Mary grew up on a dairy farm and found herself immersed in nature and natural art projects at an early age. Her chosen career was in education and she spent more than 30 years in the schoolroom where she focused her creativity and honed her observational skills in meeting the needs of her students. Now she has retired from teaching and focuses those skills on the creation of art quilts, wearable art and soft sculpture. The underlying inspiration for all her work comes from nature and the human form. The Finger Lakes area of upstate New York, where Mary resides, provides her a broad palette from its four colorful seasons. Once having lived in Kenya Mary also enjoys working with African prints and has designed many pieces from the inspiration she recalls from her tour in East Africa.

This artist explains the serendipity of her creative process by the claim that it is definitely the fiber art muse who leads her on. “Although I start the creative process with a particular idea and with a collection of natural objects such as leaves, stones, and shells, the fiber piece will quickly take over.” Some of her pieces elicit a thoughtful response from the viewer, and others, with their sense of whimsy, fetch a smile.

Presently Mary teaches fiber art workshops and exhibits work in fiber art venues nationally and internationally. Her art has been honored by receiving ribbons and favorable revues. Mary’s work is represented in the 2010 publication "500 Art Quilts" and has been placed in museums, a presidential library and been included in world tours.