About the Artist

                                                                              MARIA E. FERRAN

Maria was born in Massachusetts in 1962, and lived in Williamstown, home of Williams College and Williamstown Summerstock Theatre. At the age of four she moved with her family to Buenos aires, Argentina and then on to New York in 1969 where she grew up and attended school in Northport, Long Island.

At the age of six she was selected for a gifted and talented summer arts program called "Art Start" and was the youngest participant in an accelerated intensive studio art workshop. This early influence brought Maria to an early understanding of her innate creative talent and maturity. Life on Long Island provided Maria with much artistic inspiration, and she continued to excel in art and writing throughout her years in school there. 

Maria graduated from Northport High School and went on to study fine arts at the all women's Sweet Briar College in Virginia. There she studied under the late Professor Lauren Oliver, a student of Mark Rothko at Tulane University. He compared her landscape paintings and print work to Diebenkorn and Kandinski, with their highly charged, vivid colors and intense kinesthetic gesture.

She went on to study painting at New York's prestigious School of Visual Arts, and worked under notable artists such as Frank Roth, Andy Gerndt, Steven Smulka and Janice Provisor. There, she studied figure drawing and continued painting landscapes, portraits and honed her abstract expressionistic painting style.

This period has highly formative for Maria--she lived in New York city and immersed herself in the early '80's New York art scene, ruled by Andy Warhol and eventually her emerging School of Visual Arts colleagues Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Maria met Andy Warhol and privately conferenced with him in Greenwich Village, and became friends with poet and Warhol photographer Gerard Malanga who photographed her with the iconic pop artist. Maria's work continued to develop over the years, and her compelling, and highly original works continue to evolve into important archival bodies of creative documentary and expression.


Maria began writing in her early twenties and explored short story,  sitcom and screen writing. Maria wrote her first comedic spec screenplay "Natural Hazards", and a Seinfeld Episode "The Miracle" which was read and covered by Seinfeld staff .  Though not purchased, her scripts were praised for originality and commercial potential, and Maria continued to explore her writing career, while also pursuing a career in sales, marketing and executive search in order to pay the bills. Her career brought her to London, New York and finally Charlotte, NC where she resides today. 


Maria's faith life has matured and developed over the years since early childhood when her mother would take her to church. Her relationship with God is very dear and personal. She credits her guardian angel for saving her life countless times and thanks God daily for His abiding love in her heart and in the world. Her goal in life is to understand God's will in her life and live it to the fullest for His glory. She believes God's message is simple and He reaches each of His children uniquely and directly.