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Entranced by the Hudson Valley, Mary enjoys plein air painting, portraiture and still life in pastel and oil. A third generation San Franciscan, she received a BA in painting at the University of California at Santa Barbara and a MA in printmaking from New York University (Thesis: “The Photographic Image in Silk-screen and Intaglio Printmaking”). She taught art at SUNY Orange and The Wallkill River School and is currently represented by the Wallkill River Art Gallery, Montgomery. A member of the Lower Hudson Valley Plein Air Painters, Garrison Art Center and other local art groups, she also participates in the Palisades Park “Artists in the Park” program, painting and exhibiting at several park locations. In 2019 and 2018 she participated in the Hudson Valley Plein Air Festival.
In New York City she pursued a career as Art Director and designer for various publications and companies. She also studied at the School of Visual Arts, the Art Students League and with noted regional artists including John Osborne and Andrew Lattimore. Her paintings and prints have been exhibited nationally and internationally and won numerous awards.
Her painting “Beach Memories” of children on the beach was used on the August 2008 cover of “Natural Awakenings” and a pastel, “Bairds Cows” was featured on the 2004 Warwick Valley Telephone Cover. She was videotaped painting the replica of Henry Hudson’s 1609 “Half Moon” while it docked in Newburgh in November 2008 as part of thirty Orange County artists interviewed for the FreeArtinNY web page.

Statement: Though I grew up amidst the amazing beauty of the San Francisco bay area and the Sierra Mountains of California, I find the Hudson Valley equally inspiring. With fellow plein air artists, I have been fortunate to paint many vistas such as those painted by the original Hudson River artists. Whether portrait or landscape, I prefer to work from life. Paintings are more alive when painted on location. Perhaps the joy of the experience is somehow transferred to the painting.