ARTIST’S STATEMENT

I’m a third-generation artist raised unconventionally in museums and art galleries.

I’m an artist because I’m obsessed with color, balance, light & shadow… not necessarily in that order.  I’ll work with any materials, from oil paints to fabric to torn paper — whatever connects me with the inspiration, and feels as if I’m up to my elbows in it.

My work usually mixes reality, memory and whimsy.  I usually focus on whatever sparked the piece.  If it’s about color, I may dismiss the subject’s details to remain immersed in the color.

My favorite color is blue, from blue greens to lavender blues.  Blues are often underrated.  They’re serene, they can have endless, unexplored depths; they’re often the deceptively juicy element in the work.

For me, art is successful when it shares the emotional connection to the inspiration.  The highest compliment is when someone looks at my work, inhales in surprise and then whispers, “Wow.”

GOALS AND PURPOSES

In October 2011, it was time for me to re-examine my goals and purposes.  It’s a little cliche to call it a mission statement, but… yes, it’s sort of like that.

My life is definitely focused on people, especially those close to me.  My husband and children bring me joy, daily.

In addition to the people in my life, here’s what lends continuity to all that I do, and what I aspire to:

• To illuminate the past for inspiration.
• To live a life of transcendent elegance and simplicity.
• To savor the ever-changing magnificence of nature.
• To share a reverence for the abundant beauty in everyday life.

My means of expression are usually the arts, especially the visual arts.  I’m inspired by nature, but also by music, literature, architecture and history.  When I need time for reflection or to renew my energy, I’ll almost always go to the beach.  Something about the ocean and salty breezes… they invigorate me and bring me a sense of comfort, no matter what else is going on in my life.

BIOGRAPHY

I was born in 1951 in Cambridge and raised in Belmont, Massachusetts.  My mother was a quirky mix of Donna Reed and Isadora Duncan, and my father did his best to fit a rotating series of jobs into his schedule as a political activist.  The basement of our house was half artist’s studio (for Mum) and half workshop/darkroom (for Dad).

We summered in Rye (NH) and Wentworth-by-the-Sea, where I developed a love of landscapes and salt air. Those summers were extraordinary.

By high school (Belmont High School, Class of 1969), I was already a renegade, breaking the rules at the worst possible times, and — in frustration — expressing myself through my art.

Gawky and perpetually skinny, I began fashion modeling at age 11 and — adding a second career path — sold my first artwork at age 14.

In the late 1960s, I found a sense of relief and identity in the hippie movement, moved to Utah (with my first husband), then to California (with my second) and back to New England, over a span of ten years.

The third husband led us on a series of adventures and misadventures across the U.S., with the occasional span of months in Canada, the UK and Ireland.  I reinvented myself about a dozen times during those 20 years, before giving up on that marriage.

Then I moved to Texas to find myself… and landed on the doorstep of my fourth husband.  After eight years together, I can say with confidence that he’s the perfect companion for me.

I’ve dabbled in a variety of creative careers, but I keep returning to art.  That’s what’s authentic for me.  It’s where I lose all sense of time, and revel in the beauty and whimsy of Nature.

EDUCATION

My art education included brief immersions in Colby-Sawyer College (New London, NH) and Harvard, as well as time at M.I.T. and Mission: Renaissance (Los Angeles).

I’ve taught at national arts events including Artfest, Art & Soul, Art Unraveled, and Celebrate Art, as well as dozens of smaller events and workshops across the U.S.

However, I’m not always comfortable in art classes, either as a student or as a teacher.  I raise an eyebrow at rules.  I’ve never been good at by-the-numbers classes.  I’d rather spark someone’s originality.

Inspiration should take art in the direction of freedom, not structure and constraints.  If it doesn’t give me — and the viewer — a new way of looking at something… well, what’s the point?  Life is already too conveniently put into categories with labels, and then forgotten.  I want my art — and my students’ art — to rise above that.

Mostly, I’ve created art in a variety of media.  My most collected works seem to be my paintings and my fiber art pieces.

GALLERIES

During the 1980s, you may have seen or purchased my quilts, wall hangings, and art dolls at these galleries and shops:

In the 1990s and early 2000s, I pursued a fine arts career in my own name, as well as a mixed media career as Aisling D’Art.

As Aisling D’Art, I’m the founder of  the art doll community, Wild Art Dolls, and I’m the moderator (and fearless leader) of the mixed media community, Artists Journals.

Currently, I live in New Hampshire with my wonderful husband. My three children are adults now, living their own creative adventures from their homes in New England and Florida.

In my spare time, I enjoy baking cookies and homemade bread, listening to music, letterboxing, hiking, genealogy… and writing nonfiction books (under a pen name) about unusual events and travel.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

I’m a juried member of EBSQ Plus. I’ve also been a member of the York Art Association (ME), Concord Art Association (MA), International Plein Air Painters, and NH Plein Air.

*My mother was fine artist Muriel Joan Bernier (1919 – 2010), from Mass. Art’s Drawing & Painting Class of 1940.

My grandfather was ceramics artist Napoleon Bernier (founder of California Paints, California Stucco, and California Products).

My dad was calligrapher, photographer, and political activist William B. Morey, Jr.

Sometimes, my given name is spelled “Eibhlin” in the Irish tradition. The surnames have varied, but I’ve gone back to my maiden name of Morey.

Mailing address:

Eileen Morey
c/o New Forest Books
PO Box 2216
Concord, NH 03302-2216 USA