Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Aslin.
Hi Mary, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I always wanted to be an artist but wasn’t sure what that meant in terms of training, lifestyle and how to make a living doing it! I took a drawing class while a freshman at the University of Washington and although the curriculum was good, the overall program wasn’t substantive for the representational painting that I wanted to do. After my children were born, I enrolled in a weekly painting class at the local art center. And then I began checking out books from the library and joined drop in figure drawing sessions when I had time. By and by, my skills grew as did my recognition of the learning that would be required of me should I want to attempt the tenuous path of turning this passion into a profession. I completed a several commissioned paintings which included people portraits, a dog portrait, and a very large snow scene theater backdrop for my daughter’s dance school. And then I was hired to be the Artist-in-Residence at my childrens’ elementary school. Setting up still lifes at home and painting from them was a turning point in developing my understanding of how light works. The most pivotal variable was moving to southern California from the Seattle area, and specifically moving to Laguna Beach, where I had the opportunity to exhibit first at the Art-A-Fair, then then Sawdust Festival, and finally the Festival of Arts for 14 years. These festivals launched my career and it sustains to this day.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Being an artist is never a smooth road, and the biggest struggle is the self-confidence required to plunge into the unknown, never knowing ahead of time whether the investment of time and energy will pay off and yield art that expresses the authentic intention of the artist and is worthy of putting out to the public. Art materials and framing, a website and jury and show fees can be formidable and there are no guarantees of a payback. Most of all, creating art and building a cohesive body of work takes huge amounts of time, and carving out and committing to that time, in full recognition of the opportunity costs, can be the most daunting struggle. The only thing that really counters that is that most artists need to create to breathe.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I love the way light, in concert with a human figure, beautiful objects, flowers, and faces, orchestrate a story. That story yields an experience of beauty greater than the sum of its parts. Although I love painting all subjects with many mediums, I specialize in painting florals and figures using soft pastel and sometimes oil. I pose figures with florals together at times, but most often as separate subjects. Each time, depending on the quality of light, the resulting story is different. I have been told over and over that my paintings glow with light and one person emphasized that they exude “drama with tranquility”. It is not common to work on large scale still life setups and figures outside, en plein air, but there are few things I love more. The last thing that I specialize in and love is creating and hosting international workshops and I have done so in southern France, Andalucia, Spain, and most recently, Crete, Greece.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I have a huge library of books about artists, art technique and the life of an artist. Some of my favorites are Twyla Tharp’s “The Creative Habit”, Ian Roberts, “Creative Authenticity”, Stephen Pressfield’s “The War of Art”, and Robert Henri’s “The Art Spirit”. I have many books on my favorite historical artist, Joaquin Sorolla, and some about John Singer Sargent, Favorite contemporary artists are Rose Frantzen, Dan Gerhartz, and Richard Schmid and I have their books.
There are so many art podcasts now but favorites are Carl Olson’s, The Artful Painter (which is my all-time favorite), but Jeff Hein’s The Undraped Artist is great, as is Eric Rhoads’ Plein Art Podcast. The Gammel Lack Institute has an excellent YouTube channel and videos that I enjoy.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.maryaslin.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/maryaslinfineart
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@maryaslinfineart
