ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Mary McClain

When Life Gives You Lemons

by Kim Carr

I first met Mary McClain of “thru His eyes photography” a couple years ago at an art show in St. Charles. She drew folks in with her beautiful photography and kept them with her sunny, warm disposition. As winter still has its grip on us, I was unable to visit Mary at home but we had a nice chat on the phone.

Having grown up in Kirkwood and De Peres, Missouri has always been home. As a child, Mary remembers being exposed to the beauty of the outdoors when hiking with her mother in area parks like Rockwood Reservation.   She didn’t consider herself artistic; she was more the athletic type. Track, softball, and volleyball occupied her free time. With a desire to help others, Mary pursued a career in nursing. Raising a family of four boys and working full time as an RN kept Mary on her toes. Her life was full and she was busy and content.

Life was going along pretty smoothly until 2005 when a curve ball was thrown that even the best of athletes would have had a hard time hitting. Mary was diagnosed with not one, but two brain tumors. Told the tumors were inoperable, Mary’s husband refused to accept this news. They had to travel out of state to find doctors willing to operate. One tumor was pushing on her brainstem and the other surrounded her optic nerve. The fourteen hour surgery required to remove the tumor from her brainstem brought Mary closer to God and to her family. The complications that could arise were numerous and daunting. Removal of the tumor on her optic nerve was successful but resulted in the loss of most of Mary’s vision in her right eye.

It was during Mary’s long recovery that her husband started giving her gifts. The first gift was a camera and a book on how to shoot. Later it was Photoshop and other software to help edit photos, and then a computer came to store and view photos. Mary had always enjoyed taking pictures of their kids but had never taken it seriously. It was sometime into her recovery that she discovered her husband, Tim, had purposefully selected these gifts for a reason. It was recommended that Mary have something to help stimulate her brain cells. Photography became not so much a hobby but more of a therapy. Reading books on photography, composing a shot, uploading photos to the computer and editing helped Mary to strengthen her memory skills. Mary has no doubt that her faith in God and her husband’s unwillingness to give up when the doctors told them there was no hope, is the reason she is still here today and loving life…..every minute of it.

I asked Mary what her favorite subject matter is when she shoots. She said much like when she was a kid, she enjoys getting out to the woods and back to nature. With a strong draw to water and landscapes, she seeks out shots that will talk to the viewer’s heart and soul. Now that Mary has transitioned from healing hobby to legitimate artist, she enjoys pairing bible verses with her images. With a line of note cards Mary carefully selects just the right image to accompany each verse. Her favorite bible verse is from her 8th grade confirmation, John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”