Myra Porter began painting in 2015, after running a successful Day Spa in South Miami for decades. She also studied law at the University of Miamin the early nineties, and passed the Florida Bar,

Myra considers herself an abstract expressionist, with a concentration on abstract landscapes. She enjoys the process of mark making and finding shapes through studying her marks, as if the painting speaks to her throughout its completion.

Landscapes are her main subject, specifically the views on her two-hundred-acre farm. Myra sometimes incorporates figures, or a suggestion of a figure in the landscape. Her pallets usually consist of greens, blues, yellows, and pops of white, pinks, and browns. She also favors oranges and reds.

Myra began studying for a Master of Fine Art at the University of Miami in the fall of 2018. Covid-19 put the brakes on that plan. By Spring 2020, classes were no longer be in-person. The remote- Zoom only instruction prompted Myra to opt out of the University MFA program. Instead, she turned a nine hundred square foot space in her Miami Day Spa into a large art studio. She hired a fellow M.F.A. student to teach her in person, as well as give her staff drawing and painting classes. A large collaboration canvas hung during staff meetings with marks made on it from each staff member. These Collaborations became the salon’s focal artwork and are now part of Myra’s permanent Art Collection.

The Collaborative work that came from the Covid-19 period expanded Myra’s painting process to include painting with other artists at her farm, as well as with her beloved grandchildren. Myra particularly loves to start a canvas with a group of artists or one of her grandchildren, and then study and finish the painting over time. She believes young children are the best artistic learning experience: watching them go at it without fear or ego, as they enjoy the “no rules” process she has taught them. One of Myra’s grandchildren, Joseph, has been painting regularly with her since he turned one. Her nickname for Joseph is Picasso.

Before her university study, Myra traveled abroad for painting retreats, where she first learned that she enjoys painting alongside other artists. Many of her paintings began with photographs from her travels in the U.S. and abroad, including South Africa, Ireland, Spain, and Amsterdam. However, Myra finds that her favorite images are those of her Tennessee farm property. Reference photos from inspiring artists: Van Gogh, Matisse, Cezanne, Gauguin, Picasso, and Pissarro have shaped her style as well.