About the Artist
Mary (Collins) King, born in Monticello, Arkansas in 1948, is the daughter of Henry Clay and Alma (Linn) Collins. Her father was a cotton and soy bean farmer. Her parents moved to Clinton, Arkansas when she was two years old. She remembers walking barefoot in the furrows as her daddy plowed the ground. She grew to love the outdoors – the fresh air, the beautiful trees and flowers, the fruit and vegetables that her parents harvested every year. With having two younger brothers and a sister, she learned to explore the woods and small creek on their farm. She acquired a reverent respect for the God who created such a lovely world.
Mary remembers receiving a camera when she was fifteen years of age and how she loved being able to take pictures of the things that she loved. She recalls doing paint-by-number pictures as a teenager and being inspired by them.
In 1968, Mary married Philip King and in 1972 they moved to Romance, Arkansas where they still reside. They have a married son and daughter, two young granddaughters.
Not long after moving to Romance, Mary was introduced to Susan Reider, an artist who had grown up in Durango, Colorado. She taught her how to get started in oil painting, and was the inspiration that Mary needed to begin painting on her own. She has painted for family and friends since 1972, but did not begin to get prints and canvas replicas of her paintings until 2004.
Although being a pastor’s wife and a grandmother leaves her with limited time to paint, she treasures those moments when she can. She attributes her abilities to the God who has created all good things.
