DAYS

strives to bring to the surface the art inside the tech. “I look for patterns or systems that kind of go between math and nature, or math and objects that are around us”, he says. “Then I try to develop ways to make those things come together in the same image. Sometimes it’s more computer driven. Sometimes I start with a drawing. Generally, I do most of the work on a computer with 3D modeling, animation, and game design programs.”

One could say that Gary’s been on the forefront of using technology in art for many years now. Before moving to Naples seven years ago, Gary saw the future and took computer science classes from 1982-86 and has been utilizing computers for art ever since. He taught printmaking for 40 years in Nebraska, initially

Nebraska, Omaha.” Now a professor emeritus, he adds that while he taught there, Mary was teaching art at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha.

While they made their life together in Omaha before relocating to Naples, both initially hailed from different parts of the country. Gary grew up near Great Falls, Montana and Mary in Miami. They met while both attended grad school at Florida State University where Gary majored in printmaking and Mary in painting. They graduated with MFAs in 1976 and have been happily married for an impressive 46 years!

Gary’s creative path incorporating a lot of etching, woodblock, and lithography before focusing on teaching animation and 3D modeling, then game design for the last 15 years. “In the end I ended up not using presses anymore. I used a large printer and treated it like a press”, he recalls. “We were in Omaha, and I was at the University of includes a long list of producing prints, drawings, and handmade books. He has beenavisitingartistinBelgium,Israel,Spain,andthe American Academy in Rome, and has received numerous grants and awards, including an Individual Artist Fellowship from the National

Endowment for the Arts. His prints and animations are included in many public and private collections both nationally and internationally.

Mary’s art journey features a steady list of solo and group exhibitions, largely in the Midwest, plus a residency in Cataluna, Spain. Most recently, one of her pieces was accepted for a joint exhibition by the Studio Art Quilt Associates Global Exhibition in conjunction with the National Basketry Organization, with a June opening in Billings, Montana. She’s been featured locally as well, “I was in a five-woman show at the Naples Botanical Garden this summer. I do like to get the work out there.”

Schooling aside, the smallwalls creators are very much both lifelong artists. Mary recalls, “My mother taught me how to draw when I was seven or eight. I have always loved working with my hands and making things. It just makes my heart sing. My undergrad degree is in art history, but I always wanted to be in art. And here we are.”

Gary remembers his father painting wildlife pictures when he was young. “He taught me how to draw horses and such. His painting setup was next to the bed I was in, so I grew up with that, and my teachers in grade school directed me that way. In the early 80s I started taking computer science. The whole technology there is changing at this point. Now I’m working on a digital artist book, making large scale prints and very short animation that can be sold over the internet, similar to the NFT format.

As for the future for smallwalls, Mary shares, “I’m hoping to create a body of work that encapsulates what I’ve been attempting to do all my life. I see the work as getting more specific. Gary adds that he’s just going to keep doing what he’s doing since its already so cutting edge. “The technology has really gotten useful and there are more opportunities for computer artists that didn’t exist 20 years ago.”

Getting more oriented to the community and how they fit in has been a fantastic learning process, Mary says, “We just feel very fortunate to be where we are right now. And the Naples Art District has been so great.”

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I spoke to them about their artwork. How do your individual creations coalesce into a single presentation?

GARY: I do mostly technology now and Mary, in addition to drawing, she does sculptural objects that she calls drawings in space, MARY: Made with basket reed.

Where does the name smallwalls come from?

GARY: We were driving down the street and there was a housing development called Tall Walls, so we decided we were small walls. We were in Naples.

MARY: And the space we have is small.

What are some of your favorite mediums in which to work?

GARY: I do a little drawing on paper, but not too much anymore.

MARY: Drawing and building with multimedia. I put things together with different materials, but essentially drawing and basket reed. In the past, drawing and I was doing installations with different kinds of material. I’ve worked with cloth and cheesecloth and then I got over to the basket reed because it had a little more substance to it. We’ve been here 7 years.

Do you ever present your works individually?

MARY: We don’t do the art shows as we don’t have the equipment to do that.

GARY: Also, our work is probably not very conducive to that type of showing.

MARY: Gary has gallery representation, but in Nebraska.

GARY: We’re just looking around the whole state as to what’s going on.

MARY: We’re on a hunting and gathering mission. More hunting than anything.

GARY: We’re both in different museums. In the Midwest, Chicago, Lincoln, Omaha, a lot of college collections.

MARY: They live here permanently.

GARY: We travel a few times a year to show work and to see as much work as you can.

MARY: We’re more of a studio and a work space.

• smallwalls’ offers open studios the first Wednesday & Thursday and third Saturday of every month. Otherwise, you can see their work by appointment. • smallwalls is located in the Naples Art District, at 6240 Shirley St, studio 103, in Fairways Trade Village building. For information, call 402-201-6160.