Hawaiian Painter Darice Machel McGuire lives on the Island of Maui. Her oil & acrylic paintings are nationally and internationally known.
Let Darice Machel McGuire talk about herself!
My name is Darice Machel McGuire and I am an artist living and loving life on Maui. I have been studying and pursuing art since I was a kid. Most of my work is Hawaii and California landscapes in either oil or acrylic mediums.
I have a long history in the art world, I literally grew up in it. My parents opened a gallery on the north shore of Lake Tahoe in the late 70s where I spent a good deal of my time. The gallery offered so much more than just beautiful paintings. We had an art supply store, frame shop and classroom. I spent many years working at the gallery as a framer, teacher, gallery curator and all around general manager. I lived and worked as an artist long before I knew I was one.
- 2002 – I moved to Chico California, got a job at a frame shop and started teaching oil painting once a week after work. In 2008, I opened my art school Art E Studio. The housing market had just crashed and the economy was heading into recession. It was a huge risk but one that paid off handsomely. My once a week classes turned into 12. I was painting more and entering more shows. I also started a line of miniature acrylic paintings.
- 2012 – My husband and I moved to Maui. It was a lifelong dream for both of us to live in the Hawaiian Islands. Charlie had a business opportunity to purchase a printing company with his cousin in Lahaina. We both packed up our businesses and shipped them over. I gave myself a year to get established into my new community. Part of that goal was to get into one of the galleries in Lahaina. I met that goal within the first month of moving here. I reopened Art E Studio and got to work on promoting it. I became involved with Lahaina Arts Association three months after arriving here. Lahaina Arts Association is a 501©3 nonprofit organization that focuses on art education for the children of Maui County. The county includes the islands Lana’i and Moloka’i. We serve about 900 kids with 13 free weekly art classes and give out 6 college scholarships a year.
- 2013 – The editor of Walter Foster Publishing contacted me about doing a book on acrylic painting. The book features six artists giving step-by-step instructions designed to help master the art of painting in acrylic. The book “The Art of Painting in Acrylic” has been out since August 2014. Writing the book and working with such a great publishing company was a great experience. Walter Foster Publishing has been around since 1922. I first became familiar with them in the 70s through my parent’s gallery. There was a prominent wall in the art supply room dedicated to Walter Foster “step-by-step” books. I loved looking through them and learning new techniques. I began a collection of my favorites and would often buy older out-of-print books from yard and estate sales. Being approached by them and asked to write this book was a huge honor.
- Now here we are half way through 2016. I’m still painting, teaching, and exploring the art world. There is so much more to learn and so much more to do. The journey has been amazing so far, even with the many twists and turns. I love living the creative life and being surrounded by the beauty of the island. It’s so inspirational.
If you want to discover more about me, I invite you to read my interview.
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