Paintings and Exhibitions |
Welcome to my virtual studio. I'd like to invite you to come in, see the paintings I am working on and hear about my recent exhibitions and those I plan in the future. |
A recent painting series is called Women With Wings. The series is done in multi-media and reflects some of the research I have been doing on women's history and Goddesses throughout the past. I am particularly interested in why women and female deities have been portrayed as winged. In my Russian embroidery research, the motif of wings confers on an image the aspect of holiness. Birds, which accompany the goddesses are often indicators of her deity. Even today in Russia, the bird is the indicator of the soul. Although some of the paintings are inspired by Russian tales and embroidery, others occurred in my prehistoric research. There are now 9 paintings in the series but I intend to paint a few more. TItles in this series are: Sirin, Sirin and Alconest, Solnitsa, all images from Russian folk tales, Scythian goddess ( at left) Lilith, Nike, Guardian Angel. Medusa and Sophia. To view any of these images please double-click on PORTFOLIO button above. Another series, was completed in 1998. Shrine of the Black Virgins. It consists of seven large oil paintings featuring black goddesses and deities worldwide. My research into the Black Feminine images which occur in many religions, links the black cult figure to the earth and Mother Earth.The painting at the left, Demeter and Persephone, is from this series, and shows the moment when Persephone, the Queen of the Night and Demeter's daughter, returns from Hades to greet her mother with a kiss. The paintings have been exhibited together, most recently at Corning Community College in Corning, NY. and formed part of the show at St. Mary of the Woods College in Terre Haute, Indiana in March, 2000. Titles in this series include: Oshun, Guadaloupe, Kali, Kali-Sara, Our Lady of the Dark Forest and Brunissien and Persephone. To see the whole series, please click on the PORTFOLIO button above. Cards featuring paintings in this series are available. Please click the Studiobooks Button above, then the Cards button. ORIGINAL ARTWORK IS ALSO AVAILABLE. THESE PAINTINGS ARE ALL 32' X 54', OIL, FRAMED IN PEWTER. PRICE:$600 each. EMAIL ME BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION. The earliest series, GODDESS CHAPEL was inspired by the work of the New York Collective who produced Sister Chapel in the 1970's. This series of large goddess images was completed in 1996. All titles which have to do with my research in Eastern European embroidery are painted in oil. Titles in the series are: Dordona, Hungarian Harvest Goddess, ( at left) Berehinia, Ukrainian Protectress, Rozhinitsa, Russian Deer Goddess, Russian Mother Goddess, (also at right) and a Polish Goddess of spring. At present, I do not have these paintings in a portfolio. They have been exhibited at Cornell University, Orange County Community College and St. Mary of the Woods College in Terre Haute IN. RECENT EXHIBITIONS The exhibition at St. Mary of the Woods College in spring, 2000, opened on March 1 and the show ran through the month. St. Mary of the Woods Art Gallery is in the Arts building. The college is located in Terre Haute, Indiana. The series Women With Wings and Shrine of the Black Virgins were shown. One-artist show, "Russian Domes" Board Room Art Gallery, Tompkins Cortland,Community College, 1999. Faculty exhibitions, Tompkins Cortland Community College Gallery,1999,1998,1997. One artist show Atrium Gallery, "Shrine of the Black Virgins and Russian Domes" Corning Community College, 1997. One artist show Artifax Gallery, "Russian Domes", Ithaca, NY 1995 Two artist show Orange Hall Gallery, Orange County Community College, Middletown, NY " Goddess Chapel", 1994. One Artist Show of watercolors at Hilton Head Art League Gallery on HIlton Head Island, SC July - August, 2002. Titled "SHELLS" the exhibition included more than 50 watercolor and acrylic paintings of shells, beach life and other views of Hilton Head. Several paintings are shown on this page. EXHIBITIONS 2003-2004 In January 2003 the Applepie Painters exhibited as a group at the Art Center of Coastal Carolina on Hilton Head Island. For this show I created the "Storm Series' of 6 acrylic paintings. Samples appear on either side of this text. We will exhibit there again in January of 2005. For this event I am creating a series called "Heart of Palm" also in Acrylic. RUSSIAN REFLECTIONS In 2004, four of my former series were shown at the Roberson Museum in Binghamton NY from January through May. The show opened on March 25 at the Museum. Titled "Russian Reflections" the show featured all the work displayed above in the Russian Dome Series, Goddess Chapel, Shrine of the Black Virgins and Women With Wings. In addition, I lectured and held a workshop on ritual cloths. Then participants painted their own goddesses or made tshirts with goddess images on them. Below are a few photos from the show. |
CScythian Mother Goddess, 5th century BCE. |
Demeter and Persephone. Oil on canvas 32" x 52" |
Dordona,Hungarian Harvest Goddess, and (below) Russian Mother Goddess. Oil on canvas, 32" x 53". |
Heart of Palm series: Magnolia1dd |
Storm 1 Heart of Palm, spring. |
Mary lectures and shows ritual cloths in the gallery. |
CliAbove and to the right, participants in the workshop, paint their own goddesses. Some of the guests at the opening include Helen Baine and Helene Cincebeaux in folk dress and Silvia Ivanova of SUNY Binghamton. Participants in the workshop paint their own goddessck here to add your text. |
More paintings by Mary B. Kelly with other themes are available for purchase through STUDIOBOOKS. To view a recent series of acrylic paintings with inspiration from the natural world of Hilton Head Island, please click on the button below and select "Original Artwork". |
