Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Alayne Thomas.
Mary Alayne, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
When I was a child growing up in Santa Fe, I raised by two working artists. My father was a ceramic artist, and my mother created hand dyed, woven Ikat wall hangings. My family traveled everywhere, showing their work at Arts and Crafts Fairs across the country. I spent my childhood wandering the isles of the fairs (which always seemed vast and magical) shyly taking in the myriad of art forms, for days at a time. When home, I would sit at my father’s kick wheel watching him knead clay. I tried to use my mother’s loom when she was out, and tangled her weaving into a giant knot. Art was a staple in our home, a necessity, and a way of life. I cannot remember a time when I wasn’t drawing and covering everything in sight with illustrations. They littered the margins of my homework, and I eventually began to illustrate a children’s magazine at the age of 11. As a teenager, I began to haunt the art sections of the Santa Fe library, sitting in the isle for hours poring through the books, staring at the works of the great Masters. My parents treated me to watercolor lessons at 16, and I fell in love immediately, thrilled to find a means of expressing the ideas that had begun to culminate in my imagination. I have experimented with several other mediums over the years. But I always return to watercolor. Its versatility suits any style I attempt, and it feels entirely natural to me.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
My work begins as a watercolor on paper, which is then coated with several layers of encaustic (beeswax and resin.) Occasionally I will silkscreen intricate designs onto the wax layers. There is a sense of mystery, a softness that emanates from the floating art forms underneath the waxy surface. I began using encaustic after much experimentation with different ways to present a watercolor painting. Something about matting watercolors, and placing them behind glass felt a bit distant, a separation between the artwork and the observer. When I discovered encaustic, I was immediately hooked. I loved its tactile quality. The soft, hazy window it created was instantly atmospheric, turning my paintings into a glimpse of a larger story, rather than a frozen image.
With my paintings, I hope to encourage people to welcome the wild unknown and make it a part of themselves and their lives. We live in a time when the natural world is so precarious. My art is my attempt to connect with nature, and I hope the work becomes bigger than myself so that other people can be drawn into this communion. That is a lot for a painting to accomplish, but when I create with this intention my art is better for it.
What responsibility, if any, do you think artists have to use their art to help alleviate problems faced by others? Has your art been affected by issues you’ve concerned about?
An artist is always a product of the time in which they live. It shapes and molds not only their themes, but also their techniques. So, yes, the role of the artist has changed to meet the needs of our time. One way that makes the world today unique is the mounting ecological crisis. Never before has a generation of artists been placed in such a “do or die” situation. We have to change, .and art must be part of that change. My art is not didactic, and there is a saying that goes something like “art is a mirror, not a hammer”. With that in mind I try to create images that place the ultimate value and gravity on the natural world. At the same time, it’s important to keep in mind that creative expression and beauty are essential to the human experience, but they aren’t a given. Sometimes we have to fight for them.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I have the great luck to show my work at three wonderful galleries across the United States. Giacobbe Fritz, in Santa Fe New Mexico, Lotton Gallery in Chicago, and Lark & Key Gallery in Charlotte, North Carolina. My website, www.maryalaynethomas.com. has links to all my galleries and upcoming shows.
Contact Info:
- Address: Mary Alayne Thomas
2229 NE 117th Ave
Portland OR - Website: www.maryalaynethomas.com
- Phone: 5053061332
- Email: m_alayne@hotmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maryalaynethomas/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaryAlayneThomasArt/
Image Credit:
Mary Alayne Thomas
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