Artist Mary showing work for 43 years
THE Wexford Fringe Festival art trail would not be complete without an exhibition by the artist Mary Carberry who has been showing her work in Clayton Whites Hotel for the past 43 years, making her one of the longest exhibiting artists at the international opera event.
Mary (83) will be exhibiting a new collection of landscapes, seascapes and still life paintings on a wall in the foyer of the hotel from Friday, October 19 to October 29.
Mary has had a passion for painting since childhood and re-ignited it after rearing her family.
‘When the children grew up I concentrated on doing what I wanted to do and that was painting,’ she said.
‘It’s very therapeutic. The minute you start on a blank canvas, the house could burn down around you. You just forget everything, you are so intent on what you are doing.’
Mary said she would encourage as many people as possible to give it a try. ‘The more you work on it, the better you get.’
‘Some people think that when we get the label ‘elderly’ you should sit around and wait to get old but you are only as old as you allow yourself to be,’ said the youthful octogenarian who has a simple but effective philosophy in life – ‘Keep yourself happy’.
‘The best medicine you can take is to keep happy. Painting makes me happy and it also gives pleasure to others. That’s what it’s all about. It pleases me to see someone looking at one of my paintings and enjoying that scene or moment that I have created. It doesn’t matter if they buy it or no.’
She paints most days but sometimes everyday life gets in the way. ‘Painting is a thing that’s emotional. You have to be in the mood to paint. Sometimes the outside world takes over and you are distracted by what is happening and then after a few days you get back to painting.’