Mary E. Shipnes (1908-2001) US, Oil on Canvas Still Life. Mountain View California Provenance. This impressionist still life work features a vibrantly colored bouquet of yellow, pink and orange flowers. Signed, lower right Overall Size: 32 1/4 x 26 3/8 in. Sight Size: 23 3/8 x 17 3/8 in. #5621 Mary Ellen Shipnes was born and raised in Indiana in 1908. Shipnes received her formal art training in 1925 at the Boston School of Fine Arts and Crafts, now the College of Fine Arts at Boston University, Massachusetts. One of her instructors was Charles Hopkinson, an American portrait painter and landscape watercolorist. She furthered her education at The Art Institute of Chicago, studying graphic arts and etching under artist Francis Chapin. Shipnes  was popular for her oil and watercolor landscapes, featuring scenes of the Southwest and depictions of Victorian architecture in Galveston, Houston, and other Texas communities. She gravitated toward historic buildings due to the experiential depth of age and decay found nowhere in Houston’s modern structures. Shipnes participated in invitational group shows at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and art fairs at the Art League of Houston. Her works were exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston and Texas Society of Painters and Sculptors at Laguna Gloria, Austin. George H.W. Bush, de facto ambassador to China between 1974 and 1975, commissioned Shipnes to paint a Texas scene in his diplomatic residence in Beijing; he would later request another artwork during his vice presidency.