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Round Pond artist Kathleen Mack. (Photo courtesy Russell Mack) |
By Tim Badgley
Round Pond artist Kathleen Mack changed just one thing in her life on a visit to Italy last year that impacted everything about her working life as an artist. That one change
was renting an apartment in Umbertide September-to-September for one year.
She leaves for her third trip there this year next week.
Mack and her husband Russell have traveled to Italy for 15 years, each time renting accommodations for their stay each time. In 2013, the Macks decided to take an apartment for
an entire year instead of their habit of securing a place trip by trip.
Having a settled place waiting for her to come back to has energized her work and her spirit, Mack said.
“I’ve been painting up a storm. I honestly have not had any days off,” Mack said.
Mack said she began working as an artist later in life. She began painting and sculpting after she sold her business, Pemaquid Floorcloths, in 1993. Today Mack paints in oil and
water media, and sculpts in wax and stone.
“I am primarily interested in the human figure, alone and in relationship to other figures and surroundings,” Mack said.
Mack maintains a studio and art gallery in Round Pond. Her work can be viewed at her website, http://www.kathleenmack.com.
In the past Mack has stored a small cache of her own art supplies with her best friend in Italy. Now, by renting a place for a whole year, Mack can say she goes to live in
Italy. She isn’t just on vacation any more.
“In the past I would fly into Rome, rent a car, drive like crazy for two-and-a-half hours and have to stop along the way to buy water, wine, food and the necessities,” Mack
said.
Now, everything is in place, waiting for her to get right back to work. There is no setting everything up at the beginning of a vacation, no tearing down and putting away before
coming home, Mack said.
“I have a lot of stuff there now,” she said. “I took one of the rooms and covered the entire walls and floors with tarping, so I can do whatever I need to do.”
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“Madonna of the Olivi” (Madonna of the Olive Tree), 36″x24″, oil on linen, 2014 by Kathleen Mack. (Photo courtesy K. Mack) |
Mack is excited to get back Italy. After painting on commission during her past two trips, she wants to really dig into a project of her own. “This time I’m going to do what I
want to do, which is paint portraiture of people,” she said.
Before returning home from her last trip, Mack had completed five portraits. Her plan for her upcoming trip is to paint as many as she can. Mack says she will only be painting
people from Umbertide – old people, young people, people from the market, people from the grocery store; the guy across the street from her who runs a hotel with his
daughter.
“I usually have paint all over me and I just ask people,” she said. She starts by saying, “I’m a painter. Would you pose for me?”
The hotelier across the street Mack described as being rather stern. So she went over to visit him and asked him in Italian, “Would you pose for me? May I paint your portrait
some time?”
Mack said the man blushed and began to giggle and told her, ‘Yes.’ Then he regained his composure and sternly said ‘but I’m not always free. You must schedule ahead.’
It is charming encounters like this that Mack says fills every day. “People are shy, but I think they’re very friendly,” she said. “Everyone has been so nice to me.”
On a typical day, Mack says she walks through the market and gets whatever she wants or needs. Wednesday is market day. People come from all over; it’s quite a hubbub, she
said.
“Montone Festival,” 60″x72″, oil on canvas, 2014 by Kathleen Mack. (Photo courtesy Giancarlo Polito) |
Market day covers three piazzas or plazas, the one she lives on and two neighboring ones. “You can get chicken, weed whackers, fruit, cheese, meat or fish,” Mack said.
There is also porccetta, pig, on a spit to be had at four different locations on market day. “Man, are they good,” Mack said. “It’s just incredibly fabulous.”
“Mercato Umbertide, Umbria” (Umbertide Marketplace), 36″x48″, oil on canvas, 2014 by Kathleen Mack. (Photo courtesy K. Mack) |
One small change was all it took. Everything about how Mack paints and works as an artist in Italy has changed as a result.
“The whole purpose of renting for a year is that we love this place so much,” Mack said. “That’s it. I paint every day. All day long.”
