Making art has always come naturally to Mary. Her parents are both artists; her mom went to school for graphic design and is now an art teacher and her dad accepts commissions for his artwork. Whether nature or nurture, Mary began to draw a lot in late elementary school/early middle school. Her early art style came from drawing characters on TV shows. Mary’s dad often gave her anatomy and perspective tips. From middle school to present, Mary has filled many sketchbooks developing her characters. She is influenced by graphic novels and video games and the characters come alive with dialogue. Askin is one of the first characters that Mary developed and of course the character has evolved over time. The main story has continued from middle school to present. Mary thinks that writing and drawing have helped her process her feelings. She writes her stories from scratch, usually talking about an issue or a phenomenon.

The characters she has continued to develop since middle school have also served as inspiration for other fine art projects. This is evident from her series of paintings completed for after her trip to Peru with professors Yumi Park and Elizabeth Krakow in Spring 2025. On this study trip Mary experienced the culture and learned the history of the country and its people. As the assignment for the class, she had to create an artwork that reflected what she learned and experienced from the trip. She chose to represent what she learned through a character of hers, Lorenzo, who is Peruvian. In these panels, he is completing the Huaylarsh dance over segments of his life. The beginning three panels highlight scenes from Peru, some she captured on her own camera and some found online.

Mary sees things, explores them and makes a reflective moment interactive. Mary has a passion and skill for doing this in an impactful way. She believes all art has the potential to tell a story. We are thrilled to have Mary on our staff.

Photos: on top of article: black and white painting from Peru. To right of article: top rows, characters developed early middle school, then in further in development, bottom three photos are paintings are from Peru trip assignment.