My interview with creative Mary Powell, Multidisciplinary Artist
Multidisciplinary artist Mary Powell on exploring various media, embracing messiness and spontaneity in the creative process, and gravitating towards whatever captures her interest in the moment
As part of my podcast series on creatives, I interview Mary Powell, a multi-disciplinary artist from California who describes herself as someone who can get her hands on pretty much anything and everything – a jack-of-all-trades, master of as many trades as possible. Mary has technical training in oil painting, sculpture, and drawing, and over time has explored stained glass, mixed media printmaking, and photography.
She’s tried pretty much any medium that’s out there, at least once or wants to add it to her list. Her creative process is spontaneous and messy – she explains that it’s not the same every time and she doesn’t have a defined approach, but it’s pretty much different almost every single time. She starts with both enthusiasm and a very long time commitment, describing herself as a very messy person who definitely is not tidy with her creative process. She does the thing, gets everything she needs, and lays it all out, acknowledging there’s a lot of inspiration everywhere – from different places, different projects, and pictures she’s found.
Mary explains that she knows where everything is and exactly what she needs next, and gravitates towards whatever interests her in the moment. She gets obsessed with something for a while, and it’s whatever she’s drawn to at that time – whether that’s the subject matter or the materials themselves. She just kind of gets into that headspace and allows her curiosity and immediate interests to guide her creative exploration across multiple disciplines and media.
Mary Powell, Multidisciplinary Artist
Introduction
MD: Hi Mary. Hi. Let’s start by just introducing yourself with your name and where you’re from.
MP: My name is Mary Powell. I am from California.
MD: Can you tell me what your creative discipline or disciplines are, like what you like to do creatively?
MP: I would consider myself multi-disciplinary. I pretty much do anything and everything that I can get my hands on. You know, kind of a jack-of-all-trades, master of as many trades as possible, you know.
I think I have a technical training in oil painting and sculpture and drawing and then I have tried stained glass. I’ve tried printmaking. I’ve tried, I’ve done photography for a really long time.
Pretty much any media that’s out there. I’ve tried it at least once or I want to. It’s on the list.
Creative Process
MD: Excellent, excellent. Can you tell me about your creative process?
MP: I feel like I don’t have like a, it’s not the same every time. It’s pretty much different almost every single time. I kind of start with ideas and then I sit on them for a really, really long time and then I finally say, okay, today’s the day.
I’m doing it and I get everything that I need and I lay it all out. I would say I’m a very messy worker. I definitely spread out a lot.
You know, there’s just stuff everywhere and but it all, I know where every single thing is and so I know exactly what I need next, you know. I think there’s a lot, I get inspiration from a lot of different places and so, you know, every project kind of starts from a different spot. It’ll be, you know, pictures that I’ve found.
It’ll be something I’m interested more in the materials themselves than the subject matter. It really just depends. I’m very all over the place.
MD: I’m interested because you have this kind of great group of different creative things that you do. How do you choose what you’re going to play with?
MP: Honestly, I just get really obsessed with something for a while. So, you know, it just, whatever I’m drawn to in the moment, I kind of gravitate towards that, whether that is the subject matter or the materials themselves. I’ll just kind of get into that head space and it’s the only thing I can think about.
MD: Do they inform each other?
MP: Not often. I think sometimes there’s some overlap but really, I think a lot of times they’re completely separate projects from each other.
But even then, you know, I think I’m the common denominator and so there’s some kind of like path you can kind of see between all of them just because there is an element of me in all of them.
Creative Routine
MD: Do you have a creative routine or routine for your creativity? I know that you are working when you’re back home and not in residency. How do you fit that in?
MP: It is tough to fit it in. I kind of have to schedule it out. You know, my schedule is kind of crazy and so I don’t have specific times and so I think like when I have to get in that head space, I, you know, I listen to music, you know, and it’ll be whatever I feel is the right tone for what I’m going for. So if I’m, you know, working on something more like bold and, you know, whatever, I’ll try to go for something high energy. If I’m working on something that’s like more, you know, solemn, I’ll kind of go lower energy but it really just depends on, you know, but there’s always music playing for me while I’m working. It’s rare that I’m not having something playing.
Excellent.
Creative Wisdom
MD: If you were to meet someone who was just at the start of their creative journey, just like dabbling into it, what piece of wisdom would you want to pass on to them?
MP: I think, you know, you really have to remember to let yourself explore. I think, you know, something that I like about trying all these new mediums is that it’s all new. It’s always a challenge and I think, you know, kind of keeping like, you know, letting yourself learn and everything that that means.
Fail and not be as good at it immediately as you want to be maybe but still kind of, you know, seeing, you know, seeing what you can do, letting yourself be loose and open to, you know, changes or, you know, anything because even, you know, when you’re really good at something and you’ve like worked really long at it and you don’t let yourself explore, you can kind of box yourself in and I think, you know, as an artist, the most important thing to be is open and ready to kind of jump on whatever comes next.
Creative Inspiration
MD: Who or what inspires you, inspires your creativity?
MP: I would say I’m really attracted to just old things, objects that kind of have something behind them, you know. You can kind of really feel like the history through them. I’m really drawn to a lot of times furniture, old furniture.
I like to kind of refurbish them and, you know, make them new again and I love old photos and old letters and, you know, things people leave behind of themselves but not intentionally, if that makes sense. Like, you know, things that were not meant for me but I found them and that means that they are meant for me, you know, even if the person never would have imagined that, you know, I would have found them. It’s still like I become part of their story and they become part of mine.
MD: I love that, I love that. Is there anything else that you would want to say to creatives who are looking to see how other creatives do their creative life?
MP: I think something that I’ve learned here is that, like, I have got to make space for myself to create. I really have to, you know, prioritise because I think I’ve been missing that element of, you know, fulfillment in my life lately. I think everything, life gets so crazy and, you know, you’re busy and you’re doing all these things and if you’re not making that space for yourself you’re going to be missing part of yourself and I think that’s something that I’ve learned from having this space to really only focus on the work, that I’ve got to make room for it in my life.
Connect with Mary Powell
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Podcast for creatives
If you haven’t discovered Creative Momentum with Meg Dunley podcast, I’d recommend having a listen. It has weekly drops of these bite sized episodes that feature creatives talking about their creative process, routine and inspiration. Each week has some great pearls of wisdom for everyone who is living or wishes they were living a creative life.
