Artists to Watch – Mary Frances Millet

Mary Frances Millet lives and works in her hometown of Schenectady, NY. Her studio is in the Jay St. Gallery in downtown Schenectady where she continues to create and teach watercolor and hand-built clay classes.

She continues to explore clay and push its limits to be more painterly than sculptural. She credits her parents for giving her complete creative license from age eight to the present. That support plus the freedom she was given to create has developed fearlessness in her to explore mediums and ideas.

Mary is a graduate of the Occupational Therapy program at Maria College.  She also had a B.A. in Sociology. She is currently enjoying her sixth year at Niskayuna High School assisting special education students in their art classes…everything from ceramics to computer arts.  Given the opportunity, she’d like to develop a center for this population to continue their work after high school. Additionally, she has become involved with The Scotia Glenville Traveling Museum where she recently started a watercolor program.  She has been teaching watercolor for seven years in various locations including the Malta Community Center and The Saratoga Arts Center. She has worked with MVP HealthCare in developing a ‘Wellness through Art,’ program for their employees which was very well received. She is currently working on the same concept with the Animal Protective Foundation in Scotia.

Mary works in watercolor, ceramics, photography, collage and fabric. When one seems to be running dry, she switches or combines mediums until she’s re-energized. She also loves painting, photographing and collaging vintage images from the 20s to the 50s. Her current series is vignettes of old kitchen tools.  There are several subjects that keep coming up in her work. One is large watercolor musician portraits. Large collections of these portraits can be viewed at the Bayou Cafes in Glenville and Albany as well as DiDonna’s Restaurant on Saratoga Lake. Another subject is the ballet. Prints of her ballet images can be purchased at Karalina’s Boutique in Clifton Park.

Mary can be contacted via her website or at the following phone number below:

• 518-488-9262
• http://www.maryfrancesmillet.webs.com