|
About The Artist…
Mary A.
Lazar has been a Batik painter since 1973. She entered
Wright State University in 1978 to take a color class and
stayed on to graduate with a degree in Art and later a
Masters in Art Therapy. Since 1991 she has had a studio and
the opportunity to paint on a consistent schedule.
Mary has
been an Art Therapist since 1984. Making art with others,
especially seniors and the elderly, has been an important
part of her art life. The joy that making art brings to
someone confined in a healthcare residence is one of the
great satisfactions in her life. She no longer works
fulltime but is in private practice and works in Loudoun and
Fairfax counties. Mary moved to Leesburg in July 2005 where
she has a small but adequate studio in the basement of her
home. During the past 2 years she has been able to create
some large wall hangings. Two of her hangings have been
shown at the Strathmore Hall Biennial Craft show.
Mary also
works small, making scarves and jackets. The jackets are
sewn after 3 yards of fabric have been painted, discharged,
stamped and decorated. She is currently studying "Complex
Cloth". This is cloth that has emerged after several
techniques have been applied to the cloth in several stages.
The
therapeutic value of artmaking could never be overstated. I
try to spend at least sometime in my studio every day. If I
am not painting I will straighten or clean up. Just being in
the room with all my tools and cloth is very soothing even
if I am not working at my art. However, Artmaking is a very
valuable tool for maintaining one's mental health. When a
person has a place to go and belong it is very helpful to go
to this place often. Artists are very lucky to have such a
space as their studio and they are lucky whether they share
it with other artists or have the space to themselves.
Sharing a studio space is a whole other aspect of artmaking
that is very important.
There in
the shared space is the combined energy and goodwill that
sustains each artist in their daily work. It is almost like
the artists "feed" off each other. There is definitely a
synergy that is hard to explain that happens in that shared
studio. |
Fiber
Art
