Mary Simpson
At work in my studio.
I am married with three grown daughters. I was born and raised in northern Vermont on a dairy farm. After graduation from Lyndon State college, now known as Northern Vermont University, my husband Wilder Simpson and I taught school for several years in the Lyndon area and then headed west. In 1992, after seven years in Wyoming and fourteen in Alaska, we returned home to the Northeast Kingdom.
My artistic development has been a slow go. During years of raising children, I took art classes and worked at art on my own. In Alaska, I did an assortment of part-time art jobs. I worked five years as graphic artist for the Imaginarium Science Center in Anchorage and two years as scenic artist for the Alaska Festival Theatre and the Anchorage Civic Opera. Additionally, I did exhibit calligraphy for the Anchorage Museum of History and Art and scrimshaw work for two shops.
Since my return to Vermont, I have entered a period of rediscovery. Growing up on a farm, enjoying animals and valuing purposeful work gave me good and interesting memories. After years of art classes, the medium I find most agreeable and satisfying to communicate my impressions is printmaking.
My artistic development has been a slow go. During years of raising children, I took art classes and worked at art on my own. In Alaska, I did an assortment of part-time art jobs. I worked five years as graphic artist for the Imaginarium Science Center in Anchorage and two years as scenic artist for the Alaska Festival Theatre and the Anchorage Civic Opera. Additionally, I did exhibit calligraphy for the Anchorage Museum of History and Art and scrimshaw work for two shops.
Since my return to Vermont, I have entered a period of rediscovery. Growing up on a farm, enjoying animals and valuing purposeful work gave me good and interesting memories. After years of art classes, the medium I find most agreeable and satisfying to communicate my impressions is printmaking.
|
I make block prints. I enjoy designing, the choosing of colors, and carving and printing my vinyl or linoleum blocks. Printmaking allows me to present my subject of rural Vermont in a patterned and detailed style that suits me. It is a manual process, not technical or sophisticated, and that suits my farm upbringing and sense of work. Galleries: Artisan’s Hand, Montpelier, VT Vermont Folklife Center, Middlebury, VT Northeast Kingdom Artisan’s Guild, St Johnsbury, VT |
The gathering of hay bales is a family affair.
|