I adore Mary Nohl

One of the many reasons I love the internet is how one thing leads to another and another and another. Earlier this month I had the pleasure to meet a wonderful Wisconsin artist I had recently learned about. Her name is Susan Hale, and she paints the most exuberant, magical landscapes. You can see her work at her website (here) and her blog (here).

And earlier today, while taking a quick peek at facebook, I spotted a wonderful video on Susan's page, about an artist I've been wanting to tell you about.  Her name is Mary Nohl, and during her later years she was called "the Witch of Fox Point".

Mary Nohl, who lived from 1914 - 2001, turned her lakeside cottage and property into a work of art.  And although she was misunderstood by many during her lifetime, she prevailed in the end.  I wish I would have known her. . .

Here's the wonderful short video about Mary that I found this morning:





The image at the top of this post is the cover of an excellent book about Mary, which is available from Amazon here.  It's a gorgeous book, with lots of pictures and snippets of her writings.

"I like the days best when I have a lot of projects - 

each so much fun that I don't know which to do first."

~ Mary Nohl

"Keep getting more ideas - 

all of which I have to try."

~ Mary Nohl

I hear you Mary!

You can see more photos of Mary's house here.  And read more about her and her work here, here, here, here and here. (Or just google :0) )

We are very fortunate to have quite a number of incredibly talented outsider artists and outsider environments in Wisconsin.  Many of them are generously preserved and supported by the Kohler Foundation.