“It puts meaning in me to create art,” Mary Lou explained. “I have been obsessed with it for so long. It’s almost like breathing or showering or cleaning your nails. I have to do it regularly. If I don’t, I start to get a little wacky.”

Using the hairs on a paintbrush or the graphite in a pencil, Mary Lou explores her collective conscious.

“My artwork is simply a way to deal with feelings of anger, rage or sadness,” she said. “It is an addiction like everything else – a healthy one.”

Communicating personal thoughts through art to promote mental wellness is not a new concept. However, the discipline of art therapy, which embodies these concepts, did not emerge until the mid-20th century.

Through art therapy, people are forced to uncover repressed emotions using all forms of expression.

“You’re exploring the parts of yourself that are considered ugly and unacceptable in society,” Mary Lou said. “Really, we all feel these things, but some of us push it down and don’t really know how to deal with it.”

Mary Lou holds a master’s degree in art therapy from Florida State University. It was there that she was taught to abandon lines and explore beyond paper. However, her undergraduate work in studio art at Rollins College focused on technique, lines, colors and shapes.

“Sometimes I have a conflict with that. Should I focus more on technique or feelings?” she asks herself. “I try to do them both.”

Mary Lou’s paintings tend to cover darker themes that go beyond mainstream art found on the Emerald Coast.

“My art is not for everyone,” Mary Lou added. “Some people can’t handle it, because they don’t want to look at their own pain.”

With themes ranging from suicide and death to politics and war, Mary Lou categorizes most of her pieces as sociopolitical, philosophical, mythological or psychological.

“I’m diverse. I’m willing to try a lot of different themes, so I might change them to fit my mood.”

Mary Lou explores boundaries with her paintings by combining several art elements in one piece, which she classifies as mixed media.

“I do acrylic, aluminum and collage on canvas mostly, but I do have a sketchbook where I do watercolor rendering – a little more abstract than the coffee table pictures,” Mary Lou said. “Sometimes I just do it just to push paint around. Maybe for no other reason but for the pleasure of working with colors, shapes and lines.”

Since moving to the Emerald Coast in 1999, Mary Lou has shut herself off from the coastal lifestyle. She does not really see how her art fits into an area where many artists paint beaches, sunsets and seagulls.

“I would honestly rather be locked away in a room for days,” she explains. “It sounds kind of lonely, but I am a recluse. It is true. I have lots of books, lots of animals, and a computer. I feel connected, but I don’t get out much.”

The market for art therapists is a little dry and this is also discouraging to Mary Lou. She knows she will not live here forever.

“It is wonderful to see that art is really encouraged here,” Mary Lou said, “But I’m just not really challenged here.”

Mary Lou was born and raised in Brooksville, Fla. For the past seven years, she has made many homes on the Emerald Coast living in Miramar, Inlet and Grayton.

Original paintings created by Mary Lou Springstead range in price from $50 to $1,500, depending on the size of the canvas. For more samples of her work or to order a painting, visit Mary Lou online at http://www.visionloveart.com.