov-05-09 12:55:07 PST Praise: arrived safely, love it! User:ronka68( 117)  Date:Oct-30-09 07:25:38 PDT Praise: Beautiful, but did arrive bent in the mail. Shipped quickly. User:3936lois( 2606)  Date:Oct-16-09 20:00:12 PDT Praise: Very nice ACEO! User:90dragonfly( 79)  Date:Oct-16-09 17:47:21 PDT Praise: Very fast delivery User:90dragonfly( 79)  Date:Oct-16-09 17:47:21 PDT Praise: very fast delivery User:barneygoogleeyes( 1119)  Date:Sep-19-09 19:14:52 PDT Praise: Beautiful. I love it! Thanks User:kat.ross( 714)  Date:Sep-17-09 14:19:24 PDT Praise: So Beautiful! Such incredible talent! Captures the beauty of the breed! Thanks! User:jrr2( 902)  Date:Sep-17-09 10:02:43 PDT Praise: Amazingly nice art - vibrant, well worth it!! Arrived safely too! User:hildenbrant( 46)  Date:Sep-04-09 11:54:16 PDT Praise: love the kitty! 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