‘No art without an audience’

Mary Lou Olds has a quest when making art, a desire to have viewers emotionally connect to her art pieces. While art interpretation is to be left to the individual experiencing it, what she aims for is defined by the French expression, “coup de coeur.” “It means to cut or hit the heart literally, but more like an unexplainable emotional response,” she said.

Olds, a Tecumseh resident, is the current artist with an exhibit at the Tecumseh District Library, which showcases local creators in the lounge area surrounding the fireplace. The 13 pieces in the exhibit, which will be up through Feb. 27, range from acrylic paintings to prints and collages.

She grew up in Nebraska and has been an artist from a young age, benefitting from having a mother who was a commercial artist. “Art was always encouraged in our house,” she said. “I always thought that in one capacity or another I would end up with a career in art.” Her first public show as an artist was when she was in fourth grade and had her work in the Nebraska State Fair.

She started college as an art student and realized it might be a difficult way to make a living, so she left school for a couple of years and then went back to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for degrees in broadcast journalism and Spanish with minors in art, film and geography. Her career varied, with work in broadcasting, marketing, and more.

Regarding coup de coeur, she said, “It’s that sensation where you walk up to an artwork and you (catch your breath) because you feel it, you feel that connection, there’s something there that means something to you in a way that’s not conscious. To me, that’s what I’m trying to do, that’s what my artwork is about. It’s reaching people on a level where they react to something that I’ve done because it’s meaningful.”

Olds said that in art, there are many different styles and levels of experience. “There is no wrong style. …There’s no wrong level of experience. So, when people interpret art, there’s no wrong interpretation, really,” she said.

An instructor once told her, “Feel with your eyes.” “In other words, don’t use your brain, feel with your eyes,” said Olds. “So, you’re allowing your senses to relate to what’s in front of you.”

Olds has a way of encouraging others to try art, to delve into creativity and see what happens, as kind of an “art ambassador.” She has participated in art shows and art fairs where her focus is not so much on selling art as it is on being a mobile exhibit where people can ask questions and interact with the artwork and the artist. “To me, that’s the point. That’s taking art ‘out there’ and letting people experience it, and so selling, sure that’s a side benefit, but the biggest benefit to the experience is allowing other people to interact in a space where they wouldn’t normally be,” she said.

She also stresses that you don’t have to be good at drawing in order to express yourself in art. “Some people also assume that the only way to make art is to do something realistic, and that’s not the case, either,” she said.

To view Olds’ exhibit, visit the library at 215 N. Ottawa Street Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, 1-5 p.m.

As Olds stated, “Bob Dylan says, ‘There is no art without an audience.’”