Marybeth Friel

Being at Devon holds a special meaning for Marybeth Friel-Patton. Nearly half a century ago, she was a pre-teen horse-crazy kid watching all the beautiful ponies and horses in the rings then walking through the shops at Devon with her immensely patient Mom who took a day off from work take her to the horse show for her birthday.

Hanging on the wall inside one of the shops was a large framed painting of a lonely horse who had been left behind while the hunt passed by his stall door. Marybeth and her mother were both so overcome by emotion that they stood there immersed in his world for what seemed like an eternity, and talked about that painting the entire ride home. That memory is as vivid as if it were yesterday, and it was the first time she appreciated how powerful art can be.

Marybeth has painted, sculpted and done a few murals over the years, but as anyone who’s lived in an old house and/or has a farm while juggling a full-time career knows, there’s rarely an extra hour in the day. Art had too often taken a back seat for practical projects around the farm until last winter when her adopted hospice pup Mowgli passed away after outliving his life expectancy many times over.

Marybeth sat down with her brushes, paints and a blank canvas and found an extreme sense of peace and comfort recreating his one-of-a-kind personality on canvas. When that one stroke of the brush transformed the canvas into something special, something emotional, it was like embracing a long-lost friend. She is so honored and humbled to have my work here at the Art Gallery at Devon this year and hopes you enjoy her work as much as she has enjoyed creating it.