I knew Mary well during the last 15 years of her life. This piece captures her perfectly. I had two of her big oils which, alas, I had to sell when I was very hard up. I miss them. I miss Mary. Thank you for what you've written which has brought back so many happy memories
Happy 60th Birthday! I turned 60 in May and it's been unexpectedly liberating and opened up avenues I wouldn't have anticipated. It's felt like something biological happens and I've read about others saying the same - a real now or never philosophy, and a sense of it's never too late. I wish you a wonderful year full of opportunities.
Thank you very much, Nicola, and a belated happy birthday to you! I was so dreading it as it felt like the end was nigh! But instead it has felt like a rallying call to get on with it and I feel excited by the times ahead. x
Thank you, Maria. Her comment about the importance of doing, whether you feel like it or not, are I think such sage words. The act of writing or drawing does spark unexpected consequences - though it is not always easy!
It is a birthday that felt hugely significant and I have never felt that way previously. But once it was there, the weight just lifted and I felt very differently. I hope a little of that has rubbed off onto you and that you see it more hopefully. Let us flourish together!
First, Happy New Year, Deborah, and thank you for setting the tone of 2025 perfectly, by introducing me to Mary Potter. I didn't know her work, and now I want to know a lot more about her. Second, happy birthday! I hope you enjoy your sixties, and that you experience that feeling of rebirth to which others have alluded. I certainly did; and I'm about to find out if another invigorating surprise awaits me as I enter my eighth decade this year. Good luck in all your endeavours – carpe diem!
Thank you very much Rod and a very happy new year to you too! I am pleased you enjoy her work, I find it so enriching and beautiful. I love that she just kept going to - and was ultimately rewarded by success and such kindness. So this is a big year for you too! Absolutely, carpe diem!
I do like meeting artists I knew nothing about through your posts and Moon Eyes has joined my list of books to read. Enjoy being sixty! I will be seventy in April and feel I’ve only just got going as an artist.
Thank you very much, Tamsin. I feel strangely fired up to get going after the day passed. I hope you enjoy Moon Eyes, it had such an impact on me. I have so enjoyed watching your work blossom and age really isn't a limitation.
Happy 60th, Deborah!! I recently turned 65 and have to say the 60s have been my favorite decade of adulthood so far. Thanks for the introduction to Mary Potter and Penelope Lively is a top favorite of mine. Wishing you all the best this year.
Thank you Deborah, and happy just gone big birthday too. While I was reading this and looking at the glorious paintings I was starting to wish there could be a group exhibition of all the artists you write about. Except, I’ve realised now, it wouldn’t work unless you were there all the time to take each exhibition visitor round individually and tell us all the stories of each of the mostly neglected artist’s lives. Which, of course is what you do in each of these pieces you write anyway. Each one, like this, a work of art themselves in their always informed and gentle telling. So thank you.
Thank you very much, Ronnie. Wouldn't that be a wonderful exhibition? I found her story so heartening. Having such champions of her work must have made such a difference, to her self belief and financially. I am so glad you enjoyed her work and thank you too for such a lovely comment.
Happy birthday! And happy new year once again. Am so glad you wrote this: it is the perfect piece for a beginning, whether of a year or of a decade.
On rereading, I saw that you used the word ”flourishing” for Mary Potter's new period that began at 62, and that seems just right: it's not just the external recognition, but also the fact of doing, as it sounds, her most consequential work then. And the combo of the two — the recognition and support and success, on the one hand, and the work on the other, along with the sense that it opened up a world of friendships with people like Britton and Pears, is simply happy-making. Thank you for this!
My next big birthday will be 60 as well, and I find that it has an emotional weight (a somewhat heavy one) that no other birthday has ever had. This piece is a wonderful encouragement to let that drop. Wishing you an equally flourishing new decade, and sending warmest birthday wishes.
So much to learn, thank you, Deborah. What a fascinating life Mary led. Over and above the skill of the artist - paramount in any creative endeavour - it got me thinking about encouragement and patronage, two halves of a coin, one a sprinkling of fairy dust (or moonlight) and the other wholly practical.
Also, 60 … yes! Me too this year coming (1 June). I am VERY excited by it as I have carved out a plan for extended and elaborate celebration. There’ll be a 2,300 kilometre solo pedal from the town of my birth in Scotland to Faro where I reunited with JoJo who will be there for a retreat, my present to her on the occasion of my birthday … and then together we will have 3 months of European rail travel in the Autumn. Like you, I am just getting started! Onwards.
My goodness, what a way to celebrate! It really feels as though it is a time to grasp life and it does feel very exciting. I have had comments about why bother " at your time of life"...well, blow that, I intend to do all I can.
I found Benjamin Britten's generosity astonishing, he must have cared for her very much. And to have a champion telling her that the best was still to be achieved, must have been so invigorating. Thank you very much for such a lovely message.
A wonderful post, Deborah. Mary Potter is new to me, so thank you for sharing. So many forgotten people who deserve to be remembered. Your further reading this time looks so interesting...I need more time!!!
Another wonderful artist who I knew virtually nothing about. Thanks for this, Deborah. I love the examples you've shown here and what a fascinating life.
Three cheers to late bloomers! I am certainly not ready to written off yet! I am so glad you liked her paintings, I can think of no other painter like her.
A belated happy birthday from one who’s now gone beyond the next big birthday too!
Fabulous account of an artist I must admit I’d never heard of but now feel I know well. I guessed Susan would have known her and will seek out the biography you mention.
Mary almost seems like the artistic equivalent of Penelope Fitzgerald for that late blossoming and, as I’ve also discovered, there are many personal treasures to be revealed in these later years of our lives. I’m sure they are all waiting for you too.
Thank you and was delighted that Susan Hill knew her. I would have loved to have asked more but didn't like to be a bother. I love the work of Penelope Fitzgerald, especially her earlier novels. I am currently researching another artist whose also recognised later in life - all very hopeful reading!
Happy birthday! Beautiful post, it is somehow soothing and encouraging. The moon and the open window painting is my favorite, but they are all gorgeous. Thank you for sharing this lovely woman and her work.
I did search, but nothing. I found only a couple of watercolour sketches, but they were local. It was very frustrating. I wondered too about her sketchbooks and will see if I can discover where her archive is as I would love to know more. If I discover more, I will let you know!
I knew Mary well during the last 15 years of her life. This piece captures her perfectly. I had two of her big oils which, alas, I had to sell when I was very hard up. I miss them. I miss Mary. Thank you for what you've written which has brought back so many happy memories
I hoped you would have know her! I am glad you still have her painting. Her work is remarkable, isn't it? Thank you very much for letting me know.
Happy 60th Birthday! I turned 60 in May and it's been unexpectedly liberating and opened up avenues I wouldn't have anticipated. It's felt like something biological happens and I've read about others saying the same - a real now or never philosophy, and a sense of it's never too late. I wish you a wonderful year full of opportunities.
Thank you very much, Nicola, and a belated happy birthday to you! I was so dreading it as it felt like the end was nigh! But instead it has felt like a rallying call to get on with it and I feel excited by the times ahead. x
Thank you, Maria. Her comment about the importance of doing, whether you feel like it or not, are I think such sage words. The act of writing or drawing does spark unexpected consequences - though it is not always easy!
It is a birthday that felt hugely significant and I have never felt that way previously. But once it was there, the weight just lifted and I felt very differently. I hope a little of that has rubbed off onto you and that you see it more hopefully. Let us flourish together!
Apologies — I only just saw this. Yes! So glad to hear that, and here is to the flourishing 🍾
Oh, and happy 60th! This year I turn another decade on from you - I have 'til September to get used to the idea!
Thank you, June! It felt like a monumental milestone but I rather like it now I am here!
First, Happy New Year, Deborah, and thank you for setting the tone of 2025 perfectly, by introducing me to Mary Potter. I didn't know her work, and now I want to know a lot more about her. Second, happy birthday! I hope you enjoy your sixties, and that you experience that feeling of rebirth to which others have alluded. I certainly did; and I'm about to find out if another invigorating surprise awaits me as I enter my eighth decade this year. Good luck in all your endeavours – carpe diem!
Thank you very much Rod and a very happy new year to you too! I am pleased you enjoy her work, I find it so enriching and beautiful. I love that she just kept going to - and was ultimately rewarded by success and such kindness. So this is a big year for you too! Absolutely, carpe diem!
I do like meeting artists I knew nothing about through your posts and Moon Eyes has joined my list of books to read. Enjoy being sixty! I will be seventy in April and feel I’ve only just got going as an artist.
Thank you very much, Tamsin. I feel strangely fired up to get going after the day passed. I hope you enjoy Moon Eyes, it had such an impact on me. I have so enjoyed watching your work blossom and age really isn't a limitation.
Happy 60th, Deborah!! I recently turned 65 and have to say the 60s have been my favorite decade of adulthood so far. Thanks for the introduction to Mary Potter and Penelope Lively is a top favorite of mine. Wishing you all the best this year.
Thank you Deborah, and happy just gone big birthday too. While I was reading this and looking at the glorious paintings I was starting to wish there could be a group exhibition of all the artists you write about. Except, I’ve realised now, it wouldn’t work unless you were there all the time to take each exhibition visitor round individually and tell us all the stories of each of the mostly neglected artist’s lives. Which, of course is what you do in each of these pieces you write anyway. Each one, like this, a work of art themselves in their always informed and gentle telling. So thank you.
Thank you very much, Ronnie. Wouldn't that be a wonderful exhibition? I found her story so heartening. Having such champions of her work must have made such a difference, to her self belief and financially. I am so glad you enjoyed her work and thank you too for such a lovely comment.
Happy birthday! And happy new year once again. Am so glad you wrote this: it is the perfect piece for a beginning, whether of a year or of a decade.
On rereading, I saw that you used the word ”flourishing” for Mary Potter's new period that began at 62, and that seems just right: it's not just the external recognition, but also the fact of doing, as it sounds, her most consequential work then. And the combo of the two — the recognition and support and success, on the one hand, and the work on the other, along with the sense that it opened up a world of friendships with people like Britton and Pears, is simply happy-making. Thank you for this!
My next big birthday will be 60 as well, and I find that it has an emotional weight (a somewhat heavy one) that no other birthday has ever had. This piece is a wonderful encouragement to let that drop. Wishing you an equally flourishing new decade, and sending warmest birthday wishes.
This is wonderful. An artist I knew nothing of & now I want to see more of her work. Thank you & happy new year!
Thank you very much and a happy new year to you too!
So much to learn, thank you, Deborah. What a fascinating life Mary led. Over and above the skill of the artist - paramount in any creative endeavour - it got me thinking about encouragement and patronage, two halves of a coin, one a sprinkling of fairy dust (or moonlight) and the other wholly practical.
Also, 60 … yes! Me too this year coming (1 June). I am VERY excited by it as I have carved out a plan for extended and elaborate celebration. There’ll be a 2,300 kilometre solo pedal from the town of my birth in Scotland to Faro where I reunited with JoJo who will be there for a retreat, my present to her on the occasion of my birthday … and then together we will have 3 months of European rail travel in the Autumn. Like you, I am just getting started! Onwards.
My goodness, what a way to celebrate! It really feels as though it is a time to grasp life and it does feel very exciting. I have had comments about why bother " at your time of life"...well, blow that, I intend to do all I can.
I found Benjamin Britten's generosity astonishing, he must have cared for her very much. And to have a champion telling her that the best was still to be achieved, must have been so invigorating. Thank you very much for such a lovely message.
A wonderful post, Deborah. Mary Potter is new to me, so thank you for sharing. So many forgotten people who deserve to be remembered. Your further reading this time looks so interesting...I need more time!!!
There are so many books to read! And now jigsaws...I am so absorbed by my Brontë one, it has been so cleverly put together.
They are great aren’t they? My favourite bit if that was Bertha leaping from the flames!
Another wonderful artist who I knew virtually nothing about. Thanks for this, Deborah. I love the examples you've shown here and what a fascinating life.
Here's to late bloomers!
Three cheers to late bloomers! I am certainly not ready to written off yet! I am so glad you liked her paintings, I can think of no other painter like her.
A belated happy birthday from one who’s now gone beyond the next big birthday too!
Fabulous account of an artist I must admit I’d never heard of but now feel I know well. I guessed Susan would have known her and will seek out the biography you mention.
Mary almost seems like the artistic equivalent of Penelope Fitzgerald for that late blossoming and, as I’ve also discovered, there are many personal treasures to be revealed in these later years of our lives. I’m sure they are all waiting for you too.
Thank you and was delighted that Susan Hill knew her. I would have loved to have asked more but didn't like to be a bother. I love the work of Penelope Fitzgerald, especially her earlier novels. I am currently researching another artist whose also recognised later in life - all very hopeful reading!
Happy birthday! Beautiful post, it is somehow soothing and encouraging. The moon and the open window painting is my favorite, but they are all gorgeous. Thank you for sharing this lovely woman and her work.
Thank you, Jenn. Her work is so serene and it was difficult to chose favourites, but I took love the image you describe. A very happy new year to you!
Serene, yes, that is the perfect description. Happy new year!! ✨
I would love to see her Switzerland paintings! Do you know of any online?
I did search, but nothing. I found only a couple of watercolour sketches, but they were local. It was very frustrating. I wondered too about her sketchbooks and will see if I can discover where her archive is as I would love to know more. If I discover more, I will let you know!
What an exciting mystery! Do let me know!