Mara Powell, an interdisciplinary artist from Heber City, will unfold a new exhibit called “Backyard Fables: Adventures Across Utah” during an artist reception on Thursday at the Park City Library. Powell will join fellow artists Anna Nizhoni and Elissa Sabbo, whose respective exhibits, “R unning From One Falling Star to Another” and “Camanchaca: An Exploration of Landscape, Memory, and Intuition” will open the same afternoon, during the free event that runs from 3-5 p.m. “They are wonderful women, and I’ve learned some great things from them about being a local artist,” Powell said. “This is actually the first time I’ve ever shown my work publicly. So it’s a big, daunting and scary moment. But it’s also been so fulfilling because I’ve met a ton of local artists such as these two women who have been very helpful.” Powell’s love of nature and her degree in history inspired “Backyard Fables: Adventures Across Utah.”  “I’m a big camper and always out in natural spaces, and I find that transition between human spaces and animal spaces a very fascinating setting,” she said. “I just love finding the magic between those spaces.” As a child, Powell found her way into art through the storybook illustrations of Jan Brett and the late Jill Barklam, who did the “Brambly Hedge” series.  “As an adult, as I’ve been honing in on my style, this has been a lovely exhibit because it gives me a chance to hop around different areas of Utah and put in some woodland magic into them,” she said. “‘Backyard Fables corresponds to looking at our natural history and wild spaces here in Utah through a fables lens — like Brothers’ Grimm or that storybook magic.” So far, Powell has installed five works on the library’s first floor, and she’s hoping to finish one more. “I have one piece that is of Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, and I put in some Utah prairie dogs who do some lead rock climbing up it,” she said. “So, there are some anthropomorphic human traits these animals have.” Heber City-based artist Mara Powell’s “Mouse House” is inspired by the work of the late Jill Barklam, known for creating the “Brambly Hedge” children’s book series. Credit: Image courtesy of Mara Powell Another work is called “Mouse House,” which was inspired by a Barklam work. “I had seen her ‘Mouse House’ painting and decided to make my own,” Powell said. Powell created all the pieces in “Backyard Fables” with pen and ink and watercolor. “I got a chance back when I was a sophomore at Park City High School to study art over a summer in Wexford, Ireland, through Cow House Studios, and they were the ones who introduced me to ink and nib drawing, which is a fun method of illustration,” she said. “Many black and white illustrations are done with ink and nib stylus you dip into an inkwell.” Powell starts with a sketch and then goes to her ink and nibs before she starts with the watercolors. “Ink has a big margin of error because if the ink drips, you have to start over,” she said. “Watercolors are tricky because they bleed. You have to go with the flow because it will take you on the journey it wants to take you.” Powell’s draw to visual art is textile. “I’ve been doing a lot of watercolor and dabbing into oils because I like the ability to make mistakes,” she said with a laugh. “That’s beautiful because mistakes in paintings aren’t mistakes to other people. But if you make a mistake when you’re making music, it’s pretty easy to hear if someone hits the wrong note.” Over time, Powell has refined her art and creative process. “The longer I have been a working artist, I’ve noticed that my sketches have gotten closer and closer to my final works,” she said. “It’s wonderful that I’m at a point where my creative process is trusting the process in a beautiful way. And it’s been fun to pick a couple of themes like a concept or location or specific animals that will be shown in the work.”  Still, as Powell creates, she allows the characters to “almost form themselves” with things around them. “I have a piece called ‘Goblin Valley Camping,’ and I had this whole vision. It was going to be the desert lynx camping with kangaroo rats that live in our deserts,” she said. “But as I was painting, I thought the character needed to be a woodland squirrel because it fits the space better and I could be a little more creative with the tent, which is a bandanna. So having big concepts and the ability to still have the freedom to be creative has been helpful.” Powell believes works of art, especially hers, are never finished. “Every time I walk by them, I will see something that I want to erase or redo,” she said with another laugh. “So, I have to look at the work like a chef does when they look at a dish as they are about to send food out to a table. Sometimes things aren’t perfect, but that imperfection may become someone’s favorite part of a work.” Although the exhibits officially open with Thursday’s reception, Powell, who works at the library overseeing inter-library loans, has already heard some feedback. “It’s been rewarding having some young kiddos, who I have built relationships with here at the library, come up to show me their drawings they have done to emulate what I’ve done with my works,” she said. “I’ve also enjoyed seeing adults who have reawakened their curiosity of the magic in wild spaces, and one of the things that has been shocking to me is when members of the older population come up to me to share little stories they have experienced in nature.” Powell is also humbled to know her first exhibit as a working artist is at the library. “I was raised here in Park City, so this is like a full-circle moment to be able to show my work here,” she said. “Getting a chance to work at the library and have them support my art career is just so soul nourishing.”  Artist Reception for Mara Powell, Anna Nizhoni and Elissa Sabbo When: 3 p.m. Thursday Where: Park City Library, 1255 Park Ave. Cost: Free Web: parkcity.gov/library/index.php and drinkingbooks.com The post Heber City-based artist Mara Powell opens some ‘Backyard Fables’ appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less