maryezeman's Profile

Bio

Mary Tilley Zeman/Self-Taught Artist
Born in Jamaica(Queens), N.Y. October 1963
906 Fox Chase Court
Woodstock, GA 30189
Website: www.maryzemanart.com
e-mail: maryezeman [!at] aol.com/Websites: www.outsiderart.info, www.whohadada.com
B.A Journalism/Advertising, University of Georgia 1987
ARTIST BIO:
Over 11 years ago, I began to paint after I had brain surgery to remove a benign brain tumor from the right side of my brain. I was recovering from surgery, and out of the blue, I called my mom and asked her to take me to buy some paint and brushes. This was the first time I ever painted in my life. While I was growing up, I was never exposed to art and just didn’t know anything about it, though I had always wanted to learn more. I began painting on wood, paper, newspaper, anything I could find, then I started to paint on canvas. When I went back to my job in television, people looked at my art on the walls of my cubicle, and some people encouraged me to go further with it. I would work all day, then come home and paint at night, and looked forward to the time I would be painting. In October of 2000, I decided to leave my job and make a go of being a full-time artist. Everyday, I learn something new about art, and I love making art. The biggest compliment I can get is when adults look at my work and say, “that looks so childlike”. On the surface, my work seems to be innocent and non-threatening, but if you look deeper, there are many times observations about everything, from life, death, religion, politics, pain, childhood, just about everything. I never know what I’m going to paint, it just comes to me as I go. I love to write poetry, also, but don’t do it as much as I used to.. My artistic influences are varied and I am always trying new things-art is everywhere in poetry, food, movies, on the roads and street, in music, in life, the high brow art know-it-alls forget that.

I like the work of Harry Teague, Picasso, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Howard Finster, Andy Warhol, Alice Neal, & many other. I think art is everywhere, sometimes we just have to see.

Female, Born on October 16

Favorite Materials

PaperCanvasPaintTinColoredPencilInkFabricScrapsWood