A SECOND HOME
An Interview with Mary T. Bevlock

Sophia Cosmadopoulos: Hi Mary, would you mind introducing yourself?

Mary T Bevlock: Hi my name is Mary, I am glad to see my New York people come here.

S: I am really excited to be here.

M: I have a pen, do you want a pen? I have a pen. I have a whole bunch of them in my purse.

S: I love that you carry your supplies on you. Could you tell me what else is in your purse?

M: I’ve got all my pictures of General Hospital. I always carry photo albums with Sonny and their pals. The gang of General Hospital. We’ve got Michael, and I think Lulu, David Hayward from All My Children. Jason, the new Jason. But the old Jason is back! I like him better, but there’s a lot of them though. When I do drawing, I draw from this. First, I draw it first, and then with an ink pen. And after that you paint it, that’s it.

S: And what else do you carry besides the albums?

M: I got this flier. This is Center for Creative Works (CCW) Out the Door Art Party Fundraiser. That’s what we’re cooking downstairs for with my friend Harriet. She cooks and we help, and we get paychecks for it. Right now I am cooking brownies and lemon bars and I forget what else.

S: So cool. Can you explain what CCW is?

M: CCW is Center for Creative Works. And what else, we have separate tables to do our jobs on. We pick who we will sit with to do our work. You know, so now today is Wednesday, so I work with Harriet. And I say, I am so glad I have Harriet, because I like to cook.

S: How many days do you work on your artwork here?

M: If I am not working with Harriet, I work up here. Like with Scott and that woman over there. I do my artwork. I have my box in my locker. And, I get my stuff out. I get my hot tea or hot chocolate because it’s so cold out.

S: Yeah, what the heck? I hate the cold.

M: I know.

S: What is the atmosphere like here?

M: I love it here.

S: You do?

M: Yeah. Because my mom and my dad died, and this is my second home.

S: And you come here five days a week right? So it really is like your home.

M: Yeah because this is Center for Creative Works. There was another one before this one. I was here a couple of years. I don’t know how many years, but it was way back when. That’s when my mom was here. We had a meeting and she helped me out and then we’d go out and have breakfast. And it was called Lou’s Diner. It’s not there anymore. Now it’s something with a name starting with a big “C,” but I can’t really pronounce it.

S: How do you get here in the morning?

M: A cab or a van.

S: Can you walk me through what you do when you arrive at CCW?

M: I get my tea and my hot chocolate. Then I get my stuff. Then I’ll go around right? When I get here in the morning first of all I get my hot chocolate first and then walk around first and say hi and wave first. Then my friend Vince - I say “Yo, Vince!” If he’s here, he’s here. If he’s not here Mike will say to me he’s not here. I like to go around and say hi and then I see my “boom boom,” which is my friend Vince. That’s his name, that’s his nickname. I don’t know where he got that from. But his name is Vince, you can call him Vince. Then I get my stuff, and that’s it.

S: What do you spend most of your day doing here?

M: I like cooking a lot. I like helping others. I like doing business, like with Harriet, or any other kind of business. I like events.

S: Could you describe what your art looks like now?

M: I watch TV a lot. I draw TV shows. I like watching regular TV shows. I draw celebrities on TV shows and then I create them. Right now I am doing the Incredible Hulk. For example, I painted David Hasselhoff who was on channel 10, on one of the soap operas. I forget which one. And I watch Baywatch and that’s it. I like big ears.

S: What is it about big ears that you like?

M: When I see ears, I do them. Like Maurice Bernard from General Hospital, my favorite. His ears are curling kind of.

S: So is Maurice your favorite? If you could have dinner with one celebrity, who would it be?

M: Maurice Bernard! I talk to him sometimes on the TV at my brother’s house. We talk everyday about General Hospital.

S: If you met him, what would you do?

M: Go out somewhere. Anywhere. I don’t know. My birthday is coming soon, four months to go, counting down. I am going to be 50. I’m gonna have a big party, probably around here. I like to dance.

S: You should invite Maurice to your birthday! I see a lot of your work has musicians as the subject matter. Do you listen to music when you make your work?

M: Okay, lemme see. I listen to music on my walkman. Andy Gibb, all of Barry Manilow, The Carpenters, Donny Osmond, then um, The Monkeys, then John Denver and Kenny Rogers.

S: Besides celebrities and musicians, what else inspires you? What about animals?

M: Oh I did Lassies once!

S: A celebrity dog!

M: Well you know, why? A collie was my dog. LIke Lassie. But we called it Black Dog. But we still don’t know where the name came from.

S: You seem to pay close attention to fashion and what your subjects wear, what do you like about clothing in particular?

M: I like fashion. I would like to be a model. My friend Wendy does fashion stuff like shirts and stuff like that. I like runways. My favorite colors are blue and orange.

S: What supplies do you like to use?

M: Painting, I like ink pens, you know the ink? I like doing that, what else? I think that’s it, those two things.

S: What’s your favorite painting you have made?

M: Um, I like the painting I did of Different Strokes. The Incredible Hulk, Six Million Dollar Man, Charlie’s Angels…

S: Do you like being in art shows? What was your favorite art show you have been in?

M: Yes, I love doing that. Like last time, I went up to New York, I bring my stuff over there. But Sam took the art up there, and I met her up there. It was the Outsider Art Fair and it was in New York. I did sell my Golden Girls painting already there.

S: What did you do before coming to CCW?

M: Before I came here, oh boy. I am trying to think here. I am trying to think. The last time I was here, my mom came in with me. My friend Stewart, one of the staff, was here. My sister was in the hospital because she had a baby. I have four nieces, yeah, all four of them. Did you ever hear of Marion-Mercy? It’s a school, a high school, it’s closer, not far. Two of my nieces went to Marion-Mercy.

S: How many siblings do you have?

M: I have two brothers and one sister. But I do have sisters-in-laws too. Jimmy and Patty #1. Another Patty, it’s Paul and Patty #2. One Jimmy, one Paul, two Pattys, there are two Pattys in my family.

S: Do you have any favorite memories from your childhood?

M: Do you know where Mayfair road is? Come on, you don’t know Mayfair road? So, um, before that, I was on Mayfair road. I remember sitting on a step with my family. Okay, let’s see, I remember Paul was right there, Jimmy was right there and then I was in the middle and Sally was on the bottom. And that’s it.

S: When were you born?

M: Ok, lemme see. Seven, dash, thirty, dash, sixty eight.

S: When did you first start making art?

M: When I got here I did it. But I did like coloring books, I did that all the time. I painted pennies and um, I lined up my pennies in my hand. And I had a bowl okay? And I would tuck them in my bowl.

S: What do you like to do in your spare time?

M: Let’s see. I like going out into the community. I like going to Fair Acres, it’s a group home., to help people play Bingo and win the dollars. You get money for it and um, you get the dollar and you get something for a snack. For them, not for me. I am on a diet. I have to be careful what I eat. I have three weddings to go to so I have to watch what I eat.

S: I heard you are into basketball, tell me about that.

M: Yes, I like basketball, because my dad played basketball and he liked music. He was a music teacher. I like music too. I went to the university game and um, we go there every year. We go to the game and then we go to Magilicuddy’s. You ever heard of Magilicuddy’s before? It’s a restaurant and like a bar, not Scottish, it’s not Irish, it’s just plain. I like bowling too. I scored 100. And I write it down. I bring my paper with me when I go bowling and I write it down for my cousin. Every year, for Thanksgiving, I give the paper to him with my score.

S: Zooming ahead, what are your future goals as an artist?

M: I am writing a book. Because my cousin wrote a book, himself. I am following his footsteps. Now I am doing it. Now he has a publisher and he loves the topic. The topic is relationships. I got the pictures, I got the words down, it’s done. Now I am waiting for the publisher and I am waiting for my paycheck. I am getting paid. The second one will be on leadership.

S: Anything else you want people to know that I didn’t ask?

M: I like soups, I like clam chowder, New England clam chowder. I get Shirley Temples, I get them at weddings too. It’s one of my favorites.

S: I love a Shirley Temple too! Mary, it’s been a real pleasure.