A painter, etcher, designer, and art writer, Mary N. Balcomb lives in the Puget Sound area of Washington State. She was a 1948 graduate from the American Academy of Art, Chicago, and has a BFA cum laude from The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, and an MFA from The University of Washington, Seattle. She is a contributor to American Artist and Southwest Art and is author of Les Perhacs, Sculptor (monograph) and the books Nicolai Fechin, Russian-American Artist; William F. Reese, American Artist; Robin-Robin, A Journal; and Sergei Bongart, Russian/American Artist. She is a member of The Authors Guild, Inc. (USA); and, as an advocate of the arts for all children, she was a founding member of the Children’s Arts Center Foundation, Inc., Seattle.
A professional designer, she has domestic and foreign design projects to her credit. Her exhibits include solo shows at the Kansas Wesleyan University; the Frye Art Museum and the Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle; and Olympic College, Sidney, and Blue Heron Art Galleries, Kitsap County, Wa. Her works are currently shown at the Fine Impressions Gallery, Seattle; Amy Burnett Gallery, Bremerton, Wa.; and The Gallery, Bainbridge Island, Wa. Four of her etchings traveled to Prague, Czechoslovakia, for a 1992 cultural exchange exhibit; and her work was featured in American Artist, February 1991 and June 1996; and in Southwest Art, April 1996. Her oil painting “Sam in Large Overcoat” received an award at the Frye Art Museum’s 36th annual Puget Sound Area Exhibition.
Because of her love of drawing and her drawing abilities, the intaglio, particularly line etching, carries a particular fascination for her and is her metier. She etches and prints her own plates in her home studio. |
