Evy McLean's Biography

Evy’s work is inspired by nature, especially the tenacious, inconspicuous forms growing in the rugged west. Exploring the natural world around her, Evy captures the often unnoticed and curious shapes with her macro lens. Seedpods, thistles, fungi and cones fill the frame with their intricate structures, and the complex micro-landscapes are aggrandized in oil on canvas and paper.

          Evy began her art career at a young age, making signs for local events in Dallas, Texas. She began formal art instruction at age fifteen, and after completing an intensive study of commercial art in high school, she was awarded a scholarship to The Dallas Art Institute and graduated with honors. This led her into a career in Advertising Design, where she soon earned a position as Art Director for a design firm in Dallas, and then started her own design business in 1987. In the early 90’s, Evy decided to pursue a fine art degree and also began teaching art to students in Texas. She completed a BFA in painting from Texas Women’s University, after raising three boys, and accepted a teaching position in Colorado, where she taught art to K-12th grade students in San Luis for 6 years and volunteered at Ventero Open Press Fine Art with her husband, Randy Pijoan.

          Fine art printmaking became another passionate pursuit in 2008, and Evy studied various methods of etching at Southern Methodist University in Dallas for several years. While teaching art in Colorado, Evy began her fine art business and was soon selected by the state of Colorado to create two large (8’ x 5’) site-specific paintings that now hang in Richardson Hall at Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado. Commissioned by Colorado Creative Industries, they are now part of their permanent collection. She also has paintings in the permanent collection of Texas Women’s University in Denton, Texas. Her work has been exhibited in multiple juried shows in Texas, Colorado, California and Oregon. Her paintings, etchings and monotypes can be viewed on her website at www.evymclean.com, where she can also be contacted.     

          Evy recently relocated to Oregon with her husband, where she teaches secondary art in Portland and enjoys exploring the Pacific northwest.