About Me
I come from a large family in Detroit, MI of Phoenician Lebanese, Irish, Scottish and some olde royal English court heritage (thanks, Ancestry.com!).
I had pets my entire life and started drawing animals before I was 5. When we moved out to rural Howell, Michigan, I was in 7th grade and joined a 4H horse club without even having a horse! I was curious and wanted to learn about and draw them. |
I headed to Central Michigan University in September, 1981, majored in drawing, and did small ceramic work (just like my Phoenician ancestors) at the student gallery run by Leon Weber. I also minored in animal behavior. I transferred to Eastern MI University in January, 1984 and minored in biology and astronomy/physics and majored in drawing and graphic design. I worked hard, put myself through school, danced and socialized multiple times a week at fun dance clubs (primarily gay men and their straight girl pals) in Ann Arbor and Detroit, took out student loans and worked part time in retail management and customer service at some of the most notable shops in 80's Ann Arbor. Mostly, I struggled to find actual work in a world dominated by boomers who were not interested in hiring from the generation that followed them. I stayed in Ann Arbor and met my other half, Steve at the State Theatre in November, 1987. He was the projectionist and I was seeing "The Lost Boys" for the 13th time (my love of vampire stories began with reading "Interview with the Vampire" by Anne Rice when it came out in 1976 and I was 13). He is now a well-known animation historian and professor and owns his own vintage animation blu-ray entertainment business.
On Thanksgiving Day, 1988, a stray Rhodesian Ridgeback showed up on the porch of the student rental house where I lived. A friend and I shared our turkey day dinner with her and she came to work with me the next day at a local clothing store. Fortunately, the shop owner knew someone who did RR rescue and she was picked up by them later that day. |
In December, 1990, I helped my housemate rescue an Australian Cattle Dog from a shelter. Thus began The Australian Cattle Dog Rescue of Michigan, which I ran for the next 14 years (1990-2004). It was one of the first breed-specific rescues in the world!
I took saddleseat riding lessons starting in February, 1992 at a local Morgan Horse barn and worked for Steve in sales coordination for his then-tiny video business. In August, 1992, I started working at the Humane Society of Huron Valley. During the holidays, I worked at their gift shop at Arborland Mall.
I took saddleseat riding lessons starting in February, 1992 at a local Morgan Horse barn and worked for Steve in sales coordination for his then-tiny video business. In August, 1992, I started working at the Humane Society of Huron Valley. During the holidays, I worked at their gift shop at Arborland Mall.
I was so inspired by the art pins that we sold there, especially by the funky cat pins by Ann Arbor artist, Nancy Diamond. I went to a craft supply store and bought the same material (Amaco's Friendly Plastic). I designed wild animals and cats and learned how to use that difficult medium. When I finally figured it out, I sold my stuff in the HSHV gift shop, too.The first sale was exhilarating! I sold them at horse tack shows, art fairs and HSHV's booth at the Ann Arbor Art Fair.
In August, 1993, we moved to a Sears kit house on 5 acres, just outside of Ann Arbor in a magical preserve area. I was able to foster cattle dogs myself then and also started raising chickens.
In October, 1993, I started selling my dog pins at the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market (outside in the elements).
In 1995, a market customer suggested I get a booth with just dog breeds at the Detroit Kennel Club Dog Show, one of the last benched dog shows in the USA. The next few years, I sold only at dog shows under the name "Blue Dog Studio." I was able to do obedience with one of my keeper rescue dogs at the shows, too. Later that year I was talked into showing an Australian Cattle Dog by a breeder and thus began 25 years of occasionally showing dogs of various breeds. I could wear my art pins at dog shows for advertising without having to pay for a vendor booth. I helped breeders raise, train and socialize their puppies at my home and developed my own methods of puppy raising, based on my years of behavior study and creative methodology. Occasionally having a litter was also a way to satisfy my science-y side. I had a couple of neutered abysinnian cats and showed them, too. Getting involved with the foundation of 3 rare dog breeds was a way to utilize my networking skills, travel and satisfy other goal setting interests. However, I never enjoyed showing (winning was fun but not my motivator) nor the pervasive culture of relational aggression so common in the dog show world.
In summer, 1995, I finally got my first horse- and only had her for that summer as I could not figure out how to work with her nasty side! In spring, 1998, I bought an old Morgan horse and he gave me the confidence in training and riding I needed to get my next horse- a young 3 year old Norwegian Fjord gelding in summer, 2001. I trained him using Parelli Natural Horsemanship, brought him to horse expos and sold him in November, 2004, selling him for exactly the amount I still owed on my old student loan, paying it off.
The 1990's were a golden era in the art giftware business and I had a big list of vendors, consignors and art galleries- but when 2000 came, I had suffered tendonitis long enough from using scissors to cut the Friendly Plastic.
In August, 1993, we moved to a Sears kit house on 5 acres, just outside of Ann Arbor in a magical preserve area. I was able to foster cattle dogs myself then and also started raising chickens.
In October, 1993, I started selling my dog pins at the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market (outside in the elements).
In 1995, a market customer suggested I get a booth with just dog breeds at the Detroit Kennel Club Dog Show, one of the last benched dog shows in the USA. The next few years, I sold only at dog shows under the name "Blue Dog Studio." I was able to do obedience with one of my keeper rescue dogs at the shows, too. Later that year I was talked into showing an Australian Cattle Dog by a breeder and thus began 25 years of occasionally showing dogs of various breeds. I could wear my art pins at dog shows for advertising without having to pay for a vendor booth. I helped breeders raise, train and socialize their puppies at my home and developed my own methods of puppy raising, based on my years of behavior study and creative methodology. Occasionally having a litter was also a way to satisfy my science-y side. I had a couple of neutered abysinnian cats and showed them, too. Getting involved with the foundation of 3 rare dog breeds was a way to utilize my networking skills, travel and satisfy other goal setting interests. However, I never enjoyed showing (winning was fun but not my motivator) nor the pervasive culture of relational aggression so common in the dog show world.
In summer, 1995, I finally got my first horse- and only had her for that summer as I could not figure out how to work with her nasty side! In spring, 1998, I bought an old Morgan horse and he gave me the confidence in training and riding I needed to get my next horse- a young 3 year old Norwegian Fjord gelding in summer, 2001. I trained him using Parelli Natural Horsemanship, brought him to horse expos and sold him in November, 2004, selling him for exactly the amount I still owed on my old student loan, paying it off.
The 1990's were a golden era in the art giftware business and I had a big list of vendors, consignors and art galleries- but when 2000 came, I had suffered tendonitis long enough from using scissors to cut the Friendly Plastic.
I decided to return to ceramic clay that year and started email corresponding with well-known bas-relief tile artist Frank Giorgini. His tips and knowledge were instrumental in building my confidence for learning the art of tile making, long a southeast Michigan heritage art. Later that year, I took a class from Motawi Tileworks and bought the first of many ceramic kilns in summer, 2001.
One of a kind Popogirl horse head pins, circa 2008
|
My first ceramic art pins were made of high fired, smooth stoneware and had a lot of brush detail. It was a good way to learn about the limitations of underglazes, colors and designing for small ceramic pieces. They were cute but took too much time to make for the financial exchange required of them.
I sold the dog designs of that style once at the Detroit Kennel Club Show in March, 2002 and after that, I began a complicated series of experimentation of different brands of midrange porcelain clays, unusual firing procedures and underglaze techniques and colors that lasted for about 2 years. I knew what I wanted and worked hard toward that goal. Different design lines came and went, as my style evolved. I did USDA Class C Inspected and Licensed, Teamster Union animal training and agenting for films and TV shows during the Michigan Film Incentive years (2008-2010 plus 8 years afterwards), utilizing contacts from my many years in various animal circles in Michigan. I also produced a popular music video for the electronic dance music band Erasure, who was big in the 80's and 90's. I have also worked with Jimmy Buffett's music video production team. I have attained a fun amount of fame as song parody singer, "Mary in Ann Arbor" on the popular Sirius XM Progress 127 channel (and Freespeech TV channel) show "The Stephanie Miller Show." Meantime, my whimsical porcelain Mary D Tiles dog art pins/tiles debuted in 2007 on etsy.com. I was one of the first artist sellers on etsy. My business name evolved from Blue Dog Studio to Popogirl to Mary D Tiles as I refined my artistic focus. One of a kind Popogirl "Winners Dog" art pins, circa 2006
|
All those years of drawing and designing dog breeds, interviewing countless breeders about pertinent details, dabbling in t-shirt design, sterling silver, different designs, what will or will not work with porcelain (which is fickle and has its own mind) led to the designs you see today. ---Mary M Dixon