METTA MYERS
American Contemporary Realist Painter
Mediums
- Oil painting
- Lithography on stone
- Pen, ink, and chalk drawing
Training
- The Corcoran School of Art, Washington, D.C.
- The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajauto, Mexico
- Studied drawing and painting under Greek painter and professor Periklis Pagratis and American figurative painter Danni Dawson (apprentice of portrait painter Nelson Shanks)
Brief Background History
After studying at the Corcoran School of Art from 1971 to 1973 with notable artists such as Gene Davis and William Christenberry, Metta traveled to Mexico to attend the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes. She was drawn to this peaceful place with its mild climate to concentrate on figure drawing.
In 1978 Metta took up residence in Santa Barbara, California. She began to visit ballet studios to get ideas for her work. Eventually she rented a room at the Royal Ballet School of Santa Barbara, so she could study the movement of dancers. The ballet master, Alexander Nigodoff, allowed her to photograph, sketch, and paint the dance troupe, in the studio as well as backstage during rehearsals.
Current Project
Metta is using sketches and live models to create a series of ballet scenes on wood panels in her studio near Washington, D.C. Her treatment of light and shadow, known as chiaroscuro, produces the illusion of depth, which gives the paintings a dramatic effect.