马小娟笔下有疏影横斜，有一帘幽梦。她喜欢画江南女子。她笔下的江南女子，眼睛都高高的，额头几乎成了“斜坡”，比明代画家陈老莲画得还怪，但是，从中却分明透出清高、古雅、柔和、内敛、幽静之美。这些美女往往处于江南园林的环境中，弥漫着朦胧的水气和无法言说的氛围。马小娟画的江南女子恰如她的南京同乡、名作家叶兆言所说，是水做的骨肉，柔情蜜意，仿佛春天的彩蝶，是水中月，是镜中花，具有最快乐的天性，是美好生活的一部分，生性不愁，最适合居家过日子。马小娟的江南仕女画在艺术上也与众不同。当外界都热衷于写意画时，马小娟独钟工笔画。当外界在追求强烈的视觉冲击力之时，她却在营造比古典更古典的柔美。但她的工笔画并不“纯粹”，而是糅合了写意画的灵动、抒情和含蓄。最重要的是她画得很真实。马小娟说她对生活非常容易满足，也没有大的起落。这既是缺陷也是优点，所以，她画画始终那么从容不迫，不紧不慢，丝毫没有浮躁之气。近年来，她的画风有所变化，开始关注起上海大都市女性的生活，但是，那些走出江南园林的淑女们尽管穿上了旗袍时装，背景也可能变换成时髦的“新天地”，但是骨子里还是马小娟式那不变的古典风韵。真所谓是古典与现代的完美结合。

 Aesthetic mood —— Commentary on paintings by Ma Xiaojuan

　　There is the setting sun shining slantwise and dreams behind the curtain in pictures by Ma Xiaojuan. She likes to draw women living in the south of Yangtze River, who always have fine eyes upwards and “slope” forehead; and she made these female figures stranger than those drawn by Chen Hongshou, a painter in Ming dynasty. Beauties drawn by Ma Xiaojuan, however, appear pure, elegant, soft, introverted and quiet; they always stay in gardens of the South of Yangtze River, being permeated with moisture there, and, just as famous writer Ye Zhaoyan said, are full of tender affectionate love, being like moon in the water and flowers reflected in the mirror, and are very happy in their daily life. Ma Xiaojuan has her own way of drawing beauties living in the south of Yangtze River. She is fond of meticulous painting while others are deeply interested in freehand brushwork painting; she draws softer beauties while others lay stress on the shock to vision. Her meticulous paintings, however, are not so “pure”, combined with lyric and reserved. It is the most important for her to make pictures truly. Ma Xiaojuan said that there are no great ups and downs in her life; and therefore, her paintings show us her calm and unhurried, composed and steady. In recent years, her style of painting has been somewhat changed; she began to pay attention to female living in big cities. Beauties from garden of the south of Yangtze River drawn by Ma Xiaojuan are graceful in reality although they are at fashionable “Xintiandi” and in cheongsams or in latest dresses. It is a perfect combination of the classical and the modern.