Mary Tilley Zeman/Self-Taught Artist Born in Jamaica(Queens), N.Y. October 1963 Websites: www.maryzemanart.com e-mail: [email protected]/ B.A Journalism/Advertising, University of Georgia 1986 ARTIST BIO: In 1997, I began to paint after I had brain surgery to remove a benign brain tumor from the right side of my brain. I was recovering from surgery, and out of the blue, I called my mom and asked her to take me to buy some paint and brushes. This was the first time I ever painted in my life. While I was growing up, I was never exposed to art and just didn’t know anything about it, though I had always wanted to learn more. I began painting on wood, paper, newspaper, anything I could find, then I started to paint on canvas. When I went back to my job in television, people looked at my art on the walls of my cubicle, and some people encouraged me to go further with it. I would work all day, then come home and paint at night, and looked forward to the time I would be painting. In October of 2000, I decided to leave my job and make a go of being a full-time artist. Everyday, I learn something new about art, and I love making art. The biggest compliment I can get is when adults look at my work and say, “that looks so childlike”. On the surface, my work seems to be innocent and non-threatening, but if you look deeper, there are many times observations about everything, from life, death, religion, politics, pain, childhood, just about everything. I never know what I’m going to paint, it just comes to me as I go. I love to write poetry, also, but don’t do it as much as I used to.. My artistic influences are varied. I like the work of Picasso, Andre’ Derain, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Howard Finster, Andy Warhol, Alice Neal, Harry Teague, & many others. I think art is everywhere, sometimes we just have to see.