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Polly McGrory has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design from Massachusetts College
of Art. She has also attended various painting classes and has studied the works of the
masters, as well as hundreds of contemporary artists. She has exhibited in galleries in
Boston and MetroWest suburbs, and on Cape Cod, and has also held several one-woman
painting exhibitions by invitation.
DOGS
McGrory met her first Afghan
Hound on a visit to New York City. A friend of hers was dogsitting for a blond Afghan
named Christian, and McGrory instantly took to this joyful dog. She canceled her
party plans and spent the weekend romping through Central Park with Christian. Within one
year, she owned her first Afghan, a dainty jet-black female named Tania. She has owned
Afghans ever since, and has now added a long-haired mini Dachshund to the family. She has
painted countless breeds of dogs, and several breeds of cats.
HORSES
For six years, McGrory was a
licensed Riding Instructor in Massachusetts, with a roster of 35 students. She owned her
own horse, a white Connemara named Guinness who was a powerful jumper. They competed in
many local events, in dressage, cross country and stadium jumping, enjoyed several
seasons of drag-scent fox-hunting, and also performed in advanced jumping demonstrations
for riding clinic judges. In order to learn about horse anatomy and behavior, she built a
small library of horse books, including the photographic masterpieces of Robert Vavra, and
began experimenting with adapting them to paintings. Some of those student exercises are
included in the Horse Gallery. McGrory has since painted portraits of many breeds of
horses from Thoroughbreds to ponies, and did three commissioned horse-and-owner portraits.
PEOPLE
The artist began drawing and
studying faces in her early teens, but didn’t begin to paint serious subjects until
she left art school. She often used a portrait of a celebrity as a ticket to an
introduction, and met many sports figures, movie stars and world-famous musicians and
performers. Many of her commissioned paintings are of family and friends, and most of her
commissions are received by referral from former clients. She works from photographs, and
prefers unusual or candid poses with dramatic lighting, rather than formal sittings.
PLACES
McGrory has traveled
extensively throughout the country — to 29 states — and has also visited the
countries of Great Britain and Canada. She loves New England, especially the northern
states, but has found her greatest inspiration on the shores of Cape Cod. The unique
"Cape light," which has lured artists and photographers from all over the world,
is evident in most of her landscapes, and even appears in some portraits (See
"Wolfgang" and "Luke"). In addition to painting classic Cape Cod
icons, such as the lighthouses, McGrory has also done many commissions for Cape Cod and
New England businesses, including illustrations of the Dan’l Webster Inn, the Old
Yarmouth Inn, Nubble Light, and many others. Her mastery of various media allows her to
select just the right look to typify the weathered, sun-bleached look of an old
life-saving station or the elegant architectural lines of a landmark inn. |
