about mary p. sargeant
Raised in an artistic family, I was always drawing and experimenting with art forms growing up. That led to a bachelor’s degree in studio art, with emphases in drawing and painting, from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in 1980.
In the years that followed college, I became a self-taught graphic designer, using computer software, rather than a paintbrush, to create work for a variety of clients and as part of several corporate creative teams.
I never left painting and drawing behind, and even taught drawing and color theory at my local technical college from 2002-2007. I now devote most of my time to painting.
They say that writers need to read a lot. In a similar way, I think artists need to look and see.
For me that's a landscape that's mostly urban yet never completely keeps nature at bay; a place with continually changing seasons.
I fill up visually with typography and graffiti; patterns (they're everywhere); tall glass buildings and neighborhoods just off the freeway.
It's a bit of a mystery how that all finds its way into my paintings, since they begin with nothing specific in mind. But the bits and pieces of my world do take shape in my work.
I subjectively build layers of acrylic paint and collage, working into them by scraping, scratching, sanding, and glazing. Then comes objective discernment regarding design and composition.
There's a back-and-forth between the two, often repeated several times, until there's a resolution — and that's the biggest mystery of all. How do I know a painting is done? It just is.