Mary Crum Spalding
Artist's Statement | Currently on Display | Other Information
"A native of Kentucky, I have spent the majority of my life involved in the visual arts. I grew up on a farm in New Market in central Kentucky and earned degrees from Morehead State University, the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville. After spending over 30 years as an art educator in Nelson County, I now own and operate Studio 2 at the corner of Third and Flaget in downtown Bardstown.
Walking into this beautiful little upstairs studio fills me at the same time with both peace and excitement. Picasso says “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” I understand the truth of this in the calmness I feel while painting the people, animals, places and events that somehow find their way onto my mental list of things that need recording. While the end product is seldom exactly what I envisioned, I’ve grown during the process of attempting to create it and often discovered things about myself and my subjects that I had never before perceived.
My work is strongly influenced by family roots in the mountains and knobs of Kentucky. While I occasionally am captivated by the beauty of Tuscany or the faces of Guatemala or Peru, the inspiration found there often travels a circular path back toward the people and places of Kentucky past and present. The more I look outward at subject matter, the more commonalities I find with my immediate world. Maya Angelou expressed this for me when she said, “We are more alike than we are different.”
I see Picasso's truth in the eyes of my students when they realize the power of the creative process...the mastering of a technique, the birth of an idea, or the transition from one level of production to another. Like a mid-wife, I stand there and watch with pride as they give birth to this new idea of themselves as artists and begin to realize the endless possibilities inherent in this realization.
I firmly believe that we are all born artists and that our ability to create is one of our greatest gifts in this life. Some are lucky enough to keep a firm grasp on this birthright from the early days of childhood. Others need gentle reminders, “tricks of the trade” and a supportive atmosphere, to rediscover this aspect of ourselves. The opportunity to have this community of artists and friends around me is a continuing source of inspiration.
Because of my many years as teacher, I consider myself “a Jack of all trades, a master of none.” So you will see works in many media: paintings, drawings and sculptures, but also baskets made of willow from the banks of the Rolling Fork River or gourds grown in New Market and weavings made from my home-spun wool dyed with tickweed or tobacco. I am always looking for the next project to be learned, but hope that life affords me enough years to become truly a master of one!"
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