She started sketching while still in her grade school and continued with the same interest as she grew older. It was clear from a very young age that Mary was set for bigger things in the art industry. While still in her junior high, she participated in a poster design competition and won, inspiring her further into art. Mary was born in West Virginia, which is a small town along Ohio River. She had an opportunity to take a job at the Weirton Steel, a dominant company that was providing jobs to the locals. But knowing that what she wanted was being an artist, she continued to paint and teach herself new ideas just to better the quality of her works. Mary would later specialize in art making using watercolors and chose canvas as her base support.