ARTIST BIO AND STATEMENT
Maria Thompson is a multimedia artist living in Grand Forks, ND with her husband and their four active children.
Growing up in New York City, art has always been a calming presence in this artist’s life. With four brothers and two working parents, art was always (and remains) a way to find a peaceful resting place within the chaos of family life. Many of Maria’s earliest “doodlings” are still kept close at hand in her small but busy home studio.
Starting in 2008, Maria ran the popular Red Rhino Art Studio (now known as Only Daughter Art Studio) in Grand Forks, teaching art to children in classes held at her home. These young artists have always provided some of the greatest aesthetic insight and inspiration for Maria’s own works with their willingness to attempt all media and techniques without restraint.
Maria has never been able to settle upon just one medium, so feels that “mixed media” suits her best. A mixed-media approach to art allows different materials to represent varying facets of an artistic vision. The pieces Maria creates at a given time often follow a theme derived from beloved literature or poetry. She tries to develop that theme into as many artistic interpretations as possible before moving on to her next muse. One entire recent show, for example, was inspired by an enduring quote from a favorite writer, Maya Angelou: “A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”
Maria has shown her work at several galleries, art shows and charity exhibits in North Dakota and Minnesota. She was one of the co-chairs of the 2012 North Dakota Museum of Art “Spring Art Auction,” and continues to exhibit her work in person and online. Most recently, one of her collages was selected as a winner with the Instagram-based “Kitchen Table Art” group challenge (April, 2020).