Featured Member Mo Ganey.
Interview by Gillian Bedford
Here are some questions I asked this talented artist:
Gillian– How long have you been painting and where did you go to school?
Mo– I studied English at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY. After college, I taught English in a rural village (in Thailand) as a Peace Corps Volunteer. There were no pictures in the students books so I started drawing everything I was teaching to use as teaching aids. Once home I moved to NYC, and started designing greeting cards and selling them through my rep. Ten years later, I met my husband, moved to Philly and came into our collective as a card designer. My mother was a painter and during this time encouraged me to paint. I started to paint very simple designs with line and color and fell in love with painting. I received great support from our members and feel lucky to find something I enjoy doing – almost more than anything.
Gillian- Who are your favorite artists?
Mo– Henri Matisse, Alexander Calder and more recently Flora Crockett.
Gillian– Where do you get your ideas from?
Mo- I am always drawing and doodling. When I find a design I like, I enlarge the design on canvas to see if the composition works and the lines are interesting. If they are, I paint. I’ll experiment with many layers of color for the effect I’m after and that is my favorite part of the process.
Gillian– When a viewer comments on your work, what makes you feel you are on the right track?
Mo– It pleases me enormously when people want to hang my paintings in their home and that they enjoy it enough to see it every day. We have a painting in our house painted by Greg Muenzen, one of my roommates when I lived in NY. It is the first thing I see when I walk into our home (and has been for 20 years) and every time I see it, I think how much I love that painting.
Gillian– Thanks Mo for talking to us about your process and love of making original art.