Mary E. Carter Hands of an Artist Productions Hand painted new and recycled wood furniture and wood objects One-of-a-kind original designs. With my hand painted one-of-a-kind furniture I hope to revive the dedicated craft of the single artisan who lovingly creates one piece at a time, taking it from start to finish. I recreate old world techniques of enameling, japanning, and lacquering, updating them by using contemporary non-toxic acrylic mediums. Most of the time I seek out old, battered pieces of furniture to recycle, giving them new life and beauty. All of my images are my own; I use no stencils and do not copy any other images. I do all my own work from sanding and repairing my furniture finds, to applying the undercoats, to distressing the surfaces, to painting the images, stroke by stroke. I use no production line help or outside assistance. Every table, chair, or cabinet that I paint is a jewel, truly an heirloom quality object. It is a long, slow, deliberate process. No two pieces are alike and each one holds traces of the hands, mind and heart of the artist who created it. Pentimento n. The emergence of earlier images, forms or strokes that have been changed and painted over. When looking at my work, viewers may detect imperfections, scratches or marks on the surfaces of the wood furniture showing through my new finishes and painted images. While I repair large gouges or broken pieces of the superstructure of the recycled furniture I select, in the case of small imperfections, I leave them as they are. These are the signs of life, the etched marks of the human history of each piece of furniture I work on. To make the surfaces look “too perfect” would be to lose the soul of the piece and so I leave them in tact to tell their stories. The name of my business comes from something my grandmother would say to me when I was a little girl. As I snuggled on her lap with my head on her shoulder she would put on her half frame glasses and slowly and lovingly scrutinize my little hands, front and back. Then she would say to me, “Mary, you have the hands of an artist.”

Rooster Table © Mary E. Carter Hands of an Artist Productions

(Detail) Black Point Rocker

Black Point Rocker ©Mary E. Carter Hands of an Artist Productions