About Mary
Mary received her BA in English and Art from Westmont Collage Santa Barbara CA, and a MFA From Pratt Institute, Brooklyn NY in Printmaking and Painting. She opened Emery Design in New York City in 1984 working with a group of professionals from diverse fields. The mix of art and business, functioned as a full-service design studio for interiors and fine art. They designed and produced hand-painted custom rugs on sisal, canvas, and other natural fibers, murals, decorative furniture, all available to design professionals and specialty stores. Mary regularly appeared on Lifetime Television’s Our Home and B. Smith with Style, as a contributing artist.
Mary moved full time to Nantucket in 1999 and continued Emery Design as well as holding positions at the Artist Association of Nantucket as Director of Education. Currently she is the Chair of Education at the Nantucket Historical Association, and continues to work with design professionals as well as pursuing her fine art interests.
Artist Statement
My favorite tool is a pencil. I hold all other tools in the same manor using drawing as the starting point from which to build.
I have been creating all of my life, influenced and encouraged by my parents where making was a way of life. My mother, an author, teacher, and a member of in the Historical Society of Early American Decoration, strongly influenced my pursuits in historic restoration and decorative painting. My father, a civil engineer, with whom my practice of en plein air began, took me to remote locations painting together regularly. My inspiration is equally influenced by both the historic decorative practices, and the art of engineering, and the place in the landscape that they occupy.
It has been said that my range of work is unusual as I draw with the finest of pens creating intricate detail designs in my Penwork to Printmaking where I use tools to carve and create texture in a physical manor. Whether I use a pen, engraver, or a brush, it all starts with a line and there lies the common thread. I am inspired by good design and technique in all media and am continually learning and exploring new methods to incorporate into my work.