Grace Mehan DeVito graduated from The School of Visual Arts with a BFA in Illustration. After a decade of creating art for publishing, advertising, and packaging she turned towards fine art portraiture, still life, and figurative painting. She furthered her studies with workshops led by leading contemporary realists.

Grace has painted portraits of distinguished business leaders, hospital presidents, department chairs, university leaders, heads of school and many prominent families. Her still lifes of cotton, cat tails and primal matter are sought after and collected globally. Grace was invited to paint in the first Grand Central Atelier Still Life Competition in 2014 and also invited to participate in the Inspiring Figures Show at The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio. She has Signature Status with the Portrait Society of America and has won first place in commissioned portraits twice in the Members Only Show. Grace was the first recipient in the David Leffel Award for Excellence in Painting.

The inspiration for The Beekeeper is C. Marina Marchese, beekeeper, honey sommelier, author of four books on beekeeping and honey tasting, and friend of the artist. “Marina has a certain mien that I wanted to capture and I am inspired by her singularly focused interest. I chose to put her in an interior setting after studies near the hives proved too distracting from her presence. Wearing her jacket and veil, surrounded by her collection of antique woven beehives and holding a hive scraper, she is a resolute figure in her element.”