After training and many years working in clay, Mary took a course in textiles which incorporated drawing and painting. This took her back to her roots and after the constraints of ceramics, freed up her approach to making two dimensional work in varied style and materials to suit the subject.

The body of work we are delighted to have on show at Derwent House encompasses torn paper collage, canvases in oil and works on paper in Mary’s unseeing or ‘Zen like’ style. This process is a more meditative way of connecting to the subject as she is not looking at the work as it progresses. Attention to the subject is unbroken, awareness of how the body moves to create the marks is much greater and the connection to the subject is both calm and deep. Interested in the energy of a subject, Mary’s work is more gestural, capturing the essence rather than complete representation.