Mary Pettis

 "I am often asked, "How did the two of you meet?"   

Haha...it's quite the story!  

About 15 years ago, Mary and her dear friend, Gretchen Stein, were having a conversation when Gretchen suggested Mary needed someone by her side as she moved forward in her professional painting career. She proposed that Mary start envisioning this person entering her life and them working together. At about the same time, I was growing tired of my job in the corporate world and wanted to utilize more of my skills. 

Not long after that, through a series of synchronicities, I ended up at a dinner at her house in Taylors Falls - two hours away from where I live! As we spoke that night, she expressed her interest in working with someone who could help her with the business side - which piqued my interest. 

Six weeks later, when I found myself in her living room again, I brought up my curiosity about working together - which she confirmed she had also been considering. We agreed that the universe was definitely trying to tell us something!  We decided to meet and talk further once she returned from a painting competition in Maui and I returned from a yoga retreat in Bali. 

When I arrived at her house for the meeting, she had a 5-year plan all mapped out. I was impressed! I had no experience in the art world - or the realist / plein air traditions - but was quite certain I had all the skills needed. After much conversation, we decided to work together. (Once we decided, I pulled 2 consecutive Dove Chocolates out of the bowl on her table and BOTH messages inside said,  "You are exactly where you are meant to be." Those two foil wrappers are now framed and hanging on my office wall.) In many ways our business partnership was a giant leap of faith...guided by trust, a willingness to learn, and a bit of divine intervention. 

Mary and I have been working together since 2012. We are business partners. I handle everything about the business so that she can paint and teach. 

Mary's paintings are extraordinary. They live and breathe—they uplift and inspire. They are Poetic. Musical. Timeless. Breathtaking. To stand in front of her paintings - to live with them every day - is to be in the presence of immeasurable beauty. 

It is an honor to stand aside her and help bring her paintings into the hearts and lives of others." ~Jen

When it comes to art, some things just simply cannot be evaluated from a distance.

Last summer, sculptor James Shoop—whose artwork many of you know and love—was visiting New York City and mentioned my name to fellow artist friend: Steven Assael. 

After an initial conversation with Steven, which left me deeply curious, I did what felt necessary: I booked a flight, cleared a day, and flew to NYC to meet with him and see his work in person. 

I am so glad I did.

Standing in Steven's studio, surrounded by his canvases and graphite drawings, I experienced something that is genuinely difficult to articulate. His work doesn’t just invite you to look — it pulls you in - and keeps you there. 

Steven’s paintings are exquisite — technically extraordinary, emotionally layered, and narratively bold. They explore humanity with honesty and courage, including the parts of the human experience that are complicated, tender, and real. 

Where people often look away, Steven looks directly in. His subjects are often the unseen, the unconsidered — and through his hand, their story becomes impossible to ignore. It is mesmerizing. It pushes edges. And it stays with you long after you have left the room. 

Decision made. 

~ Jen