top of page

Drawing and digital art - with a poetic twist   

received_884842948678143.jpeg

Mary Courtney

Coventry UK award-winning artist and poet, inspired by the city, stories, science, the ambiguous and deliciously ridiculous. Moves fluidly between drawing, animation, word-play, collaborative filmmaking and installation. Creates with artists and people of all ages and walks of life. Co-founded Sitting Rooms of Culture, a Facebook group supporting and showcasing creativity in Coventry (over 6k members). Has made a drawing the size of two and a half blue whales, a poetry bridge and a talking tin of tomatoes.

www.marycourtneycoventry.com

Reimagining the George Wagstaffe Phoenix after Coventry wins City of Culture 2021

Collaborative

animation

drawing

Community

word-play

fabulation                film

enjoy

Coventry

projection

               mapping

social action 

curation

The Bling-Road

By Mary Courtney and Karen Johnson. The iconic Coventry ring-road made with 3000 pieces of donated bling. Photo credit: Karen Johnson. 13K views on BBC Midlands.

BlingRoad.jpg

Stained Glass

An exhibition of projected close-up photographs of the Coventry Cathedral Nave windows.

IMG_20230101_211503_078.jpg

Drawing with a pen 

I like to draw direct to the page with a pen. This is a drawing of a machine made without looking at the paper. Then converting it into a couple welcoming you to their party.  

Cullen Jig animation

An adaptation of part of the Cullen Mural in Coventry Precinct, with an original soundscore by Synthcurious. Shown on the Warwick University Big Screen

Characters of the Elements

A 70 metre drawing-poem revealing the 118 ingredients of the universe - from Hydrogen Hooligan to Chlorine the Killer Clean, and beyond, to the final one  - Oganesson Orgasmatron.  Each brought out of their box on the Periodic Table into a very different new life. 

argon for conference.jpg
rubidium final.jpg

Anagram Animation

A being OBJECTIVE - Collaborative Animation

Stars Anna Lytic, a moon-brain, a tightrope walker, and bees with attitude, in a film made with students, scientists, and animator Laurence Campbell, questioning how objective we can really be. Concept, character design and direction by Mary Courtney.

Egg - Haiku

1 egg Gif.gif

               Tomorrow

 

Tomorrow the robots have grey hair

And sit in circles in nursing home armchairs

 

Because some things don’t change

 

The slipper shuffle with the Zimmer frame

The corralling and disdain for old age

 

Minimum care for the minimum wage

Art from Science - Curation

Scores of microscopic images, curated and exhibited as Art of the Micronosphere, on giant digital screens at the University of Warwick. A collaboration with the Chemistry Department during the Leverhulme Artist Residency at Warwick. Chemists pictured here with their images.

Anatomy of Thinking - Drawing 

An anatomy of thinking...maybe by Mary C
Collaborative drawing with Mary Courtney

Creating art events in community settings

 bringing people together

for the fun of it 

Pop Din - Collaborative Animation with Alan Van Wijgerden

Featuring a brain waving and a battle with the lolipops. 

Plastic Planet - Poem 

Plastic Planet Poem - Simon Armitage new Poet Laureate calls for poems on climate change

On Lips - Projection

Soundscape by Synthcurious

Grand Tour of the Cov Telegraph - Collaborative Animation 

The old Coventry Telegraph building, filmed in the last week of its life as a Pop Up Gallery. A grand tour, led by a skull tour guide. With Alan Van Wijgerden. Sound by Synthcurious

The Coventry Elephantastic - Community Big Draw

Made by 200+ people in four hours.  Segment below. 

The Coventry Elephantastic

Sponnie

The Mechanical Fish

From Spon End

Sponnie, with his subway scales, waving hand and chomping jaw, brought together local people and their magical fish creations, at the Spon Spun Arts Festival 2018.

A collaboration with Fab Lab (Marie Sindel and Jack Shuttleworth), Coventry Grapevine, Christopher Sidwell and Andrea Mburushimana. Concept and lead artist Mary Courtney.

Sponnie the mechanical fish from Spon End, winner of Visitors' Choice Award at Spon Spun Festival 2018

Sponnie the mechanical fish 

wins Visitors' Choice Award

Night off the Tiles - Animation with Alan Van Wijgerden

inspired by the animals and images on the Cullen mural in Coventry Precinct

Phoenix. Film-Poem collaboration with Tara Rutledge 

The Phoenix is the symbol of Coventry. This film featured on the Coventry Cathedral Facebook page as their cover video, for over a year. (15k views). Screened at the Cathedral in 2020

bottom of page