Mongraw, Matthew

Matthew Mongraw is a self taught artist from Dartmouth who works primarily in acrylic paints, pencil and pen. Born in 1984, Matthew has been artistic throughout his life, and has worked in mediums including acrylics, pen, pencil, charcoal, pastel, and watercolour. 

Matthew's works consist of Landscapes and portraits reflecting the people and places around me with focus on a representational yet impressionistic style. He has completed commissions for portraits and landscapes for private commissions, as well as album artwork and concert posters.

Matthew's work has been commissioned by the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly, to be included in the permanent collection and Gallery at the Nova Scotia Province House. His work has been exhibited at the Woodlawn Public Library, Lawrencetown Beach Cafe, Zatzman Sportsplex, included in the Mosaic for Mental Health through the Canadian Mental Health Association, and featured on CTV Morning Live. Matthew has participated in group and solo exhibits at galleries throughout Nova Scotia. 

ARTIST STATEMENT

Currently my works are naturalistic, representational, often including metaphor and occasional surrealism. I am fortunate in that I live near the ocean as well as several bodies of water. I like to show the relationship between people and water and how their lives and activities revolve around water as a character in itself.  I find inspiration in the beautiful surroundings of where I live and the people around me. I will often find interest in either regular daily moments or seek out locations to hike or explore and then capture that joy in my paintings.