I’m Marion Bermondy, a watercolor painter based in Austin, Texas.
As a child I watched my very talented brother draw, and I think that’s what started it all. At fifteen I spent hours reproducing classic drawings, teaching myself techniques from the masters. I was already interested in portraits then. In my early twenties I found watercolor, and it won me over: I love its lightness and fluidity, and the magic of colors fusing on the paper, doing their own thing.
What draws me to a subject is beauty. Cats, for their inherent elegance. A tree, for its shape. A hummingbird, for the purity of its form. In cityscapes, the remarkable combinations of color. I paint portraits, animals, landscapes and seascapes, boats, houses and French towns, and cats are one of my favorite subjects.
I’ve shown my work at the East Austin and West Austin Studio Tours, at a cat show, and for many years at Christmas fairs, and I’ve sold about a hundred pieces through my Etsy shop. I’ve painted many commissions, mostly portraits of children and pets.
Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Paul Cézanne, Paul Klee and Andrew Wyeth inspire me, as do Edward Hopper and, among contemporary painters, Ross Penhall.
Most of my paintings don’t carry a message. I just hope they bring joy and a sense of peace to the viewer.