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PaintingsDIRECT:
As an artist who creates from your thoughts and imagination, how do you begin an artwork, and how do you know when it is complete?
Mary Atkinson:
Oh my, what a question! The beginnings of a piece vary according to how developed the ideas are behind it. I often like to let a germ of an idea develop itself, to let it assume a life of its own... up to a point, when it might get out of hand! I rarely have a fully developed plan in place, and when that has happened, I often change it when I see it on the canvas. At present I am painting landscapes, and I am like a hiker, or naturalist, as I "enter" the painting and discover all sorts of treasures along my path.
Knowing when it's finished involves a combination of reasoning and instinct. Does it FEEL right? Is it balanced? Are there too few or too many components? How do the surface and the edges look?
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Mammoth--Smell (1999)
Mary Atkinson
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3 – Traveling Chair (2002)
Mary Atkinson
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PaintingsDIRECT:
Much of your work on the site is in series, including the "Mammoth Series" that you've spoken about in our pages. Please tell us more about the "Surrender Series", and in seeming contrast, the
"Traveling Chair Series". What is it about working in a series context that so often appeals to you?
Mary Atkinson:
Working in a series is so appealing, because it enables me to keep going, to explore my subject from a variety of angles and attitudes. I like to "wear it out", to stretch myself.
As I recall, the "Surrender Series" served as a metaphor for my own dilemmas, as a woman and artist. Issues of control and helplessness emerged in the work. I thought a lot about how little control we have over our lives, much less than we like to admit! I thought about the courage to be vulnerable, to trust how that vulnerability can bring such intimacy and joy.
The "Traveling Chair Series" was deeply connected for me with 9/11, a desire to construct my own "escape machines". It also related to a favorite childhood fairy tale of magic carpets; using my imagination to escape unpleasant or uncomfortable situations over which I have no control.
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PaintingsDIRECT: We learned several years ago that you had received a commission from the University of Virginia Catholic Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, to conceive and design a tabernacle and 13 stained-glass windows for their new building. Would you bring us up to date with your experience completing this fine project?
Mary Atkinson:
Yes, I completed thirteen paintings in the spring of 2003 for the new building. It was an engrossing and joyful endeavor because I was given free reign, which I embraced with enthusiasm. All thirteen paintings were 30 inches square, and all were different, free-hand circles in varying colors. I did not choose to paint literally or with obvious religious icons; each piece was different from the next, and since the chapel was dedicated to the Virgin, I chose a variety of "feminine" forms and shapes.
When the paintings were completed they were given to a stained glass artist to copy. I regret to say that although he vowed to follow the paintings’ images perfectly, he did not. Some of the final colors were muddy, unlike my own, and the forms were changed. Unfortunately the pastor who had commissioned the work had been transferred out of state and had no further say on the matter. So the stained glass renditions of my work are installed in the chapel, but without the color I worked so hard to create.
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Two Faces (2001)
Mary Atkinson
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Unknown (1999)
Mary Atkinson
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PaintingsDIRECT:
How has your work and artistic approach evolved over time? Where do you hope it will take you in the future?
Mary Atkinson:
Well, I would hope that my daily hours in the studio have matured my work, and that I work very hard to maintain self-confidence, even when my work is met with indifference. One real change is my increased patience and thoughtfulness about a piece. In the past I was too anxious to be finished; today I am far more pensive and analytical.
Being largely self-taught has its pluses and minuses, I think it is conducive to more imaginative, original thought, but is perhaps less "comfortable" to the viewer because its doesn't follow academic "rules". I guess my greatest hope for the work is that it will continue to grow and improve, and that it will be treated with respect.
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PaintingsDIRECT:
Of famous artists, living or deceased, who have most inspired you or influenced your work, and in what ways?
Mary Atkinson:
That's an easy one: Matisse, because of the utter joy of his work, right up until he died. Picasso, because of the sheer power of his images, especially his earlier work. When I look at his paintings I can FEEL his own passion. Richard Diebenkorn for his elegant surfaces. Francis Bacon for his masterful compositions and mind-blowing subject matter. And I have to add John Singer Sargent, for the sheer beauty, yes "prettiness", of much of his work - not my style, but very pleasant to look at. Anselm Kiefer for the spirituality of his huge pieces, and for his innovative use of materials. And I'm sure there are many, many more who are in the far recesses of my mind.
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Essence (2001)
Mary Atkinson
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Contact (2003)
Mary Atkinson
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PaintingsDIRECT:
Is there anything else of particular interest you'd like to share with our readers?
Mary Atkinson:
Yes, I would ask your readers to look more deeply at paintings, to be open to their own imaginations when viewing a piece. To have more confidence in their own judgments and responses, rather than those of critics.
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View more artworks by Mary Atkinson ...
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