MARY STORMS
Mary Storms was born 1953 and raised just outside of Boston. Her family was fortunate to spend summers at her grandmother’s old camp house on several wooded acres adjacent to Walden Pond. Together with her brother and sisters and along with an ever-revolving flock of cousins, she explored every inch of the property. They climbed rock outcroppings, built tree forts, paddled up and down the Sudbury River, hunted for Lady Slippers, sang with the tree frogs and danced with the fireflies. Her imagination ran at full tilt day and night fueled by this outdoor wonderland. But, ironically, it wasn’t until she left this wonderland far behind, that her creative spirit was truly stirred.
It was 1967, “the summer of love". Once school let out, her mother, hell-bent on leaving town after the sudden death of her father, sold the house and most everything in it. She piled the kids in the car and off they went, heading west to the Golden State. It was during this journey, her first trip away from the only home she had known, that she witnessed the overwhelming expanse, power and beauty of our natural environment. From the open car window, she stared transfixed as one bedazzling landscape after another whizzed by. When they had reached the Golden Gate Bridge, her love affair with nature began in earnest.
Several decades and a few cross-country trips later, having made Raleigh, NC home, Storms is still smitten. Whether it’s a distant sun-drenched butte in the Painted Desert or a twisted, gnarly clump of roots underfoot at a city park, nature’s own works of art take her breath away. For Mary, there is nothing more stunning on Earth than the very earth itself. This is what inspires her work.
Storms always dabbled in art throughout her life, but it wasn't until 1999 that she began to pursue art more seriously. She felt the need to put paper and paint to canvas and express her vision of the earth. With the millennium just around the corner and realizing that she wasn’t getting any younger, she gave notice to her boss, husband and kids and went out and bought the best paints, paper, canvas and brushes she could afford and got down to business. She has not regretted a moment since.
Select Exhibitions
2016 Solo Exhibit, Arts Council of Wilson, Wilson, NC
Raleigh Fine Arts Society, NC Artists Exhibition, Raleigh, NC
2015 Solo Exhibit, Durham Arts Council, Durham, NC
Carolina on My Mind Exhibit, Village Art Circle, Cary, NC
Carolina’s Got Art Exhibit, Charlotte, NC
Theatre Art Galleries Gala and Art Auction, High Point, NC
2014 Scope: The Southern Landscape, VAE, Raleigh, NC
Carolina on My Mind Exhibit, The Village Art Circle, Cary, NC
57th National JAS, Marie V. Howard Art Center, Rocky Mount, NC
Solo Exhibit, North Ridge Country Club, Raleigh, NC
Celebrating Art and Architecture, Stewart Engineering, Raleigh, NC
American Abstracts Exhibits, Wake County Library, Raleigh, NC
2013 Block Gallery, A Sense of Place Exhibit, Raleigh, NC
Solo Exhibit, AJ Fletcher Foundation, Raleigh, NC
Carrack Modern Art Gallery, Durham, NC
Raleigh City Museum, Your Art Here Exhibit, Raleigh, NC
2012 Solo Exhibit, HagerSmith Design, Raleigh, NC
2011 Raleigh Fine Arts Society NC Artists Exhibition, Raleigh, NC
Lee Hansley Gallery, Fresh: More Art Faster Exhibit, Raleigh, NC
2010 The Clayton Center For the Arts, Clayton, NC
2009 Visual Arts Exchange, Raleigh, NC
2008 Jordan Hall Art Center, Cary, NC
2007 CAT Bus Wrap (Art on the Move), Raleigh, NC
Page Walker Arts and History Center, Cary, NC
Select Awards
Ashworth Award Adrift, Carolina on My Mind Exhibit - 2015
2nd Place Painted Desert I, Your Art Here Exhibit - Raleigh City Museum, 2013
3rd Place Running Commentary, Text and Numbers Exhibit,
Visual Art Exchange, 2006
Mary Storms
In A Split Second
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