Mariana washing paintbrushes under faucet

Around here

art has a way

of pointing you to your

true north.

An easel holds a painting of a nude woman sitting on a stool, with various drawings, sketches, and art supplies hanging on the wall and placed nearby.

I’m not talking about just any art. I’m talking about the kind of art that’s a beacon for your soul, capturing every cell in your body like that love-at-first-sight lightning.

It’s weird. But it’s undeniable.

When you collect art that stirs you, it becomes a symbol of your soul… a souvenir of your internal explorations that points straight to your core.

The song that moved you to tears.

The performance you couldn’t get out of your head.

The breathtaking sunset on your drive back home.

Art like that, is the kind worth surrounding yourself with because it speaks to what matters deeply to you, you beautiful soul.

A realistic painting of a woman with blonde hair, eyes closed, facing slightly to the right, with a calm expression.

to you…

…Bittersweet Appreciator…

…Golden Hour Lover…

…Daydream Believer…

I say, welcome!

I’m Mariana Durst

emerging fine Artist in Rochester, mi

I create abstract and portrait paintings from a place of curiosity and exploration. Painting is a healing practice where I ask complex questions while chasing for answers on the canvas.

More than something I do, ART is a state of being 24/7…

but it wasn’t always like this

A corner of a room featuring a wooden window with a view of trees and bushes outside. Inside, there is a white cushioned window seat with pillows, and a sketch of a woman on an open drawing pad on a white table bearing two markers.

A woman with dark brown hair smiling touch her right ear, wearing a beige dress and a cream cardigan, standing outdoors on a pathway with wooden benches on either side and string lights overhead. Green foliage in the background.

A garage standing alone on a driveway with trees showing fall foliage surrounding it.

Even with a Bachelor's in Fine Arts from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit and three creative businesses, life took its usual twists and turns that led me to abandon a consistent artistic practice for years. After raising a family and helping other artists sell their art online through my business, Mariana Durst Studio, I was jolted back to painting.

I’m an ultralearner by nature. Once something captures my attention, I disappear down the rabbit hole willingly. I study the masters. Read the books. Fill sketchbooks. Rewatch demonstrations. Paint. Wipe it off. Paint it again.

I'm less interested in finding shortcuts than in becoming the kind of artist who earns her instincts the long way around. Every painting is another experiment. Another lesson in seeing more clearly than I did the day before.

artist statement

Art-making connects me to the essence of being human.

The ability to feel captured by beauty lifts my spirit and grounds me in the present moment and to something bigger than myself. Painting allows me to extend that feeling of inspiration into infinite moments — I immerse myself in it while I'm painting, while I'm contemplating the work, and then I put it out into the world.

It's communication, connection, transformation, understanding, transcendence.

Isn't that what it means to be alive?

Interior of a room with textured beige walls, a large window with black frames, a wooden table with two black and one beige chairs, a floor lamp, and decorative vases on a side table.

Today you’ll find me covered in paint spatters, immersed in art day in and day out… just how I like it.

Explore available paintings

Line drawing of a barn with a peaked roof and double doors, surrounded by trees and a fence, with a clear sky background.