For our fifth interview of the 2021 Delaware Fun-A-Day, we talk to artist May Lou Hamilton about her watercolor paintings, past in-person Fun-A-Day shows, techniques with Gelli prints, and finding inspiration in various ways. Thanks, Mary Lou!
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We like to know how people are connected to Delaware - are you a resident, born and raised? What opportunities have you found here? And how did you find Delaware Fun-A-Day?
Born and raised in Collingswood, NJ. Graduated from Collingswood High School in 1960 and immediately went to the U of Delaware in the College of Nursing. Completed the nursing degree, worked at St. Francis Hospital (Wilmington), then went back and completed my Masters in Nursing as a Clinical Specialist at UD. Assistant professor in the nursing program , clinical specialist in psychiatric nursing at St. Francis again, then Delaware Tech Community College as a full time nursing faculty member. Total time in nursing education and practice ...47 years. I had some prior interest and experience in art in high school(yearbook committee) and various "art and craft tasks" during my nursing career where I taught a variety of crafts and art projects to faculty and students. Preference was for sketching and watercolor painting.
I always wanted to be a medical illustrator and followed Frank Netter's work. But, with the age of computerization, handmade drawings were no longer prized or needed. I took several courses in watercolor in Haddonfield, NJ during high school years. As an undergrad in Nursing, I took an elective painting class in acrylics where I had to stretch my own canvases....very large, the size of a window or door. This was quite a challenge just in transporting them back and forth to the easel at U of D. During nursing practice years, I became interested in Art Therapy and learned at Sheppard Pratt in Baltimore.
Later I taught a nursing class elective at the U of D in Expressive Arts Therapy. At retirement, I began attending Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Wilmington (UD) and taking all the art classes I could including history, pastels, watercolor, oil painting , mixed media ,and acrylic painting. Loved each medium but now I am currently working in mixed media and collage and watercolor. While at Osher, someone brought in a brochure for Fun-A-Day. As a teacher for the acrylic painting class, I got several students to enter including myself. Have been entering projects at DFAD since then. Most of the art shows I have entered at galleries have been as a result of my experience with Delaware Foundation for the Visual arts (DFVA), Newark Arts Alliance , Hardcastle and Station Galleries in Wilmington.
This is going to be your FIFTH year participating! Can you tell us a favorite memory that you’ve experienced throughout your DEFAD career? Are you excited or anxious about the virtual format this year?
I have enjoyed each year at DFAD and been especially interested in the variety of entries and levels of skill. My favorite experience was at the Riverfront, the year I had a whole table to myself and presented 31 paintings in frames of different watercolors. Great location and I saw much interest in the entire show. The virtual experience is a bit different this year but we did this with DFVA ( Delaware Foundation for the Visual Arts) in November, 2020 and it was a great way to encourage sales.
Your work is detailed and intricate and you work with a variety of tools, techniques, and mediums. How has your style evolved over time? Where did your artistic journey begin and where do you think it’s headed?
I tend to work small because in all honesty, I do not have room in my home for larger works. Many of my instructors encouraged me to paint "BIG" but I just didn't. There are paintings, many framed, all over the house in stacks and since I have a small home, it is hard to find a place to store them. Drives my hubby crazy because I have also taken over his man cave and garage, too. So I am presently into tiny works of art. This limits me to pen and ink ,gouache and watercolor as mediums, I also am a member of the Sunshine Plein Air Artists and do watercolor and pen and ink wash at that venue. Still taking a class at Osher in Abstract painting, most of that work is done on 11 x 14 canvas board or smaller because we just post our completed class work online. I am liking abstraction and find it works well with my current love of collage using a gelli print process.
Please describe your 2021 project "Pears". Is this your favorite fruit or does the pear hold a deeper significance for you?
The pears collection developed after a watercolor class with Sarah Yeoman where she taught the technique in the photo above. She painted red pears. I made mine green (above). I always liked the way the reflections turned out in this painting. And I love to eat pears. My entrances are on a 3 x 3 paper tile using a variety of media, Mostly gouache, watercolor and collage. Each is backed with a pretty paper and currently in a box to pick up individually.
As a veteran Delaware Fun-A-Day participant and professional artist what advice can you give our newcomers? Is there any piece of advice that you believe would be a top priority for rookies to take a hold of?
Advice to beginners: Come up with a topic and then explore different ways to attack that idea artistically. Something as simple as a piece of fruit or a flower can be an inspiration. I love spring and summer and autumn for color inspiration. I am constantly looking down at the ground (now that I have to so I can avoid falling and I don't stand as straight as I used to in younger years). Down there are many interesting ideas to inspire paintings and sketching. leaves, rocks, feathers, stones, textures, etc. I also love to look up. Clouds are magnificent and have been particularly beautiful this past year. Sunsets and sunrises....glorious! Then, practice, practice, practice. Make this practice a daily ritual if you can. Just keep trying. Everyone can draw/paint. I always hear from others who think that they are less artistically inclined "I can't even draw a straight line". Well neither can I without a ruler. You don't need to draw a straight line to be an artist, EVER.
In your 2019 Delaware Fun-A-Day project entitled “Doors on Gelli Plate Backgrounds” your project was stunning and featured colorful and detailed front doors and entryways. Were these doors real or imagined? Were they inspired by real places you visited or were they sent to you from people you know? Tell us the story behind the doors and which one is your favorite.
"Doors" The inspiration for this project came from a poster that I cut up and framed in different sizes and placed it in my home. The poster was "The Doors of Dublin"(Ireland) and I got it when we traveled to visit relatives in that beautiful country. I have always been attracted to windows and doors and Dublin had so many beautiful ones. I took lots of photos there and used many of them as inspiration for my mixed media project that I submitted for DFAD. Also, I had been experimenting with a gelli plate and made a variety of painted papers with it that had colors that influenced the water color doors I painted and collaged to them. I don't have a favorite but probably the more intricate ones, I liked best. I have sold many of them so don't have the originals any more.
What becomes of your Delaware Fun-A-Day projects once the exhibit has ended? Do you continue exhibiting your project in other shows or keep it as a personal art piece? Your 2020 project ‘Tags on Gelli Prints’ could have stayed as one cohesive piece or been broken down into several parts - but what happens to your fabulous projects?
"Tags" on gelli prints. Continuing this journey of hand painted papers, I get excited whenever I use my gelli press. I love the freedom of color mixing that occurs with this printing process. You never can duplicate the results a second time. The process is very intuitive and exciting if you love color as I do. The use of all the acrylic paints I have collected over the years seems to justify making more and more papers which I then cut up and collage to something.(Often a small item like the "pear" tiles or the luggage "tags".) I also do larger works (up to 11 x 14).Again, I have sold many of these tags and people use them however they want. They could actually be luggage tags with a little more preservation such as a plastic sleeve or varnishing to add more stability or texture. The rest of the collection stays stored somewhere in my home, thus adding to the space-taking of my art. I need a studio the size of an airport hanger, but then, I would probably fill that up, too.
For those of us that aren’t familiar with it - can you tell us what the ‘Gelli Print’ material is? How do you work with this material?
The gelli press is a soft gelatin item that comes in a variety of sizes. It can be purchased on Amazon.com or from GelliArts.com (and most art stores, now). It comes in small to large sizes. The most common size is 8 x 10 and can be a good first purchase. There are recipes on line to make yourself using gelatin, glycerin and water. On it you place color (usually acrylic) although you can use pastels, watercolor and a variety of inks (alcohol or acrylic). You then use a brayer to smooth out the color. You can add stencils (purchased or handmade),found objects, comb scratches ,bubble wrap, cardboard that has been torn so the lines show, the wheels of children's cars ,the bottoms of your sneakers, kitchen tools, and many other items that can make an impression on the plate....carefully so you don't scratch it.
Then, you layer more color on the plate and take a print with plain paper (computer paper works great) or tissue paper or deli wrap paper , an old phone book page, junk mail or a sheet of music. The whole idea is to add layer upon layer of thinly brayered paint, letting each dry before adding another. The possibilities are endless. There are numerous instructions on you tube for gelli printing and some of them are marvelous for ideas. One goes down the rabbit hole when viewing them as you can spend your entire life just watching youtube. I just love to see daily videos of these examples and constantly get new ideas from them.
Do you participate in Delaware Fun-A-Day alongside any artist friends or do you participate as a solo artist?
I started Fun-A-Day with class students and friends from OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute). Once COVID hit, we dispersed in class activities and most of these folks dropped out. This year, I do not think many are participating.
Where can people see more of your work?
At present, my only site for most of my work is on Facebook (mllhjustmyart) and under MaryLouArtmaker. I do not yet have a website but need to construct one someday. I will need help with this, however. No present shows are in the immediate future.