Mary Rothermel
Artist Statement
I began my career as a printmaker spending months to complete a single image. I believe that has given me the patience to work through a complicated subject or design. Painting gives me more freedom to explore color. Professor, Glen Alps, once told me never to use green as it is everywhere in nature. I was challenged by that statement in more than one sense of its meaning. The psychological primary hue, the environmental supporter, I see that as the thread that connects my work.
It has been a great joy to work with Lee on this series of paintings about groups of animals with an audience aimed at children. I tried to include an action or a thing that a child could relate to in each composition. Memories from childhood flooded in, playing hopscotch, swinging, flying a kite and waiting for the school bus.
Mary Rothermel
Author Statement
I have had an extraordinary personal and professional life with a wide variety of experiences and positions. I grew up an avid reader, and after graduating from the University of Iowa, I taught high school English while secretly harboring an ambition to write a book. That ambition was put on hold to raise a family of 3 sons with my husband, Jay, and was further delayed by my professional career that included a broad cross section of jobs and volunteer experiences including being elected 3 times as Mayor of Iowa’s second largest city, Cedar Rapids and the first woman to hold that position. Additionally, I
have owned a small business, served as
President/CEO of our Area Chamber of
Commerce, and was an independent
business consultant, along with a significant volunteer career.
My vision for a children’s book resurfaced with my retirement and the birth of our first grandchild and via a lifelong fascination with nouns of assembly - those words that describe groups of animals. Delightful, playful and gorgeous illustrations were essential to that dream, but I am no artist, so I enlisted the help of my sister, Mary Rothermel, an extraordinarily gifted painter. It has been a serendipitous experience for us both!
Lee Clancey
