Have you ever laid awake in bed at night thinking about how you want to be friends with a girl who bakes delicious cookies, serves their friends coffee proper-like in vintage cups, and OH YEAH makes gorgeous art? Well, I found her. That girl you want to be friends with? Her name is Mary Louise and she is the proprietor of a shop on Etsy called Mary’s Treacle.
Mary’s paintings, while whimsical at first glance, have tenebrous tones to them; imagine if Alice had to submerse herself in the ocean to get to Wonderland. So it’s no surprise that she’s also a member of Etsy’s Dark Side. (However, if sea creatures looked the way Mary’s mind creates them, maybe I wouldn’t be so goddamn terrified of all things ocean. Maybe I might even want one as A PET.)
Having had no interaction with Mary prior to this, I felt somewhat of a creeper propositioning her with a feature on my little blog. But she said yes, and now I get to learn about this fabulous teammate of mine along with the rest of you.
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1.You currently reside in Seattle. Being so close to the Pacific, it’s no wonder your art is full of such fantastic sea creatures. But are there any other inspirations you draw from your surroundings?
Yes, definitely! Seattle is incredibly lush and beautiful. There will definitely be some paintings in the near future that depict its mountains, wide array of pine trees, colorful autumn foliage, the damp mist and the ominous black cloud cover we get in wet weather.
2.Mark Ryden once collaborated with Stan Ridgway and Pietra Wexstun to create a soundtrack for his Blood Show. What would the soundtrack to YOUR art show sound like?
Ooooh, Coco Rosie and Tom Waits.
3. I’m not ashamed to admit that I was a fan of MTV’s Laguna Beach and seeing that you once lived there, my fingers are practically doing the Lambada over here atop the keyboard. OMG I’ll just ask it: Did you live there while it was filmed and did you know anyone that was on the show? (OK, I’m a little ashamed that I asked this question, but it was burning inside of me.)
Heheh, I was going to Art School there at the time of the show’s filming. Laguna is sort of a small Beach Town and I actually found myself really annoyed when I wanted to go eat somewhere or run into a shop because it seemed they were always filming. My friends and I would always be groaning “Arrrg we cant eat (shop there, go over there, etc) there because they’re filming that stupid show!” I also wondered why anyone would be interested in Laguna enough to watch a show about it and the people there. Its seemed so humdrum at the time. My brother was actually in High School with them and they are in his yearbook.
My parents and friends still live there and I occasionally watch reruns of the show when I’m feeling home sick.
4. That really shouldn’t be as awesome to me as it actually is. But now that I’ve just let my guilty pleasure out of the bag, it’s only fair that you share one of your own!
That’s fair. I’m completely obsessed with all this Twilight crap, especially Edward. I just love it and I’m so embarrassed.
5. Don’t be! I catch my boyfriend every now and then trying to molest his hair into an Edwardian coif.
You are given the opportunity to have a commercial made for your art and have any film director of your choosing to make this into a advertising masterpiece. Who do you think would most accurately be able to represent your art and vision?
Spike Jones- Where the Wild Things are made me cry the whole way through, It was so thoughtful and beautiful.
6. If art wasn’t an option for you, what would be your Plan B?
A baker or a pastry chef, I would want to make people happy some how.
7. I love the baroque-style framing to your pendants. Does this reflect your personal style?
Yes, very much. Not appearance wise though, maybe a little bit. I’ve been really into gold in paintings lately. I just love the Gothic era paintings covered in gold leaf. I end up putting gold in most of my paintings, I try to pull that feeling into the pendants too with those settings. I’m currently working on integrating some old tarnished metal into my paintings as well.
8. For the sake of this question, let’s pretend you’re trying to get on a reality show and you need to make a video application spotlighting your most interesting characteristics. What you would film yourself doing?
The process of making my art and the wonky, erratic structure of my work day. I’d like people to understand just how much work goes into anything handmade; the planning, experimenting, execution, successes and failures. I also would want the non-artists to fully understand that art IS work , is important, and should properly be paid for and that it’s not “Fun” for us just to do it for free all the time. Whew… did I take that too far?
9. No, definitely not! I feel the same way sometimes.
In Pittsburgh, we say “nebby” instead of “nosy.” I’d be a disgrace to my childhood nickname of Nebby Debby if I didn’t ask what you were like in high school.
GOTH of course, then there was that weird, year long embarrassing Rave thing, then Goth again. I’ve tamed myself down quite a bit, but the dark music, clothes, and tastes still lurk.
10.What can fans of Mary’s Treacle expect to see from you in the future?
I have so many ideas that I’m overwhelmed and becoming quite scattered. There will be more intricate jewelry with some sawing , soldering, and riveting involved. As far as paintings go. I’ll make you a vague list with no explanations, because I don’t want to give too much away prematurely.
* Eggs
* Evergreens
* 2 more Bunnies
* Eyes closed
* Masked
* Matryoshkas
* Rhymes
* Self Portrait
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If you’re as intrigued as I am, here are some ways to keep tabs on Mary:
Etsy: Mary’s Treacle
Blog: Mary Louise Art
Thank you Mary, not only for taking the time to humor me with fantastic information, but for painting a world in which I’d like to live.
And I gotta say, I wouldn’t be mad at all if some guy decided to buy me one of her necklaces for Christmas. Perhaps that guy’s name is Henry and he’s bumbling around somewhere with Twilight tucked under his pit and half a can of mousse in his hair. (Don’t deny it, Henry.)
