I have always been interested in art of one form or another. I took years of piano and art classes in high school and some in college, although my degree is not in art. My art education has been with several excellent private teachers. I was enrolled in life drawing classes for four years. I studied oil painting using still life settings, and portraiture and I also, studied watercolor. I also count my visits to international art museums in Europe and the US as part of my education. The most frequently visited was the Art Institute of Chicago, where I grew up.

 

I have been a member of the San Jose Art League, Mountain Art Guild, and Valle del Sur Art Guild and served as its president. I was a member of Gallery Morgan Hill for twelve years and served as its director for three different terms. During that time, I had six individual shows at the gallery. I had an exhibit in Mainz, Germany and have exhibited in group shows at the Triton Museum, the Garlic Festival Store, Gilroy Museum, Morgan Hill Community Center, Morgan Hill Senior Center as well as numerous places in past years. Recently “Frosty Morning” won a First Place in watercolor at the Valle del Sur show at the Morgan Hill Community Center, and an Honorable Mention in oil for” Low Tide at Sunset in Charleston Harbor”.

 

I asked myself, why do I want to paint and draw? My answer may seem unsophisticated but sincere. I feel it is my job as an artist to celebrate the beauty in the world and point it out for those who are too busy to notice. There is so much that is ugly and awful in life and too little importance placed on what is beautiful in both the physical world and the human experience. I am particularly drawn to landscapes with lakes or streams, to young children and animals as subjects for my work. “Mary’s paintings are soft in focus giving a life-like quality, with strong bright colors, and an emphasis on the play of light and shadow.”

Commissions accepted for children and animal portraits.