Alumni
Maihaa Rayne (Mary Backman) ’72
I have been interested in and creating artworks in many media for as long as I can remember, going back to Kindergarten, when I was five years old and wanted to go to school so I could have access to various art materials. My first exposure to watercolours as a painting medium was when I was eighteen years old and in my Senior year of High School in Bemidji, Minnesota. I painted a scene of a Vietnamese soldier guarding the entrance to a cave to protect his wife, breastfeeding their newborn child, hiding out to survive during wartime, and I gifted this to my art teacher, who had supplied the materials for me, and also wrote a letter supporting my Admission and Scholarship to SLC. After my seventy-third birthday, I desired to create a series of watercolours commemorating memories of many springtimes in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, during their yearly Tulip Festival, and was able to show these at a Solo Exhibit at the OSA (Ottawa School of Art) during a six-month Artist-in-Residence program, September 2023-April 2024.
Looking at You Looking at Me
"Looking at You Looking at Me" - Original Watercolour painting of a fringed Maroon Tulip with Bee (photograph Credit to my son, Bryan Backman-Beharry, incorporated with his permission) - Collage in Shadowbox by Maihaa Rayne (c) 2024.
Maroon Tulip close-up
Close-up of a maroon tulip inspired by a photograph by my son, Bryan Backman-Beharry (Photo Credit, and used with his permission). Private Collection (gifted to him in thanks for sharing of his vision).
