Great works of art can come from merging very different things. No one knows this better than artist MaryJo Clark, who makes mixed media collages and pastel pieces and sees her work as a unique blend of not only different mediums, but diverse materials as well. Her work features botanical and architectural imagery but indulges in a hankering to add bold hues, whimsical patterns and curious textures into the fusion.
For Clark, drawing has always been her first love and working in pastels feels like an extension of drawing with the added bonus of throwing painting into the mix. “I got into pastels because, for me, the medium provides the perfect blending of drawing and painting,” she says. Not only that, but the rich, vibrant colors allow for blending and layering, and the stick form of pastel provides the same tactile experience that she enjoys about the drawing process. However, though her pastel pieces are like drawings to her, they are more representational and less abstract, she says.
This is not the case for her mixed-media collages, which she sees as similar to abstract paintings but made from paper. “I particularly enjoy expressing myself through the non-objective and abstract subject matter of these pieces, which evoke unique responses from each viewer,” she says. With these collage pieces, Clark rarely starts her work with a clear intention of what a finished piece will look like.
With her collages, her process is both deliberate and intuitive. She works to add, remove, layer and rework the media until the work’s composition feels both balanced and harmonious. Case in point, she is currently working on a collage piece of tulips arranged in a vase. “Like some of my other collages, the images are stylized with the focus on design over realism,” she says. “But I do know when I need to make corrections." She will work until the piece feels finished in her mind, a process that is instinctive to Clark.
Art has been a part of Clark’s life since she was a child. And she doesn’t see herself forgoing it anytime soon. “I’ve always loved drawing and creating. I took art classes in high school, majored in art in college and went on to become an art teacher for 32 years,” she says. Though she's is formally retired from teaching she host occasional classes at local galleries. When not teaching, she’s a resident artist at Green Door Art Gallery in Webster Groves, a member of the St. Louis Artists Guild, a juried member of Greater St. Louis Artists and a signature member of the National Collage Society. She’s had work accepted in juried exhibits throughout the St. Louis area, as well as other states outside of Missouri. No matter where she finds an audience she is happy it is an appreciative one. “I am always pleased when a person purchasing my work is clearly drawn to a piece. I have had buyers tell me that a piece ‘speaks to them.’”
See https://www.clarkart-stl.com/ for more.
