Maryann Huebschmann is our Featured Artist this month. When I asked her how she got started as an artist she first said, oh let’s not go back that far and I said oh let’s. Wow! We had a great conversation. I need lessons in shorthand. Maryann says she started in high school, a Catholic run high school. Some of the nuns gave lessons in different subjects, for a dollar an hour a week, and art was one of the ones she took.
She dropped art for a number of years and only took it up again when her 3rd child was 4 or 5. Maryann is originally from central Illinois. Her family moved to the area in 1952 when her dad was hired on at the Atomic plant. It was a horrendous commute so the family moved. Maryann, who wanted to be a secretary and had a boyfriend at the time, and a secretarial job, really didn’t want to move. But her dad said, if you want to be a secretary, I think they’ve got a job for you at the plant. So she moved and ended up meeting her husband at the plant. They married in 1953. Their 1st child came in 11 months, and the 2nd 2 years later. It wasn’t until their 3rd child, who was born 17 years after the 2nd, that she got back into art. In the meantime, she worked at both the old and new Sears stores before they moved to Calvert City, where they still reside, 46 years later.
When Maryann got back into art she started with a teacher who insisted the students start out drawing, not painting. Old school. She has studied with and worked with quite a few well-known artists from this general area, including Clyde Lawter and Cleda Curtis. Maryann started off with oils, which take quite a long time to dry. She started painting in watercolor due to the influence of Mary Jones who was doing watercolor at the time. She painted with Clyde and he encouraged her painting in watercolor. She was working with Clyde when he was over on 13th street and is one of PAPA’s Charter Members.
She says landscapes are her favorite subjects, the clouds, and trees and flowers. Her flowers are beautiful. When I asked her what inspired her she thought a moment and said, Values, Shadows with their purple hues are what inspire her. Her favorite painter is Monet, a great impressionistic painter. You can see the impressionistic influence in her flower paintings, her light and delicate, but not weak, use of paint and color. When I asked her what she would like people to know about her, she loves dancing.
Come in and see Maryann’s show up close and personal and enjoy it. Look around for other pieces in the gallery.
