Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mary Moores. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Mary, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the toughest things about progressing in your creative career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

“Sometimes when you’re in a dark place, you think you’ve been buried, but you’ve actually been planted.”― Christine Caine.

How do you survive in a crisis? Communicate in isolation? Maintain resiliency when facing a catastrophe. From January 30, 2021, through October 13, 2021, my 13-year-old daughter was hospitalized. My vocabulary expanded to include terms such as sepsis, cardiac arrest, severe chronic neutropenia, perforated bowel, ileostomy, necrotic tissue, and acute cholecystitis. We lived an adrenaline-filled roller coaster ride into terror as we navigated the border between life and death during a time when the pandemic fears restricted contact. I attempted to maintain my identity as an artist with some markers and a sketchbook drawing when I could. On my Instagram profile, I focused on the hashtag #bravery by portraying the many small ways I witnessed expressions of bravery. This intentional decision helped me celebrate the positive. Although this has become a trite, overused phrase, it matters when that is all you have left. Hope and the proverbial looking for the light at the end of the tunnel helped sustain us.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Many of us lead busy lives full of digital distractions, so I strive to notice the overlooked beauty of everyday life. As a result, I see paintings everywhere I go. I am inspired by how the sun illuminates morning dew on my backfield, how deep smile lines around someone’s eye tell the story of a happy life, and how traffic lights reflect colors onto the wet pavement on a rainy night. I tell stories with my art based on how light transforms objects into contrasting light and dark patterns. We need both of these opposites to better appreciate the other one. This is the same in life. We need light and dark to bring meaning to our shared human experience. In my paintings, I want to invite viewers to pause and see the wonder of the world around them, even if found simply in how light falls on an object. With art, I capture treasured memories of places, pets and people that become family heirlooms. Often my clients comment that they find peacefulness when they look at my art.

Growing up in the countryside of Frederick, Maryland, I learned to value the natural landscape and the diligent work ethic of the farming community. I studied drawing, art history, printmaking, painting, and sculpture at West Virginia University and Lacoste School of Arts in France, graduating with a teaching degree and a Bachelor of Fine Arts emphasis in pottery. I spent several stints teaching, drawing portraits, and operating a successful pottery business until I chose to invest my creative efforts in staying home to raise a family.

Throughout my art career, I have always appreciated the connection between the mark of the artist’s hand indicating how something is made. This led me to choose pastels as my primary method of expression. The pure pigment in the tool of pastels allows the most immediate translation between me and my surface.

As my children become more independent, I am renewing my efforts to make art.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I was raised in a family of origin and a societal culture that instilled the characteristic of people pleasing as the utmost measure of worth. What I contribute to making others comfortable and happy has historically been a driving force in my decision making. This mindset undermines my overall confidence because I have not invested in getting to know what is important to me and what I want. It keeps placing me at the bottom of the to do list.

In order to start a business and to pursue creating, I am in the process of recalibrating how I view myself and my intrinsic value. Learning the technical skills required, prioritizing my time constraints and overcoming the frustration inherent to the process of learning by itself requires belief and courage. It is an ongoing conversation coaching myself with compassion and taking action.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I built my audience on social media with incremental steps. The book “Eat that Frog” reminded me to tackle the task that I am most avoiding first in the day. Letting go of “All or nothing” thinking helped me post regularly because I was willing to act without completely understanding how to do everything. The mantra “Good enough move on” helped me to limit the quantity of time I spent on social media. For simplicity I focused on one platform, Instagram where I set an automatic duplicate posting to Facebook. I taken both paid and free webinars in order to hone skills.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://marymooresfineart.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marymooresfineart/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaryMooresFineArt/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-moores-4a08a5295/
• Other: mary@mooresfineart.com