Read last month’s blog to learn about Mary’s career as a fashion illustrator. This month, our marketing team learned about Mary's adventures in Australia.

After 10 years working as a fashion illustrator in New York City, Mary had the opportunity to live in Australia. She has always loved traveling and was excited to start another adventure in Aussieland. Finding work was tough without working papers, so Mary continued to make art. She enjoyed drawing children and paired that with her love of traveling to create a calendar of children around the world. Each month depicted a different festival in a different part of the world with the main focus on children and a few pets here and there. Mary created twelve 18” x 24” drawings in watercolor and the finished product was purchased by Avon Australia.

On the interior of the calendar, Mary is quoted saying,

“In my scenes I have tried to subtly capture a little bit of the history and traditions of each country. This I feel gives my illustrations both an entertaining and educational quality but without losing the whimsical charm and appeal of the children themselves.”

The excitement surrounding the Avon Australia calendar encouraged Mary to create more products with drawings of children. Mary moved back to the city and printed her drawings on greeting cards, which was good timing as the fashion industry moved into more photographs than illustrations. In 1987, Mary decided to do The New York Stationery Show. Mary noticed her cards with pets on them sold better than the ones with just children on them. 

Stay tuned for our next post about Mary's artistic process!