About Mary
Baltimore County
In the last year, I have been painting around Monkton near the small horse farm where my husband and I and other assorted animals live . My paintings are smaller and brighter than they used to be. I have also been making small reduction block prints, printed by hand instead of with the big press I used to use. At Manor Mill, the neighborhood community art center and gallery, I have had the pleasure of teaching other people how to make these block prints; the results have been astonishing!
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Prints 2021-22
A reduction block print I made for Valentine's Day in 2021 got me started with this medium. I liked
the way the rubbery speedo blocks and water soluble inks left an uneven surface that allowed colors from the previous layers to show through. I didn't mind if the registration was not perfect. They had softer edges and looked like paintings; I liked this. In "Red Scent" from 2022, I went further and scuffed up the surface deliberately; it glinted and shimmered like intaglio.
My 5 year old grandson brought on the monotypes: he wanted to make musical instruments!
the way the rubbery speedo blocks and water soluble inks left an uneven surface that allowed colors from the previous layers to show through. I didn't mind if the registration was not perfect. They had softer edges and looked like paintings; I liked this. In "Red Scent" from 2022, I went further and scuffed up the surface deliberately; it glinted and shimmered like intaglio.
My 5 year old grandson brought on the monotypes: he wanted to make musical instruments!
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The Heart of WinterReduction Block Print, 4" x 6", 2021
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CantaloopsReduction Block Print, 4" x 6", 2021
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SerpentwineReduction Block Print, 4" x 6", 2021
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Car-routesReduction Block Print, 6" x 4", 2022
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FjordReduction Block Print, 4" x 6", 2021
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Only RoseReduction Block Print, 6" x 4", 2021
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Red ScentReduction Block Print, 4" x 6", 2022
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HydraulicReduction Block Print, 11 3/4" x 7 1/2", 2022
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AlleluiaMonotype, 9" x 12", 2022
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Heart StringsMonotype, 12" x 9", 2022
Seasonal Paintings 2021
These are mostly small, quick, and shaggy outdoor paintings, attempting to capture some effects of afternoon light and moving air. Most were done at the end of a long day spent on other things.
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IrisOil on linen, 14" x 18", 2021
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FlamerOil on linen, 12" x 12", 2021
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His MajestyOil on linen, 8" x 8", 2021
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Her HighnessOil on linen, 8" x 8", 2021
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East of AndorOil on canvas, 22" x 28", 2021
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Turner Road StudioOil on linen, 12" x 16", 2021
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Turner Road PondOil on linen, 16" x 18", 2021
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Long PondOil on linen, 9" x 17", 2021
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Hallowe'en HayOil on linen panel, 10" x 12", 2021
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Oldtime Milking ParlorOil on linen, 10" x 16", 2022
Gathering Geese
March is a big month for geese where I live, and these monotypes were what I worked on during the first six weeks of Covid-19 Quarantine. They started out with a foundation of intaglio but soon they were being made just of cutout shapes of geese, multiple overlapping stencils, and layers of colors applied in varying ways and arranged in a vertical, scroll-like format.
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Arctic FlockMonotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
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Sunstruck GeeseMonotype, 8" x 15 1/2", 2020
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Green Horse GanderMonotype, 12 1/2" x 10 1/2", 2020
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Indigo GeeseMonotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
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Tantric FlockMonotype, 17" x 10 1/2", 2020
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Bedouin FlockMonotype, 15 1/2" x 8", 2020
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Geese and SycamoresMonotype with Intaglio, 15 3/4" x 10 1/2", 2020
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Geese in PeatMonotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
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Sandhill GeeseMonotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
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Tricolor GeeseMonotype, 12 3/4" x 10 1/2", 2020
Tantric Collection
This is an ongoing series of monotypes inspired by sacred tantric paintings made by "tantrikas", painters in Rajasthan, India, and collected in a book called "Tantric Song ". Thinking about them, meditating on the reproduced original, and making them--one segueing naturally into yet another--has been an oddly joyful experience in this strange time of separation and turmoil.
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Star GateMonotype, 14" x 10 3/8", 2020
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LittoralMonotype, 15 3/4" x 10", 2020
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CirqueMonotype, 15 5/8" x 10 1/2", 2020
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QuattrocentoMonotype, 15 3/4" x 10 3/8", 2020
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After Xul SolarMonotype, 15 7/8" x 10 1/2", 2020
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SargassoMonotype, 15 7/8" x 10 1/2", 2020
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CarraraMonotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
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EclipseMonotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
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Eden TreeMonotype, 15 3/4" x 10 1/2", 2020
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AnasaziMonotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
Palimpsest Series
This is a selection from three series of monotypes I did during the first summer of the Covid quarantine. The geese belong to the first group and were made with masking and cut-out shapes that could be re-used throughout the series. The images of the other two series are abstract. They were inspired by a collection of small, ancient Tantric paintings created for meditation practice. In these, I was fascinated by the stains and marks (as well as tears), that read like natural palimpsests suggesting age and previous incarnations
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PalimpsestMonotype, 15 7/8" x 10 1/2", 2020
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MediciMonotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
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Dear HeartMonotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
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Golden GeeseMixed Media, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
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Indigo GeeseMonotype, 16 1/2" x 10 1/2", 2021
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ArrasMonotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
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PhantomMonotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
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DoubtMonotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
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Arctic FlockMonotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
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Blue NoteMonotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
Paintings 2020
I painted these colorful, airy landscapes more like drawings in the summer of 2020 and they offered a break from the dark, closed-in months of quarantine.
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Neighbor PondOil on linen, 22" x 28", 2020
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Manner PondOil on linen, 22" x 28", 2020
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Rutledge TruckOil on linen, 26" x 29", 2020
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Rutledge Farm
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Lemon RoadOil on canvas, 18" x 24", 2020
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Manner Pond IIOil on linen, 22" x 28", 2020
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Autumn RidgeOil on linen, 20" x 30", 2020
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Thanksgiving--DunmoreOil on linen, 24" x 36", 2020
Along the coast in southwestern Nova Scotia
In the late summer, I paint along the southwest coast of Nova Scotia. The air can be cool and vaporous when rain or fog are on the way, while at other times, above and below you see the bluest of blues.
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Ocean Barrieroil on linen, 10" x 12", 2014
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Estuary Fogoil on linen, 14" x 18", 2013--15
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Coffinoil on linen, 10" x 12", 2015
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Horse Head, Beach Meadowsoil on linen, 14" x 18", 2015
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Little Port l'HébertOil on linen, 9" x 12", 2016
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Gull RockOil on linen panel, 10" x 12", 2018
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Blue IslandOil on linen panel, 10" x 12", 2018
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House on the RocksOil on linen panel, 10" x12", 2018
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Jones HarborOil on linen, 8" x 10", 2018
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Outcrop Rock, Johnstons BeachOil on linen panel, 10" x 12", 2019
Waterways and Harbors in southwestern Nova Scotia
It was not possible to go to Nova Scotia this year. These are paintings of marshes, waterways, and harbors from other recent years.
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Johnstons Beach, NorthOil on linen panel, 10" x 16", 2019
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Cove OvercastOil on linen panel, 14" x 18", 2019
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Sable River EstuaryOil on linen, 14" x 18", 2019
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Old Ferry Landing, East SableOil on linen panel, 10" x 12", 2019
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Green HarborOil on linen, 9" x 17", 2019
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Lockeport BeachOil on linen, 9" x 12", 2017
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Lobster ShedsOil on canvas, 20" x 20", 2019
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Ginger HillOil on linen, 10" x 13", 2017
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Salt PondOil on linen, 11" x 14", 2019
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West Head View of LockeportOil on linen panel, 12" x 16", 2018