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FASO Collector Recommends: Mary Gehley
Biography
Mary Gehley is a mixed media painter and gourd artist whose art combines abstract forms with figurative or representational subjects. Her background in quilting and textile art contributes to the sensitivity of color, composition and texture in her current work. Her sense of curiosity and love of experimentation combine with a patient attention to detail, allowing her to create work playfully splashed with multiple layers of paint, papers, crayon and markers combined with areas of fine precision. Mary’s work is at times whimsical and lighthearted, at times contemplative and soulful. She is inspired by the beauty of her gardens, the mysteries of hidden layers and connections, and the excitement of exploration and discovery.
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once they grow up”.
I’ve come full circle.
I remember in elementary school we had dedicated art time. The teacher played music and we would quietly draw or color. A welcome respite for the teacher, it was also a favorite time for me. I still love the smell of crayons. checked my seams and if they weren’t straight, I had to pick out those stitches and do it over. She taught me to create with precision and detail. . . Later, high school and college art courses were a break from academics - life drawing, ceramics, design, but by this time, I was in “compare and despair” mode. . . I believed others’ work was always better than mine. I believed I would never be good enough at this art thing, so I put away my pencils and crayons.
As young wife and mother, I discovered quilting. The sewing machine was my old friend - an opportunity for creativity and reconnection with memories of Grandma Eva. Creating bed quilts, art quilts, quilting by hand or machine, I felt connected to history and stories, particularly women’s stories. I fell in love with fabrics, color play, and shape relationships. In 2004, I discovered gourd art making. Like quilting, gourding has strong connections to history and the human story. I learned to clean, cut, woodburn, carve and color gourds. My daughter joined me in creating the Corona Gourd Company. I shared my gourd fascination with others through art fairs, workshops and videos. I connected with a local art group to share my gourd love. Seeing the paintings and drawings in the gallery sparked my desire to draw again, and to learn to paint on canvas. Classes, workshops, demos fed my eagerness to learn, but I was still searching for my own artistic voice.
In 2019, serendipity led me to Louise Fletcher’s Find Your Joy course, followed by Nicholas Wilton’s Creative Visionary Program. It was like I was back in my childhood, listening to music, playing with paint and crayons and paper without worrying about a finished work of art. Freed from the worry of an “acceptable” result, I had fun slinging paint, experimenting with wild marks, drips and scratches, collaging bits of paper, and printing with kitchen tools. Tapping into what I loved about color, form, texture and shapes I learned to paint from my heart instead of trying to paint like others. I’m now free to be here today, crayon in hand, sharing my art story. . .because that’s what we artists do.
New Artwork by FASO Members
Your art could be here tomorrow, for free.
Both are beautiful artworks!! 🙌🥰🙌🥰