About the Artist
About the Artist
While working as a software designer, Mary began studying watercolor at night mostly as a way to reduce stress. She fell in love with watercolor’s translucency, softness, pure beauty and unpredictability. Wanting to improve her art foundation and watercolor practice, Mary enrolled in EMU’s Masters in Studio Art with a watercolor concentration and graduated in December 2022.
Mary is a frequent exhibitor at the annual Westside Art Hop. Her work is represented by Whitepines Studio Gallery and the Gutman Gallery.
Mary loves kayaking, hiking, music, and hanging out with friends and her dog, Buddy.
Professional Associations
- National Watercolor Society
- Michigan Water Color Society
- Guild of Artisans and Artists
- Adrian Center for the Arts
- Creative Washtenaw
- Artists for Community Exhibits (ACE)
- ArtBreak Studio (founding committee member)
- Jumping Water Painters
Awards
- 2025 Anything Goes Exhibition-Gutman Gallery: First Place-"Nickels Arcade"
- 2024 Women in Watercolor - International Juried Competition: Honorable Mention - "Serendipity"
- 2016 AAWA Spring Exhibition: Peoples Choice Award - "Les Cheneaux Islands I"
- 2015 AAWA Summer Exhibition: Second Place - "Rainy Road to Bryson City"
Mediums
Watercolor, alcohol inks, acrylic, oil, pencil/graphite, pen & ink, photography
Artist Statement
Painting for me is both meditative and a physical process. I usually start a piece by quietly sitting for several minutes and imagine a color. That color becomes the starting point. Then it begins: pouring watercolors, tipping the paper, blowing, brushing, scraping, spraying, imprinting, waiting.
My paintings, often abstracted, focus on the passage of time, the beauty found in nature, and my concern for it. I love the freedom to experiment with color, surface, texture, and design; to witness the sheer joy of colors mixing on the page.
In the end, I paint what moves me, causes curiosity, touches my heart. Can gauze bits, ice, rain droplets, mud, twigs, the greens of spring, the color explosion of a sunset, or the fading blues and violets of nightfall tell a story? Can fear, sorrow, healing, beauty, and love all be held simultaneously in what feels like a wrinkle in time?