Art and horses have been part of Mary’s whole life. She grew up in a big family on Mt Dandenong surrounded by ponies, a beautiful landscape and a strong family interest in the arts. Mary studied art right through to tertiary level and taught primary classroom, and primary and secondary art before, on retirement, setting up her own studio practice focusing on equestrian work and landscapes.

As a teacher, mother and now grandmother Mary has always enjoyed children’s picture story books and the important role that the illustrator plays in collaborating with an author to create beautiful and memorable stories for children.

Mary and her children enjoyed a great many years of owning and riding horses; competing in dressage and one day events. Today, being both a landscape and equestrian artist Mary can sometimes be seen at equestrian events creating spontaneous and lively sketches of horses and riders, however she also works on formal equestrian commissions. Over sixty years of experience with horses has led Mary to have a rich understanding of horses’ movements and the nuances of their behaviour when interacting with other horses, with other animals and with humans. Having completed various commissions for Leanne over the years Mary was delighted to be commissioned to create the illustrations for Leanne’s charming and informative picture story book “Roseanna Gold”.