A prolific plein air artist who sold her first painting at age 13, Mary Erickson grew up with a deep appreciation of art.  Raised in Connecticut, she grew up sketching the beaches of Long Island Sound, and maintains her respect for the beauty of her surroundings to this day.  Preferring to work on location, in the tradition of painters since the French Impressionists of the 1800′s, Mary continues to seek new opportunities to capture moments in time and place on canvas.  Plein air painting tours have taken her to Spain, Guatemala, Argentina, Ireland, France and throughout the United States.  A lifelong conservationist, Mary’s 39 acre residence in North Carolina is slated to be left as an artist retreat and bird sanctuary. It is listed on the North Carolina Birding Trail, and can be seen at www.HighRidgeGardens.org.

Mary studied at the University of Bridgeport and Sacred Heart University.  She has trained with contemporary masters Don Demers, Tim Theis, Ken Backhaus, Louise DeMore and John Seerey-Lester.   She is a member of the Oil Painters of America, the American Impressionist Society, and a Signature Member of the American Society of Marine Painters. She is a founding member of Southern Plein Air Artists, a member of The Group of Eight, and The Florida Four, all Southern based alliances that are intent on recording the scenery of the rapidly vanishing natural southern landscape.  Mary also serves as an advisor to several national plein air events.  Her work is collected throughout the United States and Europe in private and corporate collections.