Daily Inspiration: Meet Mary Bruns

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Bruns.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started? 
I was born in 1950 in a small farming community of Brunsville, Iowa. My great-grandmother owned the land that the railroad purchased, and they named the town of 142 after her. I went to a country school that flourished until I was in the 7th grade in which I had one person plus myself in the class. Those heartwarming days made for the beginnings in art. Classes were filled with board decorating and room warmth. There was nothing to be had within even a twenty-mile drive, which was rarely if ever, taken, so I set out to practice calligraphy and went on to use some of this calligraphy in my homework assignments and then with my drawings. I was naturally the volunteer to produce anything the schools asked for and went out of my way to make science projects look like museum mobiles. Now, at seventy-three, I produce oil paintings that are as photographically real as I can make them. There are no photographic transfers, tracing or projection work. I refer to photographs and still-life objects to produce the pieces that you see. I paint in a glaze over glaze technique as the Old Masters painted. 

In my senior year of high school, I won the Nebraska Young Artist Award. I began my formal studies at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and completed a BFA in Art and Art Education. I have a Master of Art in Printmaking and a Master of Fine Arts in Painting, both from California State University, Los Angeles, California. 

Even with formal study and degrees, no one taught me to paint. I made up my own formula and researched Old Master glaze formulas. I was a deep-rooted art history person with a personal collection of books to continuously be driven to read and research. I studied every Baroque painter and kept this representation as my means of painting. It was at this time that I discovered the Bayeux Tapestry. 

The Bayeux Tapestry is actually not a tapestry but an embroidered cloth, with the images of events that lead up to the Norman Conquest of England. It measures 70” x 230” long, with a split imagery concept of the larger middle image giving the thrust to work and supported by theme-etts on the top and bottom. Split imagery. One thought, supported by more than one image, done in realism. I use this in all of my paintings, drawings, and prints. 

I have exhibited in several cities in the United States for over forty years and am included in the permanent collection of art at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Atlanta, Georgia. I now live in Cave Creek, Arizona 

I have articles of recognition from the City of Los Angeles for outstanding citizenship and activities enhancing the community, better known as the “Cross Pollination Project.” 

Diversity of ethnic groups and individual insights were published in pictorial posters and distributed all over the United States. 

My work was the front cover and inside story regarding Alzheimer’s Disease, Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia, with text by Sheldon B, Cohen, M.D. My work is always metaphorical by nature. 

I have Merit in Exhibition recognition given to me by the Long Beach Arts, which is an exhibition facility in Long Beach, California. 

The West Valley Arts Council, Surprise, Arizona, awarded my oil painting, “Sorting Through It All,” with a First Place Award in February 2014. 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It was not an easy road. Married at an early age to a musician times were always tough and forever changing. I have moved over nineteen times to various cities across America. It teaches you to be flexible and to weave in and out of newly made friendships and jobs. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
No one taught me how to paint. Even in graduate school, I was left alone to discover new avenues of laying down the paint. I studied antique glaze recipes and experimented with them until I had achieved what I want with the visual effects. 

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out.
What they don’t tell you in school is the difficulty you will have finding a job. Think about the numbers that graduate every year from art school. Then, take a look at the number of faculty in the school that you are in. Those faculty stay in their jobs for up to thirty plus years. That is the reality of what you will face. Then there are the shows you try to get. Equally as difficult. To get represented by a gallery is tough. 

Contact Info:

• Website: marybrunsfineart.com
• Instagram: oilpaint70

Image Credits
Mary Bruns