Mary Burkhardt grew up in the western United States where she began drawing at an early age. Her formal training in painting and life drawing began at Mesa Community College where she studied for several years with the very gifted instructor Jim Garrison.
Since then she has studied through numerous classes and workshops with notable instructors such as Daniel E. Greene, Wende Caporale, Scott L. Christensen and Kim English.

Mary spent twenty years as a successful Watercolorist, painting and selling her landscapes and florals in the United States.
Then when she moved with her family to Singapore, making art abruptly changed from flourishing career to personal hobby. This proved to be a pivotal time in Mary’s life allowing her to paint simply for the joy of painting and to explore new ideas in paint.
It was during her time in Singapore that Mary came across a humorous quote from Albert Einstein that she thinks makes great sense in the life of an artist as well as an inventor. When Einstein was asked about his working methods he said, “How do I work? I grope.” Mary says, “To me, this quote is not so much about the process of making each individual piece of art, although it does apply there, as every Artist knows. For me, the quote has more to do with the process by how an Artist grows. It implies reaching for what you cannot yet see. An Artist must continue to grope in order to grow. Sometimes that’s uncomfortable, there are starts and stops, but it ultimately leads to growth.“

Following Mary’s return to the United States she rediscovered her love of oil painting and developed a passion for painting people. Today she uses both watercolors and oils as she creates her landscapes and portraits.

Mary loves to travel and has painted in most of the 50 States and in 20 foreign countries. Her work may be found in over 300 private collections.

Currently Mary resides in Connecticut.