The Paintings of Mary McClelland

Animals

Mary adored animals, and the majority of her paintings are of animals from around the world.  In her artistic life she went through phases of falling in love with one kind of animal or another, moving from water creatures, to insects, to whales, to camels, and especially elephants.

Several of Mary's paintings show animals that are dead, but why she seemed to like to paint dead things has always been a bit of a mystery.  She herself was always "passionately vague" about what her paintings signified.  One thing for certain, though, is that she was not the least bit macabre in her outlook, nor was she at all obsessed with "dark thoughts," as one might be led to think.  Perhaps Mary's paintings of death arose from her deeply held belief in absolute honesty.  Death is, after all, a very real part of the world in which we live, and maybe it is dishonest to look away from it.  Mary was fond of pointing out that when you take a walk in the woods (as she loved to do in the family summer home on Yelping Hill) at least half of what you see is dead.  Why ignore this?  It seems that Mary's paintings may have been a statement that animals and nature, including death, are an absolute manifestation of God's work on earth and must be seen, painted, enjoyed, and worshiped for what they truly are.

Click on an image...

Mammals

Gorilla with baby	Italian Cow	Rhino	Mexican Dog	Burro with Crosses	Donkey 1	Donkey 2	Llama	Hyena
Sacred Cow	Chipmunk	Rabbit	Moose	Meerkat	Cat Head	Impala Painting	Blue Cat	Pregnant Cat
Large Sacred Cow	Large Cat	Camel 1	Camel 2	Elephant 1	Elephant 2	Impala Sketch	Ram Sketch	Goat Sketch

Birds

Goose

Swan

Dead Bird 1

Dead Bird 2

Prehistoric Bird

Chicken

Crane

Rhea

Whooping Crane

Fish, Amphibians, and Other Creatures

Underwater Creatures

Toad

Newt

Red Eft

Crab

Shark

Turtle

Other animal paintings...

Original Mouse  (tempera on matboard, 17" x 20")
Looking into a Dead Bird  (casein on wood, 27" x 13")
Bat  (oil on plaster, 16" x 30")
Brown Mouse  (casein on wood, 23" x 16")
Ram  (oils, 32" x 38")
Whale  (oil on cowskin)
Dead Squirrel and Moon  (oil on canvas, 40" x 37")
Wolf
Dead Bird
Dead Mole
Indian Sacred Calf
Eland