↓
 

Mary Ahern Artist

My Art Starts in the Garden

Mary Ahern Artist
logo
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Artist’s Statement
    • Biography
    • Artist Resume/CV
  • NEWS & EXHIBITIONS
    • Art Exhibitions
    • Past Events & Exhibitions
    • Writings
  • ORIGINAL ARTWORK
    • Recent Work
    • Original Oil Paintings
    • Works on Paper-Color
    • Works on Paper-Drawings
  • PRINTS
    • Most Popular Prints
    • Flower Portraits
    • Landscapes
    • Designer Prints
    • Metal Prints
    • Still Lifes & Interiors
  • WRITINGS
    • Art Writings
      • Art Blog
    • Garden Writings
      • Garden Blog
  • STUDIO GLIMPSES
    • Painting Studio
    • Art Work in Progress
  • CONTACT

Tag Archives: Art Blog

Lifelong Learning: A Personal Journey

Mary Ahern Artist Posted on October 27, 2024 by Mary AhernJune 9, 2025
Seth Godin. Akimbo

Screenshot of one of the online Seth Godin & Bernadette Jiwa Akimbo courses I took with other students around the world. It’s a great way to meet others interested in the same things as you.

I’m in my 70s and very excited since I’m back at school and taking a new class. We are so lucky now that there are many ways to continue learning. We can take classes in traditional in-person settings, take online workshops, or pursue a hybrid balance. What a gift!

My pursuit of knowledge has always been eclectic. I study what I want, when I want or need it, to enhance the projects I’m working on. Not one to seek the traditional BA, MA, or PhD stepping stones, I followed the song made famous by Frank Sinatra, I did it “My Way.”

One of the constants in my life is that I’m always studying something. A deep and wide curiosity leads me to focus on personal growth and practical knowledge — from Maharishi to computer programming and everything in between.

Many online classes over the years have allowed me to study subjects like digital painting, oils, watercolor, illustration, and abstraction. These online classes let me experiment quickly with various mediums and styles to see if they are something I might want to study more deeply. I remember taking an online workshop with an artist and then flying from NY to Baton Rouge to study in his in-person workshops. This would never have happened had I not met him and his work online. Both the online and in-person types of study are unique experiences in their way, and at times, one leads to the other.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.

Originally published in Sanctuary Magazine. 

Posted in Art Writings, Writings | Tagged Art Blog | Leave a reply

Art Blog Post: A Virtual Visitor Had Me Contemplating My Lifelong Career in the Arts

Mary Ahern Artist Posted on August 19, 2024 by Mary AhernJune 9, 2025
Judy Chicago

Photo of Judy Chicago  by Donald Woodman

A Virtual Visitor Had Me Contemplating My Lifelong Career in the Arts

To read this on the Art Blog click here!

https://www.maryahernartist.com/art-blog/virtual-visitor/

A short while ago I had a virtual visitor enter my studio while I was standing at my easel working on an oil painting. The visitor was Judy Chicago who was interviewed for the 60-year retrospective of her work at the New Museum in New York. Out of the corner of my eye, as I continued to paint, I watched and listened to the live-streaming event for the exhibition “Herstory” (here’s the YouTube Video of the event) which was the first comprehensive museum survey of her work. Judy Chicago was born in 1939 and as I listened to this interview it was 2023. Eighty-four years is a long, long time to wait to have this type of recognition.

This juxtaposition of Judy being live-streamed into my studio as I painted was profound for me since Judy’s work and those of many other women artists whom I was fortunate enough to be made aware of during the 1970’s when I was majoring in art in college, are why I’m still creating my work. These women artists weren’t in my textbooks. They were instead presented to me by some of the women art historians and women professors I studied with when I was lucky enough to attend classes at the then, tuition-free, City University of NY. All these women changed my life. The women artists were showing a new way of working and the professors were exposing us to a reevaluation of the art historical canon.

Mary Ahern Painting “Passion – Red Dahlia” Oil on Canvas 30×30″  

I first saw Judy’s work in 1979 as thousands of us made a pilgrimage to the Brooklyn Museum of Art to view The Dinner Party. This groundbreaking installation was created with Judy’s vision and also the efforts of hundreds of women offering their skills in various mediums. This work helped to introduce fabrics, embroidery, stitching, ceramics and various other techniques which had been ungraciously removed from the category of “Fine Art” by those who were in charge of writing the history of art. These creative skills were those exercised primarily by women and now were finally being presented in museums.

We stood for what seemed like hours, quietly waiting for our turn to enter the site-specific art in the room which housed the installation. Most of us on the long line had dressed in better than everyday wear for the occasion. When we finally reached the doorway, we found the room lights were dimmed. We entered as if entering a house of worship. Voices were hushed. Many folded their hands as if in prayer. It was the closest I’d come to a sacred event outside of an actual house of worship. We all knew this was a pivotal point in our lives. Our eyes and minds were to be opened to entirely new languages, visuals and histories that we’d never encountered before in the mainstream art world. Upon emerging from this immersive experience, we were elated, buoyant, excited beyond imagination by the possibilities we’d just been introduced to. We were sure that now everything would be different. We knew it had to be.

Upon reading Judy’s recent book, The Flowering: The Autobiography of Judy Chicago”, I learned how hard a life she had bringing her visions to fruition and acceptance. She and her work were torn apart, reviled, and denigrated by the conventional art world. The press denounced her vision and the work of the women artists who contributed their skills. Reading about her hard-fought lifetime of bringing her art into the world, reminded me that all of us have obstacles in our lives. They vary from person to person. But to be a creative artist for an entire lifetime takes a certain amount of grit. Success, by whatever measurement we use, takes the ability to keep pushing forward through the hard times. The times your heart is breaking. The times you are having trouble putting food on the table. The times your family is in crisis. The times you feel less than because others feel so much more than.

Because of these feminist artist pioneers, I’m still painting, still creating, still growing. They cleared the path and showed me the way. And as I stood at my easel painting, Judy streamed in to tell me to keep going, there’s no quitting, there’s no calendar, there’s no promise, no destination. I’ll just keep making my art. She still is.

Photo collage by Mary Ahern


 

Posted in Art Writings, Writings | Tagged Art Blog, Inspiration | Leave a reply

I Met A Hero of Mine – Audrey Flack

Mary Ahern Artist Posted on February 2, 2024 by Mary AhernJune 9, 2025
Audrey Flack

Audrey Flack at the Southampton Arts Center, November 2023 Photo credit: James F Dawson

Audrey Flack is a painter who, when I was in college in the 1970s, inspired me as I began my artistic journey. My art history teacher Patricia Hills at York College, which is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, introduced us to the many women artists who were pushing the envelope at the time. There was Audrey Flack, Joyce Kozloff and Judy Chicago. All of these women are currently Honorary Vice Presidents of the National Association of Women Artists. Since at the moment, I am Chair of the Public Relations Committee of NAWA it is such an honor to be meeting these artists who are still teaching us to keep working, keep pushing, and keep making our own artistic statements.

Recently I went with hubby Dave and my friends Susan Rostan & hubby Bob to the “Heroines of Abstract Expressionism” at the Southampton Arts Center here on Long Island. Audrey had work in the show but so did four other artists who had been members of NAWA, Louise Nevelson, Nell Blaine, Dorothy Dehner, and Buffie Johnson.

Since Susan and I are co-hosting the Historical Research Team at NAWA this was an auspicious occasion for us and opened up new opportunities for research and writing.

2023-11-12-Roz-Dimon-Audrey-Flack-Mary-Ahern-Susan-Rostan4-20x72

NAWA artists: Roz Dimon, Audrey Flack, Mary Ahern, Susan Rostan at the Southampton Arts Center, November 2023 Photo credit: James F Dawson

Then another amazing event happened, Audrey Flack was scheduled for a talk at Southampton two weeks later, so we signed up and took another drive out east. It sure was worth it! Audrey, who is now 92, was there and clear as a bell answered questions about her work and her experiences from the 1950s onward. She was funny, dished gossip, was fully knowledgeable about the era, the people, the art movements and who the players in the industry were at the time. She talked about the Cedar Bar where all the artists gathered, talked & drank after working in their studios all day. She talked about Jackson Pollack, Robert Motherwell, Clement Greenberg, Helen Frankenthaler, and many more artists and gallerists. In the audience, was a who’s who of the Hamptons Art Scene asking the questions and/or thanking her for her many contributions to the arts.

I’m so grateful to still be able to be working as an artist, that I continue to grow, to enjoy and learn from other artists. To have this “brush with greatness” that I experienced by listening to, speaking to and having my photo taken with one of my heroes sparkles brightly in my life’s journey. I thank Pat Hills for opening my eyes and my mind over 50 years ago to pay attention to these women artists who were clearing the path and showing us that we as women artists had voices and something unique to say. And after all these decades, we still have statements to make, wisdom to share, and paths to plow for others to follow.

READ MORE on the ART BLOG Click here


 

Posted in Art Writings, Writings | Tagged Art Blog, Art Writings, Exhibitions, Inspiration | Leave a reply

The Start Of My Artistic Journey 50 Years Ago

Mary Ahern Artist Posted on September 17, 2023 by Mary AhernJune 9, 2025

My first step towards discovering that my life’s work would be an artistic journey was buying a Jon Gnagy, Learn to Draw set and experiencing a sensation that the charcoal was an extension of my hand, my arm and my body. It was thrilling!

The Original Jon Gnagy, Learn to Draw set

After completing his entire set of drawing lessons, I decided to take painting classes at the local YMCA where I lived at the time in Queens, NY. So, I arranged for a babysitter, signed up for the oil painting class and made my first foray into Jerry’s Artarama art supply store with my supply shopping list in hand. How electrifying to be exposed to so many wonderful and exciting new products, widgets, thingies, colors, brushes, papers and canvas. Oh, the possibilities!

READ MORE on The Art Blog


 

Posted in Art Writings, Writings | Tagged Art Blog, Art Writings | Leave a reply

This is What's Happening Here:

Studio Glimpses, WIPs, Exhibitions & Events Plus Social Media Posts


Categories

  • Art Exhibitions
  • Art Writings
  • Garden Writings
  • NEWS & EXHIBITIONS
  • Past Events & Exhibitions
  • Press Articles
  • Show Schedule
  • Social Media
  • Video
  • Writings

Tag Cloud

About the Art art Art Blog Art Writings Ceres Gallery Exhibitions Garden News Garden Writings Inspiration NAWA Press Social Media Writings

Bring Color & Happiness Into Your Life

  • Purchasing Art Online is the Newest Wave of Innovation! Use my Augmented Reality feature to view the art work in your own home. See different sizes and treatments quickly & easily. Try it. It’s fun! 0

Policy and Legal Announcements

  • Copyright 0
  • FAQs Frequently Asked Questions 0
  • Privacy Policy 0
  • Terms and Conditions 0

Visit These Pages To See and Read More About the Art

  • My Art Blog: Art Naturally-Musings of My Life as an Artist 0
  • My Garden Blog: The Garden Artist – My Art, My Garden, Where Passions Merge 0
  • Studio Glimpses Take a peek into my working studio. 0
  • Work in Progress A step-by-step slideshow of the creation of a mixed media work of art. 0

©2025 - Mary Ahern Artist Privacy Policy
↑