Artist Biography
Hailing from Maryland’s Montgomery County, Mary Donahoe now lives and works in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. She paints in a variety of media, including oil, acrylic and watercolor.
An architect by profession, Mary creates large-scale, abstract paintings that she envisions as the centerpieces of the spaces they will inhabit. Influenced by Abstract Expressionist painters like Willem de Kooning and Mary Nomecos, Mary’s abstract work exhibits an exquisite use of color, composition, movement, depth and emotion.
Mary also paints representational landscape pieces, often en plein air, inspired by local marsh and water views and the quiet classicism of representational masters like Andrew Wyeth.
Having trained and worked as an architect, Mary realized that painting requires “a different aspect of rigor, as if after years of running you now had to swim. Or fly! You learn by experience. Painting brings me closest to joy.” It is that joy that she looks forward to sharing with the viewer.
Starting with art in high school, Mary moved on to painting and design classes in college, including a summer program in Florence, Italy. Graduate studies in Architecture focused on drawing, design and color theory. Classes taken in watercolors and printmaking started during the working years, and training and involvement in art accelerated during retirement. A grant from the North Carolina Art Council in 2008 furthered training in portraiture.
Mary sees participation in local art groups’ shows as a community responsibility. This involvement has resulted in many awards, including First Place (2D) in 2018 and Second Place (2D) in 2019 at Myrtle Beach 's Seacoast Artist Gallery, and the Eloise Randolph Memorial Award in 2024 at Franklin Square Gallery. At Franklin Square Gallery in Southport she was selected as Artist of the Month in May, 2024. In December 2024 - January 2025 Mary was exhibited at WHQR's MC Erny Gallery in Wilmington, NC.