From my earliest memories, I have always loved to sketch and paint. My mediums have been, from my first endeavors with crayons, to acrylics, oils, charcoals, pastels and now watercolors. My major in college was English, although I took art classes whenever my schedule permitted. Working my way through school did not allow too much free time for painting. After marrying and raising my family, I found that I finally had the time to take classes I wanted. So in the mid 90’s I enrolled in several drawing, perspective and design classes at Bellevue Community College. Then over the last five or six years I have been more specifically drawn to watercolors. I first heard that they were “one of the hardest mediums”. Naturally, I wanted to give it a try. Actually, I find that watercolors are not so difficult once you learn a few tricks, or “techniques”, as the instructors are quick to point out. © Mary McKelvey-CatI joined MIVAL and then Northwest Watercolor Society. Through these two dynamic organizations, I found a bounty of terrific art instructors. So, I jumped into watercolors and quickly found out that I was mostly drawn to painting flowers. With the encouragement and challenges from my new community of artist friends, I joined the MIVAL Gallery. The expectation of having to create new art each month, was the “pressure” I needed to get the artistic juices flowing. I am now moving past just flowers and hope to include many more landscapes, animals and people in my art. I currently show my paintings regularly at the MIVAL Gallery, The Mercer Island Community Center as well as the many venues that are available throughout Mercer Island. Additionally, I have recently joined my sister in her new Artists Cove Gallery in Aransas Pass, TX. I have actually now sold a few paintings, many cards and bookmarks and even received an “Honorable Mention” in one of the shows I entered. This has all been a very exciting and therapeutic experience as I find my artistic life evolving.