A native Californian, Mary Kay Wilson, experienced a nomadic childhood also living in Colorado, Texas, Connecticut and overseas in England during her high school years before graduating from Hampshire College in Amherst, MA with a BA in Fine Art. Through her travels, Wilson was exposed to a tremendous quantity and variety of art from all over the world. She credits her time overseas with seeing the United States and being an American from a different perspective, a sensibility that continues to inform her artwork today. Since graduating from college she has worked extensively in watercolors in addition to other painting mediums. Wilson is a signature member of Watercolor West.

While a student at the American School in London, Wilson first exhibited her work publicly at the American Embassy in London as part of the Exhibition of Bicentennial Artwork by American Students. In more recent years, her award winning paintings have been widely exhibited both locally and nationally. Other shows include: The National Watercolor Society Annual Exhibit, Watercolor USA, Watercolor West Annual Juried Exhibition, Pikes Peak Watercolor Society, The Watercolor Art Society of Houston and the Pasadena Museum of History’s “Contemporary Masters, Artistic Eden IV” exhibit, to name a few. In 2002 she was selected to participate in the public art project, Community of Angels, painting one of the life-sized fiberglass angels that inhabited the streets of Los Angeles during that summer. Wilson was also a member of the mural team in Judy Chicago’s Envisioning the Future, painting a 140' x 42' mural in Pomona, CA. Her paintings have been published in The Artist’s Source Book: 80 Watercolor Painting References. In 2013 Wilson’s interpretation of the San Fernando Mission traveled around Los Angeles on buses and trains, part of LA Metro’s through the eyes of artist poster series.

“Most of my paintings are subjects that capture my attention in the course of daily life, driving around Los Angeles or on my travels. Many of the watercolors are inspired by scenes around my home and garden, focusing on the details. Although nature and flowers are favorite subjects, I delight in discovering beauty in less expected circumstances. The setting sun shining through a dead leaf, making it glow. Sunlight sparkling on the edge of a river illuminating brilliant colors in rocks that would otherwise just appear brown. Bright colors of plastic toys bathed in sunlight. Peeling paint on an old sign. American kitsch, remnants of a time before the country became homogeneous. The quality of light as part of the subject is the unifying element of my work.”

In addition to creating her own artwork, as Hathaway-Sycamores Child & Family Services’ guest Master-in-Resident artist, Wilson has shared her passion for watercolor painting with at-risk youth in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles each summer since 2008.