October 12, 2001
Honoring the Artist: Michele Mott
Michele Mott is a homegrown artist, having lived most of her life in the Hamptons. Her personality is just as down-to-earth. Come to think of it, so is her art. Not only does her work deal literally with the earth (like the cover piece) -farms, barns and produce stands- but her paintings are filled with images evoking comfort, security, and old fashioned ideas that are slowly going out of style.
While Ms. Mott may be an energetic, articulate, and contemporary person who likes to scuba dive in adventurous places, she cares very deeply about the past, particularly how our local landscape is changing to accommodate modern times. She feels a keen responsibility to preserve the past and its traditions through her art as best she can.
"I don't just paint old farmhouses," Ms. Mott reflects on a rainy Saturday morning as she sits in her sunny kitchen. The room itself is part of an old farmhouse. "I talk to the farmers, and get to know them. I've met so many wonderful people this way."
One such farmer is Bruno Madzelan, owner of an organic farm in Riverhead that Ms. Mott has painted. "Bruno taught me about barn structures," Ms. Mott offers. It's apparent they have a special relationship from the pictures she shows her visitor.
Ms. Mott shares other aspects of her connection to the landscape and its inhabitants. "I'm very much a feeling person", she notes. "When I see a barn, I know if I want to paint it, if I'll like the people who live there. It's a total feeling. I want to go beyond the surface of what I see, like Dali did, for example."
Ms. Mott's reference to Dali makes it apparent that she has an art background. When asked about her training, Ms. Mott's eyes light up. "I've been painting since I was five, but my art teacher at East Hampton High School, Brenda Herbert, influenced me greatly. She always told her students that we had to love art to be there. Then I had a wonderful teacher at Southampton College, Michael Rosch. He knew what I wanted to achieve, and he helped me to pinpoint it. Despite their encouragement, there were many people who were telling me I shouldn't be an artist, because artists don't make much money."
Ms. Mott has proven the skeptics wrong. After graduating from college, she moved to Massachusetts where she made a living painting figurines for Vaillancourt Folk Art, and doing commissions. One day she remembers riding her bike in the country and saw a barn that was just glowing from the sunset. She went home for a camera, but by the time she got back to the barn, the light had disappeared. It was from that experience, Ms. Mott says that "I decided to paint barns from then on."
Ms. Mott is still painting barns, having moved back to the area from Massachusetts. "I'm doing what I love," she says with conviction. "And I'm trying to help in my way to preserve the land."
-Marion Wolberg Weiss
Ms. Mott’s work can be seen at the Chrysalis Gallery in Southampton