MARY-JANE STEFFENS | 2ND PLACE
2025 PASTEL COMPETITION

Mary-Jane Steffens began her creative career as a graphic and web designer in Nelson, New Zealand, where she honed her eye for composition, color, and visual storytelling. Though she continues to work as a designer, it is her pastel artwork that has brought her well-deserved recognition and a growing audience.

With Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt as key influences, Steffens’ pastel pieces are built from thousands of directional pencil strokes, layering color and form with a technique that forsakes blending in favor of texture and movement. “Each piece is built up with multiple passes,” she explains, “and with each pass I make corrections and changes. The final passes are all about the finer details and highlights”.

This year, Steffens won the General Section of the Pastel Artists of New Zealand (PANZ) Purely Pastel National Exhibition with her evocative piece Hope in Sepia, a work that exemplifies her signature style—layered, luminous, and emotionally resonant.

We interviewed Steffens about her art.

After two decades as a graphic and web designer, what tipped the scales toward becoming a full-time fine artist?

Originally my plan was to work as a designer to have a steady income while pursuing my art. But, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, I became very busy with design work. That left little time for my art, which I could only do in occasional spare moments.

But after a few too many burnouts from overworking and then hitting 45, I had a real wake-up call. I realized that if I didn’t change direction, I might never achieve my dream of becoming a full-time artist. So, I decided to change my focus from design work, which I still do part-time, and began focusing on my art career. Thankfully, I have an incredible husband who’s my biggest fan and supporter.

You’ve said that Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt are major influences for you—what aspects of their work do you find yourself returning to most often?

Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt are two artists that I have loved since I was a teenager, and my love for their work has never ebbed. Their impressionist style continues to inspire me, but I’ve always been drawn to Degas’ dancers and figure work. His ability to capture movement, backstage moments, and the intimacy of everyday life is beautiful.

I find Mary Cassatt’s work charming. Her depictions of family life and children are so natural and authentic. She reveals the true character of her subjects with such tenderness and honesty.

What drew you to portraiture and figural work?

People and the human form fascinate me and trying to capture personality and emotion is a great challenge. Drawing people feels like it is inherently a part of who I am.

Why did you choose pastels as your medium?

That’s a really good question. Ultimately, I love to draw and pastels are my comfort place. I tried acrylic and oil painting but always went back to pastels. I’m drawn to it because it is similar to drawing, yet it allows me to use many of the same principles and techniques used in painting. I also love challenging the perception that pastels are a limited medium. They are often underestimated, yet they can produce rich, expressive, and dynamic works of art.

Your work has a distinctive softness and emotional resonance. How would you describe your style?

I explore classical poses and compositions with an impressionist influence. My aim is to create artwork that draws you in and rewards close observation. My work is built up of multiple layers of hatching line work revealing color that you may not expect.

How do you choose the subjects for your portraits?

My subjects are all dancers who have a natural grace and awareness of their bodies whether still or moving. This can produce very dynamic compositions. My close-up portraits are about drama; big, bold, flowing hair with the contrast of soft faces. Lighting is also a big factor which adds to the drama.

What do you hope viewers see in your work?

From observing people first seeing my work, they are attracted to the pose/composition first, but when they get up close that’s when they get much more animated. They didn’t expect to see that the work was made from layers of built-up lines. I once had a judge say that she loved seeing touches of green, and I’m thinking, I don’t use green – then I realized she was seeing blue line on top of yellow. The only place I do any blending in my work is the base of the hair and backgrounds.

I am super aware that portrait and figure work is a narrower field. I want to produce artwork that appeals to a wider audience. I hope that viewers are drawn in by a dramatic or even soft classical scene and then held there, caught up in exploring the linework and colors up close. I want viewers to experience joy and fascination for the artwork as well as an appreciation for how beautiful the human form is.

Steffens is represented by Wall to Wall Art Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand; Mapua Gallery, Mapua, New Zealand; and Nelson Suter Art Society, Nelson, New Zealand.

All images © Mary-Jane Steffens, shared with permission.