“Born With Crayons in My Hand”

March 22, 2015

Art has been a part of Mary Kay Burbee’s life ever since she was a young girl growing up in South Bend, Indiana.

"I actually believe I was born with crayons in my hand," says the former interior decorator and art teacher. "I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in making art."

In 2000, Burbee retired after many years of teaching art to elementary and middle school students in Minnesota and Illinois. After working in a fine art gallery in the Chicago area, she moved to the Old Mission Peninsula in 2008 and diligently began working on her own art full time.

While she’s a multi-media artist, "I have most confidence in a dry medium," she explains.

"Soft pastels, oil pastels and collage. I like working on handmade papers because of the real textural feel."

When she’s not working in pastels, Burbee also makes brightly colored bracelets and other jewelry by bead weaving. Although she learned to bead as a child, she now uses a small loom to make her creations.

"It’s a nice change from working with pastels," she says. Years ago, Burbee would participate in numerous art shows, but now she and her husband Rick own and operate their own gallery. They plan to begin offering classes in the coming months. Tinker Studio is located on Seven Hills Road on the Old Mission Peninsula.

HOW I GOT STARTED

I got started by drawing for fun, then when I got to high school, I took art as my elective, did well, and decided to major in Fine Art at Indiana University in Bloomington. While I was in college, I was asked to design a poster. That’s the first artistic thing I remember getting paid for. I was a double major of Fine Art and Interior Design with an Art History minor. Art has always been a part of my life and it has changed as the roles in my life changed as an artist, art teacher and interior designer. Now, I am only interested in being an artist.

THE STORY BEHIND MY ART, MY INSPIRATION

I guess you’d say that my inspiration was my family. Growing up, I was always encouraged to pursue art, especially by my mother and brothers. Today, my husband and daughter continue to encourage my work along with a handful of devoted friends. They inspire me.

WORK I’M MOST PROUD OF

A few years ago I did a series of mixed media work called "Women as Still Life." These pieces were all relatively large-scale compositions done on handmade paper using soft pastels, colored pencil, printing and collage. They are very colorful pieces where I have posed women adjacent to fruit in still life arrangements. It was my first series of related work. I am most proud of that accomplishment. All but two of that series have sold!

YOU WON’T BELIEVE 

I’m very uncomfortable talking about my work. I’m not a big self-promoter. And I love disaster movies and submarine movies. My favorite is "The Hunt For Red October" with Sean Connery – all of that intrigue about a rogue nuclear submarine is so interesting, and it’s so different than my personality. I’m not a warlike or violent person at all.

MY FAVORITE ARTIST

That’s a hard one! I love a lot of artists’ work: the pastels of Degas, paintings of Van Gogh, Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper, I guess. The list could go on and on!

ADVICE FOR ASPIRING ARTISTS

Just keep working. Keep trying new things and practicing!

MY WORK CAN BE SEEN/PURCHASED

At Tinker Studio – my husband’s and my working studio on Old Mission Peninsula and at Cordia in the Commons. For more information, check our Facebook page at Tinker Studio TC.