Mary Lou Steinberg’s saccharine art will be displayed in Abide Coffeehouse through April 2023.
“Lemon Tart” by Mary Lou Steinberg.
Mary Lou Steinberg’s art collection of dessert experiences is featured at Abide Coffeehouse during April.
”Petite Macaroons” by Mary Lou Steinberg.
“Crème Brûlée” by Mary Lou Steinberg.
WILKES-BARRE — This collection will activate your sweet tooth! Mary Lou Steinberg is Artist of the Month at Abide Coffeehouse, where her art will be displayed throughout April 2023.
The art selected for Abide Coffeehouse is an appropriate, heavenly match for the bustling Wilkes-Barre café. The collection was inspired by desserts Steinberg experienced along her life travels; from fruit tarts she tasted in France to fabulous desserts made by Amberdonia Bakery in Kingston.
As you may also notice with these pieces, she especially loves working with oil pastels to create her masterpieces. “Pastel is my primary medium. Pastel, I find, grounds me, centers me,” said Steinberg.
The featured pieces are ones she’s been working on over the past few years, many created at her studio located upstairs at Marquis Art and Frame in Wilkes-Barre.
“I’ve been an artist all my life,” said Mary Lou Steinberg. “My mother bought me a set of art supplies called Miss Frances’s Ding Dong School. She had paper, crayons, water crayons, and I must have been six or seven when I first got that. And, I’ve just been creating art ever since.”
Steinberg is not only a lifelong artist but also a lifelong resident of the Wyoming Valley. Steinberg has participated in cultivating the local arts in a variety of ways throughout her life, from being an independent artist to being an art teacher. She has been a member of the Wyoming Valley Art League since 1992. She earned her degree in art education from Misericordia and furthered her creative studies at Alfred University, Marywood University, and Peters Valley School of Crafts.
After teaching art to children for 35 years at Wyoming Valley West School District, Steinberg retired in 2004. Then, she came right back out of retirement to join the Visual Arts department at Wilkes University where Steinberg became an adjunct professor. She came there just to fill in for a semester — and then ended up teaching for another thirteen years.
Since retiring from teaching a second time, Steinberg has been focusing more on her own creations. Every year, Steinberg enters the Fine Arts Fiesta and she was one of their artists in residence in 2022.
Steinberg loves experimenting in the art realm with different colors, subjects, and crafts. In addition to pastel work, she also enjoys trying different mediums like print-making, ceramics, and other new skills. She’s even learning paintbrush making this summer!
“People say you’ve got to find your style and you’ve just got to do one thing. But most artists work in many, many mediums. De Gaulle comes to mind, Picasso comes to mind, the prints of Mary Cassatt, Andy Warhol — ” said Steinberg. “It’s good to change up a little bit, and then I come back to my pastels.”
Steinberg adores creating her own works of art, but she says teaching others to express themselves has been the most rewarding. “My main contribution, I think, was being an educator in the public school. So many public schools are getting rid of the arts and art education, and that’s sad because children need that,” said Steinberg.
It’s wonderful seeing what this accomplished artist has to offer. Come admire the walls of Abide Coffeehouse this month with Mary Lou Steinberg’s collection of French-inspired and locally-made treats that will having you adding a pastry onto your order. The pieces on display are for sale.
