Born in Wichita Falls, Texas, “Soldier’s Baby First Born” New Year’s baby Mary grew up drawing houses in the dirt and producing and performing neighborhood theatricals, usually for the benefit of the local ‘crippled children’s hospital’ in Phoenix where her family moved, herself disabled from polio. Childhood interests included the violin and today she plays ukulele. She occasionally entered ‘the muse’ and drew portraits of friends, could replicate art and drew awards for ‘bulletin boards’ in elementary school. In high school she entertained and was a class leader.
After moving to California as a young adult she married and started a family while attending college and sometimes working. In 1982 she discovered an instructor in watercolor that let the artist develop their style. Prior to this she was in interior design and pre-architecture. In 1989 she went on the market and in 1997 received her BFA in painting. Her resume is replete with awards and milestones, among which includes owning and operating ‘The Muse’ a trend-setting gallery in The McCormick Arts District, Prescott, AZ along with her two artist daughters.
Since her move to Santa Cruz to live at Artspace Tannery Lofts, her work consists of series development with intermittent shows. She developed her own style of abstract ‘experimental’ water media and has expanded from painting to include photography, book art, videos and mixed media. She is presently archiving The Tannery in the form of art and working on ‘Santa Cruz Details’, her latest series.
