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The Atelier at Flowerfield presents “Not Just Another Pretty Flower 3”, a vivid exhibition by Mary Ahern on view April 18th through May 30th, 2024.
Mary Ahern is a professional artist and a passionate gardener. Her art is as intricately entwined as the gardens surrounding her studio in Northport NY. The lessons she has learned in the garden permeate her work. Her flowers represent a microcosm of the universe in their families and community as well as their quest for survival, eventual senescence and rebirth.
With boldness in color & scale her art summons, with seeming simplicity, the complex questions of existence and purpose. In her garden, she observes the interconnectedness of insects, fungi, birds and bees all working in cooperation with plants toward their mutual survival. Like humans they all need resources like food, water, environment and the right climate in order to survive another day, another season, another generation. A healthy garden depends, just as humans do, on a vibrant sustainable community working together.
Entranced by the imagery of the cosmos captured and posted by NASA, Ahern recognizes the intricate balance needed to sustain life as we know it in the vastness of the universe. This macro vision of harmony and balance in our galaxy corresponds to the micro vision of her flowers as totems of the need for community. These messages, ideas and thoughts are embedded in the multiple layers of her glazed paintings.
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change”-Buddha
Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Mary’s first introduction to the living world of nature was in her uncle’s garden in Schenectady, NY where she began to learn the reciprocal nurturing found in a garden.
Exactly 20 years after getting her degree in Fine Art, Mary graduated again with a degree in Horticulture. These two fields of study were further honed at the New York Botanical Garden Botanical Illustration program. Since then she has studied writing to help her articulate the stories behind the paintings. Mary studies in an eclectic way, grabbing the subjects that interest her most rather than plodding towards some advanced degree. She’s clearly an out-of-the-box thinker. But then, isn’t that what really makes a true artist?
In keeping with her sense of community, Ahern is currently sharing her corporate and entrepreneurial marketing skills as Chair of the Public Relations Committee at the National Association of Women Artists. NAWA, founded in 1989, is the first women’s professional art organization founded in the US and has been empowering women artists for 135 years.
The Atelier is honored to present this one-woman show and invites all to the Opening Reception on Thursday, April 18th, in The Atelier Exhibition Hall from 5:30-7:30PM. For more information, please call 631-250-9009 or click on https://theatelieratflowerfield.org/events.
