The Art & Poetry of Mary Coleman

Today I worked on the body of the bird demon. For those who are not familiar with art history, Hieronymus Bosch was a Dutch painter who lived from 1450 – 1516. He painted bizarre religious scenes as religious work was the majority of what was painted in Europe at that point. This particular image is from his triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights. It’s supposed to be in hell. I’ll attach a photo of the original so you can see what it looked like.

Somewhere around the last year of my bachelors in fine arts I really developed a block when it comes to creativity. By the time I did my masters, I was truly inhibited. Perfectionism set in and I had high expectations of myself that never seemed to be fulfilled so I didn’t try as hard and I didn’t feel particularly open to anything new. Previous to art school I was very prolific and I experimented a lot. There wasn’t this need to live up to the label of professional artist which started to plague me in the final year of my undergraduate degree. In retrospect, I wish I had never gone to art school. The university I attended didn’t teach practical skills anyway, there was just critical studies and studio practice. Anything I learned when it comes to painting and drawing I learned from my mother or from books. I feel I was a better artist before I went to art school.

I have 1000 followers on my art Instagram now. Currently I follow around 493 people (all artists), but I don’t think I can add anymore because it would get too overwhelming. I already find it hard to keep up with as it is. So I know without following new people my platform isn’t going to grow much, but I’m happy with where it is right now. Too much attention can be a bad thing. So many people aspire to be influencers, but I can’t imagine having my life be so public like that. A small audience makes me happy.

I set a goal this year to run 13 half marathons and as of Sunday I will have achieved that goal. It’s probably the most positive aspect of this year. There were some smaller things. We went to Tofino on Vancouver Island which was beautiful. Additionally we travelled to Chicago and then Pacific City which were both good trips. Three of my marathons were at The Columbia Gorge which was really scenic and we got to stay those nights in Hood River which is a really cute little town.

The best news I received this year wasn’t an event per se and it is something very private that I cannot share. It was my main source of worry alleviated and it really unburdened me, at least for a little while. Afterwards my anxiety found other things to latch onto and ruminate over but nothing has been as foremost on my thoughts.