Of Blooms and Beauty
Taos Magazine
COVER STORY
By Denise M. Spranger
The local flower shops must be happy to see her coming. Nearly every morning, Mary Dolf Wood browses amid water-filled buckets of roses, daffodils and peonies in search of her day’s work.
“There’s something about picking out the flowers in the morning,” says Wood, “It’s peaceful, soothing, and it’s all about beauty.”
Before returning to her studio with an armful of freshly cut blossoms, Wood pays a visit to the produce stand to renew her supply of apricots, melons and “whatever suits her fancy.” The morning’s choices will determine what elements she adds to her composition—a blue and white china vase, perhaps, or a small burnished tea kettle.
“Usually the arrangement has to do with the flowers,” she says, “Every flower has a certain character—whether they are lacy and have a grace about them—or have a stronger quality, like sunflowers.”
Although Wood celebrates the nuances of petal and leaf with perceptive emotion, her abiding inspiration is a passion for color.
“It was color that brought me into painting,” says Wood, “I look back on some of my earliest works and I can recognize the garishness of all this color. I’ve muted it down over the years to make it more palatable—but I am still fundamentally a colorist.”
Wood’s life has been no less colorful than her art. A native of Minnesota, her family moved to Denver during her last two years of high school. After graduating at seventeen, Wood traveled for awhile before returning to the hometown of her childhood. Yet even before her 19th birthday, Wood embarked upon the spiritual journey that drove her to hitchhike from Minnesota to Taos in 1971.
It was shortly after Wood arrived in Taos that she discovered the depth of her Christian faith—a faith that remains central to her life and work. Her dedication is lovingly expressed in the prayer which she wrote to accompany this story.
Wood began painting—in a casual way—while raising three children in the rural house she shared with her first husband..
“We couldn’t afford to buy artwork so I started painting just to fill the walls,” laughs Wood.
In 1994, Mary Dolf married leather artist and owner of Letherwerks, Joel Wood.
“Joel was very supportive,” says Wood, “He really encouraged me to pursue my art. After awhile, I started taking instruction and eventually was able to paint full time.”
Of particular influence for Wood was her study with Taos artist Judy Gentry—who inspired her to pursue plein-air landscape work. As time and weather allow, Wood still enjoys occasional painting trips to capture the moods and seasons of Northern New Mexico.
Broadening the scope of her work led to Wood’s first gallery representation at the William Vincent Gallery on Santa Fe’s Canyon Road. She has since participated in the prestigious “Oil Painters of America” shows as well as the highly esteemed “Taos Invites Taos.” Her work is currently represented by Brazos Fine Art in Taos and is part of part of numerous collections nationwide.
Yet Wood relates that one of the greatest rewards of her success is simply the freedom to paint without pressure.
“I live comfortably, not exotically,” says Wood, “and I know that compared to many people, I have an abundance. I feel that I have been blessed that my paintings sell. It gives me the privilege of gaining more ground in my work.”
As Wood has matured as a painter, she has also developed a more critical eye for her own paintings.
“As artists, being too close to our work is certainly a big part of not seeing our mistakes,” she says, “but really, you could almost ask anybody off the street and they could see the problem instantly. Sometimes when I think a painting is ‘done,’ I come to find a spot that haunts me—that says ‘it’s not quite right.’ I may try to avoid it, but ultimately I’ve learned to listen to that direction.”
While Wood revels in the freedom to focus upon her work, she recognizes the need for a healthy balance.
“Painting is not everything,” she says, “There are other things in my life. I’m not just living with a paintbrush constantly in my hand.”
Still, Wood recalls a time when she felt differently.
“For a number of years I needed to eliminate everything else in order to focus. Now I find that I have other things in my life that are just as valid for me—my children, my grandchildren,” she says with a grin, “I’ve also begun studying piano. And I sing.”
These days, Wood spends four or five hours each afternoon on her work and finds that she accomplishes as much as she once did in twice the time. Though the quicker pace no doubt results from a greater mastery of the form, Wood notes that she is still committed to learning.
“The urge to put paint on the canvas is so wonderful to feel,” she says, “The creative spirit—that is the part that you relish. Yet there is always the desire for more growth—to learn something that will allow you to express yourself more dramatically.”
As Wood prepares for the day’s work in a studio fragrant with the scent of fresh flowers, it’s tempting to romanticize the “artist’s life” as one of unending pleasure. But rather than dispel the myth with tales of angst and hardship, Wood prefers to let it blossom.
“When I look over my life, I realize that I’ve always liked classical things, beautiful things,” she says, “Not everything in life is beautiful, of course; it’s not that I have my head in the sand. But I think to have that hope and that awareness of beauty is something we need to nurture—to dwell upon the essence of what we think is good.”
Brazos Fine Art will feature twenty paintings by Mary Dolf Wood in a one-woman show running through the month of October, 2004. Reception for the artist will be held in the afternoon of October 2nd.