Mary Holmes: Paintings and Ideas
128 pages
Interview format
9X12 inches (vertical)
Soft Cover
Overview
This book records Mary’s observations about life and art in two ways – through her paintings and the stories they tell, and through her conversation about ideas she has been thinking and teaching about for over sixty years.
The first half of the book is about the paintings in The Chapel of the Holy Spirit, which she had built on her farm to house them, and in The Throne of Aphrodite. As Mary says, “Anything I paint is concerned with qualities of the spirit, or has something to do with the mysterious thing that we all are as spiritual beings.” Through conversations recorded in the book, Mary tells the story of each painting and how it relates to the world in general.
The second half of the book is Mary’s discussion of topics that she has explored in her teaching throughout her career at the University of Iowa, Ohio State University, UCLA and U.C. Santa Cruz as well as in lectures to academic, civic, and private groups around the country and on television.
Contents
Forward
Addi Somekh
Mary Holmes: A biographical Sketch
Gideon Rappaport
Paintings
Chapel of the Holy Spirit
The Throne of Aphrodite: The Saints and Martyrs of Love
Individual Paintings
Ideas
Art and the Inner Life
Inspiration
Animals and People
The Nature of Paradox and Paradox in Nature
The Search for Meaning