Mary’s Artist Statement

"Mary Carter is both a teacher of art and a working artist.  She has a Bachelor of Science degree from GVSU and a Master of Arts from Aquinas College.  She retired after teaching art at levels from kindergarten through adult in Grand Rapids Public Schools for 28 years and now enjoys the opportunity to make art of her own.  She has won awards for her work in mixed media and for innovative work with crayon.    

Best thing about teaching:  Giving the same materials and the same instructions to a group and seeing how each individual art piece reflects the artist in each individual student.
    

Guiding philosophy of art: It is no longer the job of an artist to reproduce reality.

Cameras are machines for making pictures that look real.  Artists are souls who make things look new and interesting!
Mary has done many portraits for her clients, both young and old. She also works in collage, sometimes using a background of collaged letters, etc. for portraits done in pastel, oil pastel, conte, and crayon. She also enjoys working in acrylic paint and gels, experimenting with ways to achieve texture and depth.

She is currently exhibiting her art and teaching workshops in Michigan."