Painting has always been a part of Mary Jane’s life. At age 12, she was fortunate to study with Richard Goetz, though her formal training at that time was short-lived. Career choices took her into journalism where she spent her teenage years in editorial at the Shawnee News-Star in Shawnee, OK, her childhood home. She attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK, on a journalism scholarship that delayed her desire to concentrate in fine art. Following her marriage in 1966, she became a draftsperson for Southwestern Bell in Oklahoma City, and continued as such for several years on a contract basis after her daughter Amy was born.

After her divorce in 1975, she entered the advertising profession in Oklahoma City, OK, and began a career that would span over 25 years and take her to three states, culminating in a position at Dell Computer in Austin, TX, in 1987. Mary Jane was Dell’s first advertising manager and remained in a domestic and international marketing communications function until she retired in 1999.

Always frustrated by being “on the wrong side of the art board,” she began focusing on her art career after retiring from Dell Computer. Her formal studies began in Austin, TX, at the Laguna Gloria Art Museum. In 2003, she was a charter member of Plein Air Austin. When her impending marriage took her to Denver, CO, later that year, her studies continued at the Denver Art Museum, where she was fortunate enough to study with Joshua Fallik, John Lenzicki and Ron Hicks. Currently, Mary Jane is continuing her studies with Joshua Fallik, where she focuses her energies in the old master techniques of oil painting. She also has studied with contemporary plein air masters such as Scott Christensen, Matt Smith, Ralph Oberg and George Strickland. She divides her time equally with plein air work and studio still life and landscapes. Her favorite outdoor subjects are Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma scenery, with a particular fondness for urban landscapes.

Mary Jane currently lives and paints full-time in Bailey, Colorado, southwest of Denver. She has one daughter, Amy Rebecca Tucker, who is also an artist in Dallas, TX. Mary Jane is currently engaged to Paul Cornett, also a painter and metal sculptor.