The Eye: 'Window Of The Soul' For One Local Artist's Work

Marcy Stringham was born in Dodge City, Kans., and moved frequently as a child between small towns in Missouri and Kansas. She moved here in 1980 with her mom, Pat Kistler.

She may be a "new" artist, but she is very familiar with the art world.

"My mother was an artist, " Stringham said. "She was the middle school art teacher here for more than 20 years. People now see my art and they are like, 'wow, I didn't know you were an artist like your mom.'"

Stringham says she replies with a bit of surprise herself.

"I tell them, 'I didn't know I was (an artist) either," Stringham said.

Stringham's mother passed away two years ago.

"She did get to see me starting art before she passed," Stringham said. "It is now really special to be doing art myself. It's part of what I carry with my mom."

Stringham noted she has other family members who are also artists.

Her tools of choice for her art are pencils and just about any kind of paper.

"The paper we choose is between me and the client," Stringham said. "I have used bible pages, music sheets, and even historic place-mats."

Stringham takes the paper chosen and then draws one specific part for her clients.

"I take a photo of their eyes and then we decide what is the 'apple of that person's eye' - what is their interest?," Stringham continued. "What do they look at?  I did my groomer's eye and her pupil is reflecting a dog."

Another piece was done for local resident Lynn Teeter.

"I did Lynn's eye on a place-mat that was from Sullivan Elevator's 70th anniversary party back in the 60s," Stringham said. "The place-mat was created for the anniversary in 1962."

Stringham said her art is very personal.

"It's kind of a creation between me and the customer," she said. "I have done some on my own. I've chosen somebody's eye and I then drew what I reflected in that eye."

Sometimes, she doesn't use the client's eye at all.

"I currently have a customer who didn't want to use her eye," Stringham explained. "So, I just used somebody else's eye."

She began drawing portraits around three years ago, and the decision was not based upon wanting to become an artist.

"I was needing a way to take my mind of some things that were challenging, so I started to draw," she said. "I started out drawing my adult sons' pictures from when they were around 3-4 years old."

That need for something to do, has grown in to more than she expected. Today, she does portraits and her "eye art", which was a technique she gleaned from the portraits.

"When I was doing portraits, I got very involved with the details of the eye and that's when I started to see where there could be images in the eye that could be art by themselves. Eye art reflects the interest of the individual."

She has been doing "eye art" since December 2022.

Her art became even more when she earned her very first commission from a chance encounter.

"I was drawing while I was sitting in the local coffee shop," Stringham said. "Someone came by and said, 'will you draw my baby girl'? I was quite shocked, because it was only three years before that I had started drawing. I was like, 'I'm not an artist.'"

The woman told Stringham she liked what she was doing so she decided to give it a try. It resulted in her very first commission, and now rather than just being something to challenge her, she has found joy in her craft.

Stringham's art can be found at the Main ARTery in Ulysses, as well as on the walls of her mom where she conducts her other business - Reflexology.

Prior to taking up art three years ago, Stringham decided to take a class at the Main ARTery.

"Art is in my DNA," she said. "I wondered if I could excavate some art talent, so I signed up for the class. One of the other artists at the gallery was the instructor. The first thing I did was ugly and I thought, no, I'm not an artist - I don't have it in me. Then I picked it up again three years ago."

A quote and new relationships gave her the encouragement she needed.

"I came across this quote that said, 'repetition is courage'," Stringham said. "I was encouraged by Tracy (Teeter) and by other artists at the gallery to keep trying. Keep repeating what you are doing. And, it started to be less ugly. It finally started to become art."

She knows other artists do portraits; however, Stringham said she hadn't heard of anyone who did eye art.

"When I had my idea to just use the eye for the art, I did Internet searches and there is just eyes out there," she said. "I have added the creative steps because of what the individual has in their eye. What is their interest? What is their love? And I try to reflect that from people in my art. I  am trying to capture not just the image that looks like the individual, but the personality as well."

Stringham if she were a customer she would be "drawn" to her artwork and she hopes others are as well.

"I think if I were the customer and saw my art I would look at it again," she said. "I might walk away, but I would be drawn back to it - it's appealing."

She sees her art as a "life purpose."

"I am here on earth to create and express," she said. "Even with my reflexology where I create treatment plans for my clients."

Stringham showed some of her pieces this year at the Grant County Fair. It was her second year to do so.

"I earned four purples and four blues (ribbons)," she said. "I did create a painted skull on newspaper print that won the class grand champion. It had the big purple ribbon on it."

Who are her biggest influences in her art venture?

"My mom mostly because of seeing her art," Stringham said. "I  ran a daycare for several years here and my mom helped me after she retired from teaching. She would do the arts and crafts with the littles and I enjoyed that so much."

Other big influences have come from Main ARTery.

"Tracy has influenced me and other friends I  have gotten to know here," she said. "I  really wasn't even drawn to the art scene per se. I never took art classes in school, although I did take an art class in my late 20s."

She learned an interesting technique from the art class at Seward County Community College in Liberal.

"It was very interesting because they would have you turn pictures upside down, so when you are drawing you are using more of the left side of your brain to make the image," Stringham said. "I started using a ruler to measure the spaces in the eyes. When I came to the Main ARTery, I continued to do that and Tracy said she had never seen anyone do that before. I guess I still do art from the left side of my brain."

Stringham's good friend Michele Nemchek has also been a big influence to her.

"She has been my friend for more than 30 years," Stringham said. "We worked together in elderly care. She encouraged me and was my biggest cheerleader when I started."

Her favorite time of day to create is in the morning.

"When I first started it was like 2 in the morning was my time," she said. "Now it is early morning at Bear Creek or  here at Main ARTery around noonish with the tribe (other artists). My mom's tribe and they now say it's my tribe too."

One of her favorite places to create is Bear Creek, because it is a space for community.

"I can sit at the window - I love that huge big window -  friends and people come by who say hello and you feel you are in a place of support," Stringham said. "Your attention does not have to be with the people it can be with your drawing, but you can feel the others there. You feel supported. You can come and stay. I'm doing art, but somebody else might be reading a book or something."

Her other influences involve research.

"I love research," she said. "I love to expose myself to nature, people things - everything is always creating and evolving. I like creating things from scratch. I love creating - it is in my DNA. I am a believer and one of my favorite verses is 'His mercies are new every morning.' We are new. We are always new. Some Christians may pray for revival. I don't. For me I want a 'new-vival'. I pray for a new arrival. I pray to continue to grow and become and body of believers."

Art is very important.

"Planting a garden, being a hair stylist - all of that is art," she said. "Whenever we are creating it's what is going to help us to continue to move, to breathe, to create something beautiful when everything else is a mess," Stringham said.

She has seen the change art has made for her.

"It has put me in places where I never would have been otherwise," Stringham said. "It has helped me meet new people. I have formed friendships I never would have had before."

She stressed for others to remember repetition is key.

"Repetition helps even if it's just drawing circles," Stringham said. "Visiting with other artists and getting their feedback is also important."

Her least favorite and more difficult part is in the beginning.

"Just getting started - as you start to me it's ugly every time," Stringham said. "When I start a new piece I have to re-convince myself that I can even do it. Self encouragement is important. That's the hard part."

It all does come together.

"It's most satisfying when the art just 'pops'," she said. "It doesn't mean you're finished with it, but you can see what you were creating in the art. When I did a portrait of my mom - when I started it was ugly. When the image is passed the ugly phase, suddenly you see, 'that's my mom'. You see my mom on that paper. It's when you know, 'you got it.'"

Stringham will most likely continue to focus her art on the eyes of her subjects.

"The window of the soul - it's really in the eyes and that is where you are able to create," she said.

Stringham and her husband, Kyle, have been married almost 36 years. They have three sons: Seth and his wife, Summer; Jared and his wife, Kayla; and Clark and his fiance, Claudia.

Stringham and other artists' work will be on display at the Main ARTery during their upcoming 17th Annual Rendezvous with the arts - "A Bridge To The Arts", from 6-8 p.m., Friday, August 25 at the gallery.

The open house event is open to the community. Everyone is invited to come in and view the art and meet the artists. Drinks and refreshments will be provided.