“From My Studio Window: A View From The Top” opens Jan 2nd and runs thru early March at the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art in Millersburg, Pa. (nedsmithcenter.org). The reception will take place on Saturday February 11th, 1-4 p.m. (facebook.com/events/568862615083153). The show will consist of 16 paintings, mostly plein air.

About the Artist

Mary Lapos (aka MOTH) is an American Artist (1942 – ), a life-long resident of Central Pennsylvania who has been creating art for 50 years on a CREP farm (Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program) purchased in 1970 by her and her husband, Frank. Both were teachers in the Danville area, he for the district and she for IU#16. Their two children are raising their families in the area — one, an administrator with Bloomsburg University, the other a Veterinarian in private practice. After Frank’s untimely death in 2001, MOTH set up her studio In Frank’s repurposed and refurbished woodworking shop.

MOTH has produced pieces in almost all media and lately is gravitating back to black and white. Watercolor, oils, and pastels have been her favorite choices over the years, and 60% of her paintings have sold. She has had numerous one-woman shows in the Susquehanna Valley, including her largest and most far-reaching entitled “Painting Invisible People”. That collection was featured in such diverse locations as the Harrisburg Commonwealth School of Law and Widener University in Philadelphia. “Invisible People” was a multimedia show focusing on social justice, gender inequality, and generational poverty and discrimination issues in three separate Countries — India, Haiti, and the U.S.

MOTH’s most recent one-woman show, at the Exchange Gallery in Bloomsburg, was a two-themed venture: “In Tune: Key of D” and “In the Reign of COVID: Black or White”. The first was a conceptual production of twelve pieces featuring the processes of sympathetic vibrations and harmony utilizing the synchronistic qualities of color waves and sound waves of music. Put simply, if it sounds good it will look good. The second, consisting of nine pieces, was a visual reflection on the COVID experience from an artist’s perspective, with all pieces done in Black & White (graphite on watercolor paper).

MOTH’s work is held in private collections in the U.S., England, Ireland, India, Slovakia, Bolivia, and Namibia.

About the pseudonym MOTH

A moth is a spirit guide. It represents mystery, darkness/light, and transformation. The ability to create from the void, from nothing to something, from bad to blessed. Powerful. Ancient Wisdom. It perfectly compliments her goal in Art: to make the unknown known and the unseen seen, by everyone