Born: Mary Robin McGill, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1954
Louisiana State University, 1973-1976
New York University, B. S. in Studio Art, 1978
New York University, M. A. in Art Education, 1980

My dad started paintings but never finished them. When I was seven he gave me one of his unfinished canvases and a palette of oils and said, “finish it”. After mixing syrupy colors, I slid them on with big brushes across his carefully rendered daps. Even the smell of paint was irresistible. I was the only girl in a family of boys in the deep south. Hunting, fishing and football were daily pursuits – Art became mine.

I paint landscapes, figures, and still lives. Underneath it all, I am an abstract painter. We moved to Middlebury from New York City 17 years ago. I enjoy working outdoors but more happens in the studio. I am always collecting visual information and strive to retain the freshness of my original response, no matter how long I work on a painting.

I moved from Louisiana to NYC in 1976. After graduate school, I started teaching art in 1980 at the Dalton School and then at the Chapin School. Since moving to Vermont, I teach and I am on the board of the Middlebury Studio School. My work has been exhibited in New York City, New Jersey, Montana, China and Vermont.