We were lucky to catch up with Mary Edna Fraser recently and have shared our conversation below.
Mary Edna, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I have been a passenger in our family’s 1946 Ercoupe aircraft since I was two weeks old with my Daddy. Flying over the Sea Islands of Georgia, the oblique view changed with altitude and tide as my brother piloted the silver plane in the early 80s.. Through the camera’s eye I have photographed from the open cockpit most of the eastern coastline of the United States. What I have seen is heartbreakingly beautiful and disturbing. Jetties, false harbors, sea walls and landfill have altered nature beyond natural recognition in many locations. Collaborating with respected geoscientist Duke University Professor Emeritus Orrin Pilkey. we produced two books. Global Climate Change: A Primer, Duke University Press and A Celebration of the World’s Barrier Islands, Columbia University Press with over 100 exhibitions of batiks on silk have united our science and art. Batik is an ancient art process using wax and dyes to create colorful patterns and designs. The ephemeral sheen of the silk replicates the atmosphere of the air. Colorful prayer flags for the planet combine with oil paintings expressing moments of visual poetry. I am an environmental activist artist and work with local and national groups to promote awareness of our planet’s fragility.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Two of my last large scale paintings were in areas near my home in Charleston, SC. The first 3′ x 8′ canvas was bungied to two trees in a swamp from dawn to dusk for a week in the ACE Basin. 350,000 acres of wetlands are protected from development where the Combahee, Ashepoo and Edisto Rivers flow. Threatened by a hospital and sand mine on each side, Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve became my next plein air week of painting in a savannah of pitcher plants and wildflowers with burned trunks of pines on the horizon. The Coastal Conservation League and South Carolina Environmental Law Project are uniting to protect 10,000 acres near Myrtle Beach from increased wildfire risk and difficulties in planning controlled burns. We use social media to elicit folks to sign petitions to fight overdevelopment which destroys natural habitat. Burroughs Chapin Museum will feature my work at Awakening in January-April 2025. These battles take a long time. With these conservation groups who use legal expertise to protect land, water and communities across South Carolina, we have helped to bring awareness to keep 50 houses from being built on Kiawah a barrier island that comes and goes with storms and a coal plant near Florence.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Passion is needed to stay focused on one issue at a time in this busy world. Perseverence and hard work ethic is pertinent to producing good art. Museums and books have impacted my journey as well as time in state and national parks. My life’s work has required math and writing skills to make silk sculptures to fill large atriums and 75 piece shows. The business is formidable. My accountant told me to hire brilliant people to do the work I detest but must be done to survive. I have always appreciated my assistants through decades and now have a flock of folks I depend on to stay afloat. Photographing and keeping up with the provenance of 1,500 works of art takes time. I advise to organize a system to keep your patrons aware of your endeavors and involved in your process. Also, love your community and friends and family. Balancing your spiritual, physical and emotional being creates a rounded base where creativity flows best. We all have rough spells to overcome in life and must take the time to deal with problems beyond our control. Making art grounds me in a way nothing else can achieve. Often I do not want to go to work, but once I start, time evaporates and I am in a meditative zone. Surround yourself with kind supportive people. Envision your goals. Love your life.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
As a 71 year old female I finally went from installing huge museum exhibits to having Hagan Fine Art Gallery here in Charleston, SC feature my silks and oils. They are professionals who I trust. My daughter Reba Fraser is also a dyer and taught with me at Arrowmont School of Crafts and Joseph C. Campbell Folk School. She helps me set up and break down the workshops and is a talented artist. Always I experiment in each artwork pushing the boundaries each bit of knowledge leads to better methods of expression. Most of the studio or outdoor work is intuitive. As a colorist coming from the textile world I find the oils to be exhilarating. The palette knife is such a fabulous tool and the paint feels like butter. The large scale appeals to me as I prefer to work with my full body in a fluid manner. As the art progresses, the Edo Prints of Japan and Impressionists of the past seem to seep from my memory into the canvas. In the past 12 months I have had wonderful excursions into nature wearing my snake boots with an assistant to aid in the physical act of painting outdoors. We make movies for Youtube. We try to keep up with all the past while dealing with the present. People come from all over the world to my place in the universe. I am happy.
Contact Info:
- Website:maryedna.com
- Instagram: maryednastudio
- Facebook: Mary Edna Fraser Studio
- Youtube: maryednafraser
- Other: https://limeandthecoconuts.bandcamp.com/ I have a really fun band Lime and the Coconuts
Image Credits
Rick Rhodes Photography Kevin Free Photography
