Mary Crochet is a native of Gonzales, LA. She’s lived there all her life.

 Around the age of 17 I realized that I could paint.  When my mother saw the first painting I ever did, she was amazed at my skill.  She immediately bought me a paint kit and I learned the basic colors and taught myself.

 I’m a self taught artist, never having had formal lessons.  The subject matter of my works of art come from times of reflection and thoughts that occur to me. Then I interpret them into an acrylic painting.

 From my first piece at the age of 17 to around 50, those thirty plus years saw me paint the occasional work as a hobby or something to pass the time.  Seeing myself as a professional artist never crossed my mind until that fateful day in the spring of 2001 when I met a shop keeper that was especially interested in my paintings.  My paintings were her best selling item from the first month on. It began to occur to me that my artistic talents were of real value. 

 Since then, I have become a professional artist selling my work all over the world via the Internet.

 In the beginning, there was only the oil painting kit Mama gave me and a couple ladies tried to tell me a thing or two. But, they wanted me to do their style which is something I will not do.  My approach is my own interpretation of places I’ve seen and I am very comfortable with this self-taught style. I want my works to reflect my personality and style, not someone else’s, so I have not taken lessons.  I taught myself and am happy with this position.

 It’s come to the point now, that I teach beginner acrylic painting classes.  When I teach, I am adamant that the student develop their own style.  It’s my wish that everyone should create their works of art in their own style, not mimic someone else’s.

 My favorite subjects to paint are my angels; a close second would be my Louisiana scenes from around my area.  These are done on wood and canvas.  Now I’m very excited to be venturing into the world of greeting cards and online purchasing of prints on a wide assortment of products.