PAINTER, Va. (Delmarva Now) — Mary "Mama Girl" Onley, the beloved Eastern Shore of Virginia folk artist, died Saturday after an illness.
Onley, 64, of Painter, was known for her papier-mache sculptures and colorful paintings. Her works are in many private collections, in addition to a permanent collection at the American Visionary Arts Museum in Baltimore.
As news of her death spread, art lovers began posting photographs of her works with messages of remembrance on social media, including on her professional Facebook page, Mama-Girl FolkArt.
Onley started making her distinctive style of art more than a quarter-century ago, after a series of seizures and a diagnosis of severe allergies caused her to stop working in the fields of the Eastern Shore — she had done fieldwork for more than 22 years before that, since the age of 12, according to a 2016 article in the Eastern Shore News.
Looking for a new vocation, Onley began experimenting with a variant of papier-mache using strips of newspaper, Elmer's glue and acrylic paint.
Onley, who also was a pastor, said she called for guidance on the Spirit — the voice of God that would speak to her when she began working on a new piece of art.
"I said good Lord, give me something nobody's never done. Show me how to work this newspaper and glue," she said. "The Spirit showed me how to work the newspaper and glue and I started right from there, you know."
Onley created her art in her home studio on a back road in Painter. She became well-known in the folk art community, often traveling to festivals and teaching classes.
Speaking about Onley's art, "It has a soul to it," said Hampton Roads, Virginia, artist and restaurateur Sydney Meers in an episode of Curate757 that aired earlier this year on PBS.
Onley's grandson, Malcolm White, in February presented two American flag pins she had made to Gov. Ralph Northam and his wife at a gala in Onancock, during Northam's first official visit to the Eastern Shore after he was elected governor.
PHOTOS: Folk artist Mary 'Mama Girl' Onley dies
Onley and her son, David Rogers, in 2016 participated in an apprenticeship program of Virginia Humanities' Virginia Folklife Program, in which Rogers was apprenticed to his mother to study her art form.
The folklife program is dedicated to the documentation, presentation and support of Virginia’s cultural heritage.
Onley in recent years was a familiar sight at the annual Eastern Shore Heritage Festival at Eastern Shore Community College and at the Onancock Market on summer Saturday mornings, where she greeted passers-by. She would be surrounded by her colorful artworks ranging from paintings of Biblical themes — including Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Jonah and the Whale and the Last Supper — to papier-mache "watermelon angels" and sculptures of cats and crabs and cardinals, among the many subjects she captured in her art.
