Born Hobart, Tas.
Currently lives and work on the Gold Coast, Qld.
Mary is a self-taught artist who has been quietly honing her skills for most of her life. After experimenting with watercolours, oils and pastels, she now paints full time in her studio with acrylics. Married with 2 boys, Mary began to emerge from her studio by entering local art competitions. Encouraged by the feedback and sales, she now concentrates mainly on large landscapes, using imagery drawn from personal experience, childhood memories right through to current observations of everyday life.
In 2015 Mary was invited by Gold Coast Gallery Hillier and Skuse to exhibit her works and has since been included in various group exhibitions around the state.
A large part of Mary's creative expression involves telling a story and much of her large scale work reflects this - "My process often starts with asking myself 'where would I like to be today? and what story do I want to tell?' It's usually a wide open space so I can have a look around to see what I want to say. The idea often unfolds as I go, the placing of objects determines the next, guided by an overall mood, story and colour scheme that I have decided upon. The imagery I use is drawn from personal experience, from childhood memories right through to current observations and everyday life. In the landscape format, I can surround myself with things I find interesting and leave out all the clutter that would probably be there in real life."
Mary starts with the darkest tones and moves forward to the lightest, highlighting little details along the way and so the finished piece is something that is familiar but at the same time a little unusual. Each painting takes many weeks to complete as she constructs each landscape from scratch - the perspective, the scale, the light source and shadows, the imagery and the colours. All her works are unique and individual and while her subject matter varies from painting to painting, they all include her distinctive style.
Exhibition-
2016 Solo and group exhibitions February Hillier and Skuse Gallery, Gold Coast.
2019-2020 Uralla Gallery.
2021-2022 Grammar Art Show
Awards-
2022 Finalist Bluethumb Art Prize
2022 ALA prize Finalist.
2021 ArtLovers AustraliaPrize Finalist
2020 Maritime Art Prize Finalist
2020 Art Lovers Australia Prize Finalist
2019 Art Lovers Australia Prize Finalist
2016 Finalist, Stanthorpe Art Awards.
2016 Finalist, Moreton Bay Art Awards.
2016 Finalist, Rotary Art Spectacular, Brisbane.
2015 Winner, Best Acrylic, Rotary Art Spectacular, Brisbane.
2015 Highly Commended, D’arcy Doyle Art Awards, Gold Coast.
2015 Finalist, Ipswich Art Awards
2015 Finalist, Lions Garden City Art Extravaganza
2013 Winner, RQAS Monthly Awards, July.
2013 Commended RQAS Monthly Awards, Aug.
2013 Commended RQAS Monthly Awards, Sept.