Mary
Thomson was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and lived in New Jersey and
Virginia before coming to Santa Monica, California. She attended Westlake
School for Girls and UCLA, graduating with a degree in English with an an
rninor. Childhood visits to a cousin's cattle ranch and horseback summers
in the Sierras and at Oak Grove in San Diego led to the love of horses and
western riding; trying to draw horses led to an interest in art. Since Mary's
mother, Margaret Leighton, is a well-known author of books for children and
young adults, Mary was given the opportunity to do some of the illustration.
Mary's husband Carson "Kit" Thomson, retired from his teaching position at
Los Angeles Community College, is an excellent designer and craftsman of furniture,
clocks, musical instruments, and jewelry. He is now occupied in restoring
classic cars.
They live in Playa del Rey, California in a house they built
on a windy hilltop and have raised a daughter and four sons. While the children
were young, the pressures of raising a family limited Mary's painting time,
although she had done much drawing, studying and looking at art. Since that
time she has been able to concentrate on developing her talents and has worked
very hard to make up for a late start. Mary Thomson's work is generally realistic,
the subject matter and approach are varied. 
Landscape,
seascape, local genre scenes, still-life, figure and portrait - she likes
them all. She also likes to change from one medium to another depending on
what the subject matter calls for. Some are done tn traditional style using
oils, acrylics, or watercolors; others, more contemporary, use ink contour
drawing enhanced with acrylic glazes. She also works in woodcut, ceramics,
and sculpture. Since Mary studied intaglio etching she has been drawn to this
medium, finding it appropriate for the use of fine detail which had been developing
in her watercolors.
Now that she has her own etching press, she can experiment with printing monochrome and full color. She has won acceptance into major shows and awards in all media. She was elected to membership in Women Painters West in 1978, and has been an Exhibiting Member of the Pacific Art Guild since 1972, serving as president in 1973 and again in 1980. Because of Mary's interest in the outdoors, animals, and history, much of her work is devoted to Western Art. Since 1975 she has been a member of Women Artists of the American West, an international group formed to promote and show Western Art produced by women.
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1997-2001 Playa del Rey INternet