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Artist of the Month
Kerch McConlogue
“I started my art business to deflect conversation from motherhood
during my first pregnancy. I worked for Bethlehem Steel as a process
control analyst and was tired of men telling me how rewarding diapers
and spit-up would be. By the time I was diagnosed with AD/HD at
about 46, I had spent nearly 20 years selling my art to gift shops
and galleries across the country. Certainly, AD/HD explains why
I had so much trouble sitting in my booth at craft shows -- a problem
that surely had an influence on the success of business. But being
an artist and working from home enabled a beautiful symbiotic relationship
in our family: the kids got to have me home and I got to stay home.
I could work at times that suited me – sometimes very early
and often very late at night. Shifting between work, house, and
kids seemed to suit me.
Subordination, on the other hand, never really worked for me.
Once in my 40s, I tried a "real job;" I could not understand
why my boss wouldn't do what I said! Alone, however, I did not have
to meet expectations of someone watching me regularly. I sold what
I liked making to people I liked dealing with. Surely, I had fewer
problems than many people with AD/HD; there were fewer external
or artificial expectations to manage. Besides, when you are the
business, you don't have to tell anyone anything you don't want
them to know.
As a medium, painted cut paper is perfect for someone with attention
issues. You can cut paper any where and any time. Scissors and paper
are easy to find and to carry. Watercolor, for me, has virtually
no set up. Clean up included only a bottle of water for the brushes
and a dust buster for the snibbles, the little bits of paper. OK,
the MOUNDS of little bits of paper on the floor.
My work started as copies of very traditional Pennsylvania German
frakturs and scherenschnitte, decorated documents from the 18th
and 19th centuries. But repeating the same work never suited me,
so I found my own style. My subjects have run the gamut from angels
and animals, to comets and fables. Traditional birth and wedding
certificates, long time favorites, are still popular and available
on my website: www.snibbles.com.
"Cycles," the piece exhibited here, is made from a
single sheet of paper, folded as for a six pointed snowflake. Notice
the symmetry of most of the cutting. The women's stomachs are reminiscent
of the phases of the moon and, therefore, of life in general. They
proceed from full at the top through new at the bottom and back
to full. Those parts were cut separately after the piece was unfolded.
Painting, for me, is always done last. That way I don’t have
to color inside the lines. As a woman with AD/HD, I am not good
at coloring inside the lines."
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Title: Cycles
Medium: Painted cut paper
Price, if applicable: $800
Size: 32x32 Weight: Approximately 8 pounds
Contact Info: 701 Hunting Place, Baltimore, MD 21229
410.233.3274
email: kerch@mapthefuture.com |
Next: Letter to the Editors >> |
