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! 

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 Heart of Winter
    The Heart of Winter
    Reduction Block Print, 4" x 6", 2021
  • Cantaloops
    Cantaloops
    Reduction Block Print, 4" x 6", 2021
  • Serpentwine
    Serpentwine
    Reduction Block Print, 4" x 6", 2021
  • Car-routes
    Car-routes
    Reduction Block Print, 6" x 4", 2022
  • Fjord
    Fjord
    Reduction Block Print, 4" x 6", 2021
  • Only Rose
    Only Rose
    Reduction Block Print, 6" x 4", 2021
  • Red Scent
    Red Scent
    Reduction Block Print, 4" x 6", 2022
  • Hydraulic
    Hydraulic
    Reduction Block Print, 11 3/4" x 7 1/2", 2022
  • Alleluia
    Alleluia
    Monotype, 9" x 12", 2022
  • Heart Strings
    Heart Strings
    Monotype, 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.
  • Iris
    Iris
    Oil on linen, 14" x 18", 2021
  • Flamer
    Flamer
    Oil on linen, 12" x 12", 2021
  • His Majesty
    His Majesty
    Oil on linen, 8" x 8", 2021
  • Her Highness
    Her Highness
    Oil on linen, 8" x 8", 2021
  • East of Andor
    East of Andor
    Oil on canvas, 22" x 28", 2021
  • Turner Road Studio
    Turner Road Studio
    Oil on linen, 12" x 16", 2021
  • Turner Road Pond
    Turner Road Pond
    Oil on linen, 16" x 18", 2021
  • Long Pond
    Long Pond
    Oil on linen, 9" x 17", 2021
  • Hallowe'en Hay
    Hallowe'en Hay
    Oil on linen panel, 10" x 12", 2021
  • Oldtime Milking Parlor
    Oldtime Milking Parlor
    Oil 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. 
  • Arctic Flock
    Arctic Flock
    Monotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Sunstruck Geese
    Sunstruck Geese
    Monotype, 8" x 15 1/2", 2020
  • Green Horse Gander
    Green Horse Gander
    Monotype, 12 1/2" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Indigo Geese
    Indigo Geese
    Monotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Tantric Flock
    Tantric Flock
    Monotype, 17" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Bedouin Flock
    Bedouin Flock
    Monotype, 15 1/2" x 8", 2020
  • Geese and Sycamores
    Geese and Sycamores
    Monotype with Intaglio, 15 3/4" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Geese in Peat
    Geese in Peat
    Monotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Sandhill Geese
    Sandhill Geese
    Monotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Tricolor Geese
    Tricolor Geese
    Monotype, 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.
  • Star Gate
    Star Gate
    Monotype, 14" x 10 3/8", 2020
  • Littoral
    Littoral
    Monotype, 15 3/4" x 10", 2020
  • Cirque
    Cirque
    Monotype, 15 5/8" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Quattrocento
    Quattrocento
    Monotype, 15 3/4" x 10 3/8", 2020
  • After Xul Solar
    After Xul Solar
    Monotype, 15 7/8" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Sargasso
    Sargasso
    Monotype, 15 7/8" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Carrara
    Carrara
    Monotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Eclipse
    Eclipse
    Monotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Eden Tree
    Eden Tree
    Monotype, 15 3/4" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Anasazi
    Anasazi
    Monotype, 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
  • Palimpsest
    Palimpsest
    Monotype, 15 7/8" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Medici
    Medici
    Monotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Dear Heart
    Dear Heart
    Monotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Golden Geese
    Golden Geese
    Mixed Media, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Indigo Geese
    Indigo Geese
    Monotype, 16 1/2" x 10 1/2", 2021
  • Arras
    Arras
    Monotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Phantom
    Phantom
    Monotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Doubt
    Doubt
    Monotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Arctic Flock
    Arctic Flock
    Monotype, 16" x 10 1/2", 2020
  • Blue Note
    Blue Note
    Monotype, 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.

  • Neighbor Pond
    Neighbor Pond
    Oil on linen, 22" x 28", 2020
  • Manner Pond
    Manner Pond
    Oil on linen, 22" x 28", 2020
  • Rutledge Truck
    Rutledge Truck
    Oil on linen, 26" x 29", 2020
  • Rutledge Farm
    Rutledge Farm
  • Lemon Road
    Lemon Road
    Oil on canvas, 18" x 24", 2020
  • Manner Pond II
    Manner Pond II
    Oil on linen, 22" x 28", 2020
  • Autumn Ridge
    Autumn Ridge
    Oil on linen, 20" x 30", 2020
  • Thanksgiving--Dunmore
    Thanksgiving--Dunmore
    Oil 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. 
  • Ocean Barrier
    Ocean Barrier
    oil on linen, 10" x 12", 2014
  • Estuary Fog
    Estuary Fog
    oil on linen, 14" x 18", 2013--15
  • Coffin
    Coffin
    oil on linen, 10" x 12", 2015
  • Horse Head, Beach Meadows
    Horse Head, Beach Meadows
    oil on linen, 14" x 18", 2015
  • Little Port l'Hébert
    Little Port l'Hébert
    Oil on linen, 9" x 12", 2016
  • Gull Rock
    Gull Rock
    Oil on linen panel, 10" x 12", 2018
  • Blue Island
    Blue Island
    Oil on linen panel, 10" x 12", 2018
  • House on the Rocks
    House on the Rocks
    Oil on linen panel, 10" x12", 2018
  • Jones Harbor
    Jones Harbor
    Oil on linen, 8" x 10", 2018
  • Outcrop Rock, Johnstons Beach
    Outcrop Rock, Johnstons Beach
    Oil on linen panel, 10" x 12", 2019