Mary originally trained in embroidery and design at Loughborough College of Art and Design and in adult teaching at Nottingham University, and subsequently specialised in silk painting with embroidery. She has taught in local education authority classes, in residential colleges, and has run her own specialist Silk Painting and Projects Studio since 1985.

Mary has, over the past decade, been invited to display work, give demonstrations, and run workshops at numerous retail shows country-wide each year. Her work has been featured on BBC television and she has been filmed on Granada Sky satellite TV, The Discovery Channel, and Ideal World TV. In 1987, when material in English on silk painting was a little thin on the ground Mary produced a Silk Painting teaching video and a year later, whilst living in China, was appointed guest professor for silk painting projects for the Shanghai Arts and Crafts Research Institute.

Mary has frequently been commissioned to write articles for various art and arts & crafts magazines and has been featured in articles written by others. Her work has included painting dance costumes for an international dancewear company and giving product and process training to distributor sales representatives and retail shop staff on behalf of a leading French silk dye manufacturer and a German silk importer.She has exhibited work at Foyles Art Gallery in London and was instrumental in writing the syllabus for the City and Guilds Creative Skills Certificate for Silk Painting. Mary is currently both Secretary and Events Organiser for the Guild of Silk Painters and teaches silk painting and project classes in various locations.