4 minute read
Art of the Matter
Artist enjoys challenges
Timothy takes on projects that push her out of her comfort zone
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Cherokee artist MaryBeth Timothy loves living outside her comfort zone.
Timothy’s current challenge is a sunset-hued panorama of the Smoky Mountains, her first landscape.
Story and Photos By Cathy Spauldin
Mr. Beanz joins his owner, MaryBeth Timothy, in Timothy’s studio. Timothy loves being challenged by her art.
She’s also taking on the challenge of illustrating books. She recently signed a contract with HarperCollins Publishers to illustrate a children’s book, “Indian Shoes,” by Cynthia Leitich Smith.
“When I was asked to illustrate her book, I was so excited,” Timothy said. “Totally and completely excited.”
Timothy said she had always wanted to illustrate children’s books, but never knew how to get started.
“I didn’t think my style would work for that,” she said. “I do such an eclectic variety of things. It’s not graphic, it’s not illustration.”
However, Timothy has illustrated part of an anthology, “The Talk” by Traci Sorrel, and “Into the Wilderness” by Tracy M. Lewis.
Live paints pose continuing challenges. A live paint is when an artist paints during an event, such as a fundraiser or art show.
“You only have two or three hours to finish a painting,” she said.
She said that through live painting, she
MaryBeth Timothy’s hearth showcases her love of Native art and artifacts.
ABOVE: Timothy has done sculpture as well as paintings
LEFT: One of her sculptures is named “Brothers Three in Harmony.”
MaryBeth Timothy looks through a book containing some of her illustrations. She is illustrating a children’s book, “Indian Shoes.”
learned to be “a little looser, not to be so uptight on getting every inch of the canvas filled.”
A Pryor native, Timothy said she has drawn for as long as she could remember. She recalled winning a ribbon for one of her drawings in kindergarten.
“I’ve always been a big dreamer and creator in one way or another,” she said. “I’ve done a lot of creative jobs over the years, but I never went to specific art work until I was in my 30s.
Artist Elizabeth Cramer showed her how to sculpt with clay. She said Cramer also taught her to be consistent, never give up and don’t be discouraged by criticism.
“She just worked with me on how to develop what I already knew, but it was a start,” she said. “It was basic techniques, but she taught me to follow through with those.”
In 2012, Timothy showed her work in Paris as part of a group of Native artists known as the Délégation Amérindienne. She said the visit gave her an appreciation of all styles of art.
Timothy said she incorporates different art styles in her work.
“I’ll try to incorporate some kind of ancient design, or something to do with my heritage,” she said.
For example, in “Ancient Glory,” a bald eagle’s head is backed by bold blue designs from southeastern Native burial mounds.
“It’s to show the eagle was sacred to our ancestors, just like it is to us today,” she said.
“Ascension” shows a cardinal flying over a line of blood red hands.
Timothy said she painted a similar work
ALL: MaryBeth Timothy paints in a variety of styles. “Ascension,” top left, deals with murdered and missing indigenous women, and lost loved ones. Animals and what they represent are favorite themes.
as a live paint at a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women event at University of Oklahoma. She said she had so much response from the live painting, she did another one to be printed.
“The red hands signify the missing and murdered women. The cardinal signifies a lost loved one who has come back to watch over us,” she said.
Timothy married Muscogee (Creek)
artist and musician John Timothy. They got a business loan from Cherokee Nation in 2015 to set up Moonhawk Art, LLC. They went full-time with the business in 2018.
“Since then, we have a pretty good wholesale part of our business that we sell to different gift shops, museums, galleries,” she said.
They put prints of their work on ceramic tile, mugs, mouse pads, guitar pick earrings,
possibly even protective face masks.
Recently, MaryBeth Timothy was asked to work on a statue of early Oklahoma lawman Bass Reeves.
It’s another challenge she welcomes.
“Anything outside my comfort zone, like the landscape, is all new to me,” she said. “That’s what drives me. I’ll research, I’ll study, I’ll paint, I’ll cover it up, I’ll repaint until it looks right.”
