Hi!

I’m Mary K Clark – an artist, writer, oral storyteller, play facilitator and bad ass who believes our voices are gifts and story and play are instruments of connection. I live at The Cottage, in Western New York and work with writers, storytellers, artists and facilitators who live in the US.

My art is practical and abstract, simple & complex, irritated and delighted. silent and loud, spontaneous and reactive, and on it goes. I appreciate both sides as well as the inside of the coin. I like mud puddles, chewing on sticks and dirt between my toes. Yet, I am not always fond of getting dirty and can’t recall chewing on a stick.

I explore the connective lines between and within the written and spoken word, personal story, play, the creative voice and personal leadership.

The backstory 

Once upon a time I was offered an invitation of sorts while grocery shopping. I was passing through the pet supply aisle when I got the idea to buy a dog bone, and toss it on the floor of the living room as a joke.  Look, I headed down that aisle to buy cereal – not waste money on a bone for a dog I didn’t even own! I didn’t buy the bone.

The idea didn’t go away – every time I went to the grocery store it was waiting for me. Then, one day I bought a bone, a small white bone, and tossed it on the living room floor. Within 48 hours, the most amazing thing happened, my imagination and a room full of people gave birth to an invisible, three-toed, 150-pound, beagle named “bill” (small “b” please). Now that was the beginning of a real adventure! The beginning of a story was born. I didn’t realize it at the time but it would be fleshed out and then some.

A few weeks later, dawg-gone-it-all, I summoned the courage to tell a crazy story about a dog no one could see to a real live audience. I’d never told a story in public before. Not too long after I began telling stories professionally.

Over time, I realized the value of both story and play in leading an engaged, connected, creative, and self-directed life. But, I needed to know more and continued studying, learning and developing my practice around our human need for play and meaning making (story).

That wild hair idea was life changing – it was an invitation – to the magic of play, to listening and sharing stories, and to the importance of our creative voices.