“Make a picture in your mind of who you want to come to your house and to your dining room. It’s like Thanksgiving, you’re sitting at a table, and you can imagine who you want to come to your house and have dinner. A few of my family, Maurice Benard, my cousin Sally Jeffries, Carmine on Laverne and Shirley. Picasso. Van Gogh.

 

My inspiration comes from books, shapes, my religion, and celebrities. My favorite material is colored pencils because none of the colors are alike, it feels like butter, with brighter colors. I like to blend because I get more colors that way. It feels great, wonderful, to make artwork, warm and happy feelings. So… magic. Magical. I like response to my paintings, from anybody, that feels really good. “ – MTB

 

Mary T. Bevlock was born on July 30th 1968 in Bryn Mawr, PA. She began making artwork at the Center for Creative Works in 2010, when she started making portraits of her favorite celebrities. Bevlock is passionate about advancing herself as an artist, and her work continues to grow in innovative ways as she seeks to develop skills with new materials.

 

Working largely from a collection of images she has collected over the years, Bevlock’s practical and goal-oriented approach to art-making is systematized and focused. She begins the day by checking in with her friends and colleagues at the studio diligently preparing her workspace. When she works, Bevlock brings a combination of meticulous rigor and unbound improvisation to her practice. Her passion for color inspires an unexpected and innovative palette, and her detail-oriented mark-making articulates bold, sensitive line. Recently, Bevlock has focused on developing a series of religious portraits in calligraphy ink and colored pencil.

 

Bevlock likes basketball, weaving, and bowling. Her favorite television shows are CHIPS, General Hospital, Matlock, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and Little House on the Prairie. Mary is also inspired by music, which she listens to on her walkman while drawing and painting, particularly Captain and Tennile, The Carpenters, Kenny Rogers, the Monkees, John Denver, all of Barry Manilow, and Andy Gibb. She is inspired by Samantha, Mark, Michael Smith, and Chris Coyle, and maybe a little bit of Jordan.

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Click here to read an interview with Mary and Sophia Cosmadopolous on the Ace Hotel NYC Blog.

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Selected Exhibitions

2022

Face Space:  Work by ten Artists of CCW, Woodmere Museum, Millard Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2019

The Creative Commons, ArtYard, Frenchtown, NJ

2018

Cordially Invited, Make Studio Baltimore, Baltimore, MD

We’re In It (Remaking the World), VCAM, Haverford College, Haverford, PA

OUT THE DOOR: Art Party & Auction, Philadelphia History Museum, Philadelphia, PA

Outsider Art Fair 2018, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY

Person, Place, Thing. University City Arts League, Philadelphia, PA

2017

Philadelphia Foundation, You and Me, Philadelphia, PA

2016

Haverford College, SYMBIOSIS; Bryn Mawr, PA

2015

The Free Library of Philadelphia, Outside Sound; Philadelphia, PA

2014

Material Culture: Philadelphia, PA

Main Line Wine Gala, Villanova, PA

Pingle Building, St. Louis Outsider Arts Fair: St. Louis, MO

2013

Pingle Building, St. Louis Outsider Arts Fair: St. Louis, MO

Lankenau Health Center, The Big Picture: Wynnewood, PA

Ludington Library: Bryn Mawr, PA

2012

Center 548, Outsider Arts Fair: New York, NY

Grounds for Sculpture, The Art of Color: Trenton, NJ

The Asian Arts Initiative: Philadelphia, PA

Bluestone Gallery, Outsider 1: Philadelphia, PA

2011

Main Line Art Center, There’s Always Room for Dessert; Bryn Mawr, PA

 

Press

The Library Show, Lower Merion TV, Ardmore, PA; May 1st 2016

Lewis, Alex. Outside Sound connects artists with developmental disabilities and local musicians. Philadelphia NewsWorks for WHYY / NPR. September 15, 2015.

 

Collections and Publications

SYMBIOSIS: Art, Science, and Community, Haverford College Press, Bryn Mawr, PA