After earning her BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art, Mary Hoffman focused primarily on the portrait and the figure. In 2005, the artist discovered painting “en plein air" (a French term for painting out in the open air) and began creating stunning landscapes that capture the atmosphere of the world all around. Light is an important element in Hoffman’s paintings; each is a depiction of the artist’s cumulative experience of the lighting and weather conditions throughout her painting day. In her work, Hoffman aims to “show the viewer that the things usually taken for granted are really worth a second look.”