maria holvoe gouras

recent works

Art allows to relate to and go beyond ourselves. The sky above, the earth below convey vastness and belonging. There is no separation. Everything yearns to be seen, to touch and be touched.

MHG har bott i New York större delen i sitt liv. Hon har en bakgrund som skådespelare och skribent. Det är emellertid i måleriet hon helst vistas. 2012 flyttade Maria till Lund tillsammans med sin familj och är numera verksam i Hovshallar.

MHG has a background as an actor and writer. Returning to Sweden 2012, after nearly thirty years in New York, she discovered out door painting. The experience of driving through raps fields in full bloom hit her like a freight train. Maria has recently relocated to Hovshallar in order to be closer to her favorite subject - the Bjäre coast.

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dilemma

All description requires choosing, discarding, discriminating.

02/13/2024

why painting

The desire is not to leave a mark, rather that the experience is such that it leaves a trace.

11/19/2023

presence through process

The moment we want to achieve, we loose the process.

09/15/2023

connecting

Life/Art is all about connecting. Though an active verb, it is more about being than doing. Being present. Available.

06/19/2023

Rothko

I sometimes wonder if Rothko's plein-air experience led him to his colors. I also wonder if, by attempting to recreate living experience, while isolated in his studio, whether that pushed him to suicide. His work projects such longing.

03/12/2023

interesting art

That there would be such a thing as interesting art is a misnomer, there are only interesting artists.

12/18/2022

awe

The spectacle of the arrival of a new day. I sit in awe. Painting in nature is not an attempt to create likeness. Likeness kills

11/21/2022

art and commerce

Art as commodity is an oxymoron. Beauty, Truth, Presence – available to all, regardless of context – are sensations of alignment. Ad Reinhardt the Don Quixote of modern art, barred even by his own: “ A few questions to the artist....Why are the artists so eager so accommodate their behavior to the undignified and standard forms in fashion, such as entertainer, parasite, sufferer, actionist, cry baby, primitive, handicraftsman, acrobat, beggar, expressionist, clod, hobbyhorse, parrot, puppet, designer, jobber etc.? “ Ad Reinhardt, 1913-1967

10/24/2022

Alan Rickman 1946 - 2022

“Fine acting,” he notes, “is a bloody miracle of chance, the most fragile blending of time, mood, talent and trust. Too often, all we present is an attempted repeat of a hazy memory of the once we thought we almost made it.” Alan Rickman. My favorite actor. All good art is by miracle of chance, while we keep working.

10/13/2022

art as extension of life

Anything that changes a part alters the whole.

09/28/2022

Pure Strokes

Everything has an underlying intention, whether a thing, a thought, a gesture. Without this intention, the information is without content. In painting, sometimes careful observation, along with patience and humility, can result in a few pure strokes, and magic.

04/15/2022

Small Miracles

Whether a smile, a gesture of kindness or a stroke in the painting process – all fleeting moments of grace.

03/19/2022

Choices

In the end - ones life, ones work - is defined by what one chose to keep and to discard. It takes guts.

Learn More10/22/2021

Clear Intent

It is not about what you do but why. Results are by-products. Clarity of intention always prevails.

10/15/2021

Louise Cadogan

Somehow, the people of the British isles keep producing art with substance. Why? Because they read more books? Because they carry the past into the present? So would have loved to have seen the paintings of Louise Cadogan. Love her motivation, humility and fearlessness:

Learn More10/02/2021

the Self in Art

Why should I describe my art? How do you get to know someone? By describing yourself? The self is the tool, not the subject of exploration.

Learn More08/18/2021

Processing the Moment

The process of plein-air painting is 98% seeing and 2 % painting, facilitating a symbiosis between observer and object, revealing a reality true of that particular moment, breaking down - what Martin Buber called - “the threshold of mutuality”.

Learn More07/22/2021

Agnes Martin on Beauty

“ Beauty is the mystery of life. It is not just in the eye. It is in the mind. It is our positive response to life.” Agnes Martin

Learn More07/10/2021

Kind of Blue

It’s not about the painter. Not about the viewer. Nor about the painting. Rather about that moment when something occurs and these three factors merge.

Learn More09/26/2019

Am I painting landscapes?

Object fixation misses the point as it fails to focus on the energy created by the objects. Do I paint landscapes? What exactly is a “landscape”? I am trying to find out.

Learn More05/29/2021

Presence

What interests me is presence, not particulars. If we shut off the central vision and allow for information to flow, we become active participants in the theatre that surrounds us. Once we abandon classification we can begin to experience.

04/03/2021

On seeing

Seeing is the bridge which connects the viewer with the environment. It is a tool. How we process the information we select, matters. Looking is not the same as seeing. Looking does not imply involvement while the latter does.

Learn More01/30/2020

pause

One of the most important people in my life told me to taste the air. It takes some practice. The first step is to pause.

Learn More11/29/2017

Fraction of Truth

Putting the easel out-doors shattered my perspectives and priorities. Nature becomes everything. The senses merge with the sky, the sea. It is as though the painting paints itself. I have learned to leave these paintings alone. The critical mind must be kept away. Once I have forgotten the painting and rediscover it, and find that it is alive, then I am happy.

Learn More01/14/2020

On Richard Diebenkorn

"I still wrestle with the same issues as I did when I was first introduced to Diebenkorn’s work, but he helped me to learn that these artistic dilemmas are not just equations that you solve and move past. These issues are themselves the pursuit of art. " Ari Post: "Diebenkorn: All At Once"

09/26/2019

Roos Schuring

"When the Beauty of Nature is the engine to paint, there is nothing else. Fame in painting is something for the dead. Status in painting is all fake. The paintings need to speak for themselves. Honoring the Beauty, by catching a glimpse. It's enough!" Roos Schuring, my absolute favourite plein-air painter.

Learn More05/24/2019

the journey of art

"...Part of the challenge of any outer journey, especially when exalted, is having the courage to know when to cut it short, if only so that the inner journey can – and will – remain alive.." Pico Lyer

Learn More03/08/2018

when in doubt

when in doubt or need of remembering - listen to the great Maggi Hambling.

Learn More12/01/2017

the sense of belonging

Our relationship with nature is changing. The big question is: Can you yearn for and treasure something you have never known?

Learn More11/23/2017

blue

During a few minutes there is a window, where night gives way for dawn, when the hues of dark blue reign. There is nothing more beautiful.

Learn More11/17/2017

feel

Jag kunde sitta i timmar och studera en horisont, skissa och notera färgövergångar. Det ar som om naturen ville visa mig: Det sitter inte i huvudet utan i hjärtat. Naturen är en mästare på känsla. Man måste släppa greppet.

Learn More09/09/2017

Hovshallavägen 118, Båstad, Sweden
prices and availability upon request.

Studio/Hovshallar

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Jolan Kovac och Maria Holvoe Gouras reflekterar över relation till naturen, om tillhörighet och att vara del av det större. Oljemålningar, keramik och mixed media.Read More

Date: 10/19/2024 11:48 AM - 11/05/2024 11:48 AM
Location: Idrottsgatan 4, Lund, Sweden (Map)

Title	Date	Day	Location
Impressions of Santa Maria	08 Aug 2024	Thursday	Vila do Porto, Portugal
Galleri Torekov: Sommar 2023	24 Jun 2023	Saturday	Storgatan 50, Torekov, Sweden
1/3 - Hyllning till våra insekter	14 May 2022	Saturday	växthuset på Solnäs Gård, Fjelie
Inifrån och Ut	26 Jun 2021	Saturday	Hallavaravägen 145, Båstad, Sweden