Mary Lou O'Brien grew up in Michigan and graduated from Oakland University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History. She later became certified to teach Art (and Spanish) at the University of Wisconsin. Her Master's degree is from IRI in Teaching and Leadership.
She retired after 22 years of teaching Spanish and began pursuing her love of art. She took watercolor classes in Illinois from watercolorist Dian Johnson who was a great inspiration to her. Mary Lou entered and won ribbons in several juried art exhibits and art fairs in the Chicago area between 2002 and 2007. She moved to Myrtle Beach in the spring of 2008. Currently she is exhibiting her art work at ArtShak in Southport, NC and at Art and Frame in Myrtle Beach, SC.
The majority of her paintings are either abstract or non-representational. They are a celebration of color, shape, line and texture. Sometimes she introduces other media into her watercolor paintings such as pencil, ink, mulberry papers, etc. She frequently continues the paintings out onto the mat. You can contact her via email at marylou7@sccoast.net.
