Mary Gregg Byrne

• Name — Mary Gregg Byrne • Born — 1951 • Birthplace — Oberlin, Ohio • Known for — Portraits, illustration, landscapes • Training — University of Oregon School of Visual Concepts • Awards — 1997 Juror's Award for Painting, Tacoma Art Museum Northwest Biennial 2003 Benjamin Franklin Award for illustration, One Smile

Byrne was born in 1951, in Oberlin, Ohio and grew up in the Midwest. Byrne's grandmother was an artist, and Byrne started painting when she was a child, being encouraged by her mother. Byrne went to Occidental College, intending to become a biologist. But she later changed her mind and attended University of Oregon, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking in 1975. After graduating from university, Byrne worked as a scrimshaw and advertising designer at Alaskan Silver & Ivory Company for a few years until 1980. After that, she began painting watercolors. In 1995, she attended School of Visual Concepts. In 1975, Byrne moved to Bellingham, Washington, where she currently lives.

Byrne's works have been exhibited in many places in the United States. Byrne is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, National Watercolor Society and the Northwest Watercolor Society, and she has had her works shown in traveling exhibition of Northwest Watercolor Society. In 1997, Byrne received the Juror's Award for Painting at Tacoma Art Museum Northwest Biennial. In 2003, Byrne won a Benjamin Franklin Award for her illustrating work on the 2002 children book One Smile.