Artist Biography & Facts

Mary Whyte

Additional information about Mary Whyte provided by Rebecca Ansert, Coleman Fine Art, August 2004

Periodicals featuring Mary Whyte:
May 1993
American Artist
How to Paint Children's Portraits in Watercolor
By Mary Whyte
Full color

Winter 1996
Watercolor
Painting Successful Backgrounds
By Mary Whyte
Full color

Fall 1997
Watercolor
Figures & Portraits
By Mary Whyte
Full color

July 2000
American Artist
Skin Deep
By Mary Whyte
Full color

July 25, 2001
Post and Courier newspaper
Remarkable Women: Painter, Illustrator Has Always Loved Art
By Maggie Valiunas
Black and white

Fall 2001
American Artist
Mary Whyte Explores South Carolina's Low Country
By M. Stephen Doherty
Full color

January-February 2002
South Carolina Homes&Gardens
Making Silence Speak
By Cecile Langham Cothran
Full color

September 3, 2002
The Beaufort Gazette
Discover South Carolina in original watercolor with Mary Whyte
Full color

September 19, 2002
Post and Courier newspaper
Whyte's Windows to the Soul
By Catherine Brennan
Black and white

November 28, 2002
Post and Courier newspaper
Local Resident Illustrates SC Alphabet Book
By Brenda Rindge
Black and white

March/April 2003
Charleston Magazine
Patchwork Lives
By Melissa Bigner
Full color

May 2003
The Artist's Magazine
Heart & Soul
By Mary Whyte
Full color

June, 1, 2003
Post and Courier newspaper
Unexpected Beginnings
By Fran Hawk
Full color

Member of: Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, South Carolina Watercolor Society, Philadelphia Watercolor Society, Charleston Artists Guild.

Books illustrated by Mary Whyte:
Boommer's Big Day, written by Constance McGeorge, published by Chronicle Books
Boommer's Big Surprise, written by Constance McGeorge, published by Chronicle Books
Boommer Goes to School, written by Constance McGeorge, published by Chronicle Books
I Love You the Purplest, written by Barbara Joosse, published by Chronicle Books
Snow Riders, written by Constance McGeorge, published by Chronicle Books
Waltz of the Scarecrows, written by Constance McGeorge, published by Chronicle Books
Mama's Way, written by Helen Ketteman, published by Dial Books
P is for Palmetto, written by Carol Crane, published by Gale Group
A Box of Friends, written by Pam Munoz Ryan, published by McGraw-Hill
Chestnut, written by Constance McGeorge, published by Peachtree Publishers

Magazine Advertisement Archives:

Charleston Magazine
July/August 2002 Wisteria, watercolor, 40 x 27 _ inches
January/February 2003 Early Rising, watercolor, 30 x 21 _ inches
March/April 2003 Mariah's Quilt, watercolor 39 x 28 inches
May/June 2003 September, watercolor, 47 x 39 _ inches
September/October 2003 Lily Sleeping, watercolor, 26 x 21 inches

American Art Review
December 1997 The Hugo Sweater, watercolor, 22 x 26 inches
June 2000 Devotional, watercolor, 21 _ x 29 _ inches
August 2000 Road Stand, watercolor, 23 x 20 inches
July/August 2002 Wisteria, watercolor, 40 x 27 _ inches
November 2002 Steam Iron, watercolor, 28 x 21 inches
February 2003 Mariah's Quilt, watercolor, 39 x 28 inches
October 2003 Cool Breeze, watercolor, 47 _ x 39 _ inches

Art & Antiques
October 2003 September, watercolor, 47 x 39 _ inches
July/August 2004 Acorn, watercolor, 37 _ x 29 inches

Southwest Art
October 2001 Dream of the Ancestors, watercolor, 21 x 21 inches
November 2003 Cool Breeze, watercolor, 47 _ x 39 _ inches

Born in Ohio in 1953, Mary Whyte grew up with all the rural Midwest has to offer. She graduated from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA in 1976 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and teaching certification.

Mary Whyte has earned national recognition as an artist although she works in both watercolors and oils, she is most recognized for her figurative watercolors. Whyte recreates the finest details of all skin tones, including the translucency and texture using very deliberate brush strokes while maintaining the fluidity that makes watercolor so appealing.

Whyte's portraits are in more than two-hundred corporate, university, and private collections, and her paintings have been included in numerous exhibitions. Several museums have purchased her portraits for their permanent collections including the recent acquisition by the Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC who acquired the image "Steam Iron."

An avid teacher and writer, Whyte has conducted painting workshops each year in different locations across the country for the past twenty years. Several of her articles have been featured in "American Artist" and "Watercolor" magazines. Whyte's instructional book, "Watercolor for the Serious Beginner" (Watson-Guptill, 1995), is now in its sixth printing.

Whyte has turned some of her attention to illustrating children's books, having several projects published by Chronicle Books and Dial Books. Many of the illustrations are now in collections of private individuals and institutions including the Mazza Collection of Children's Book illustrations of the University of Findlay in Ohio.

Mary Whyte, moved to an island on the South Carolina coast and developed close friendships within the African-American community. Soon after her arrival and quite by accident, she met Alfreda LaBoard, and her intrepid group of senior citizens who gather weekly to make quilts and socialize in a small rural church. Long-time residents of Johns Island and descendants of slaves, these women changed her life and her paintings in astonishing and unexpected ways. Mary Whyte has released a book sharing the story, "Alfreda's World" (Wyrick & Company, 2003), about the shared experiences and values that deepened the friendship between the two remarkable women. The story is told in the touching watercolors and drawings that the artist created over a ten-year period.

Mary Whyte currently lives with her husband near Charleston, South Carolina.

PHILOSOPHY: "Everything an artist creates is done in a solitary way except when painting another human being. Then there are two people involved. One who changes the model forever, and one who forever changes the artist." -Whyte

STYLE: Realism

TECHNIQUE: Works are primarily in watercolor on acid-free paper, which ensures the color will never fade, and oil on canvas or board.

COLLECTIONS:
Corporations:
Bell Atlantic, Arlington, VA
The Easter Seals Society
Heritage Beverage Company
The Penn Club in New York
The Philadelphia Zoo, PA

Museums:
Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC
Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC
Mazza Museum of International Art from Picture Books, University of Findlay in Ohio

Colleges and Universities:
West Chester University, PA
Gwynedd Mercy College
The University of Pennsylvania
The Medical University of South Carolina
Wabash College

Banks:
Carolina First Bank, Greenville, SC
Genesee Bank
Banco di Roma, Rome, Italy


AWARDS
Lifetime Achievement Award 2003
Philadelphia Watercolor Society
Savoir-Faire award: 2001 California Watercolor Association National Exhibition
First Place: 2001 South Carolina Watercolor Association Statewide Exhibition

EXHIBITS
American Watercolor Society, New York, NY
Allied Artists of America, New York, NY
Coleman Fine Art, Charleston, SC
Spartanburg County Museum of Art, SC
South Carolina State Museum, SC
Settlers West, Tucson, AZ-American Miniatures exhibit
Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Art Show, PA
Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors, NY
Pennsylvania Watercolor Society
South Carolina Watercolor Society
California Watercolor Society

SOLO MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC-Summer 2003
Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, NC-Winter 2003

GROUP MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
"Sea to Shining Sea"-"Haggin Museum of Art, Stockton, CA
-May 2004 will continue to additional museums across the country for 4 years.

AUTHORED: "Alfreda's World"; publisher: Wyrick & Co., 2003
Watercolor for the Serious Beginner; publisher: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1997


CHILDREN'S BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS:
Chestnut, author: Constance McGeorge, publisher: Peachtree Publishers, 2004
A Box of Friends, author: Pam Munoz Ryan, publisher: McGraw-Hill Publications, 2003
P is for Palmetto, author: Carol Crane, publisher: Sleeping Bear Press, 2002
Mama's Way, author: Helen Ketteman, publisher: Dial Books, 2001
Boomer's Big Surprise, author: Constance McGeorge, publisher: Chronicle Books, 1999
Waltz of the Scarecrows, author: Constance McGeorge, publisher: Chronicle Books, 1998
Boomer Goes To School, author: Constance McGeorge, publisher: Chronicle Books, 1996
I Love You the Purplest, author: Barbara M. Joosse, publisher: Chronicle Books, 1996
Snow Riders, author: Constance McGeorge, publisher: Chronicle Books, 1995
Boomer's Big Day, author: Constance McGeorge, publisher: Chronicle Books, 1994

MARY WHYTE (BORN 1953)

Throughout her career, Mary Whyte has been a consummate storyteller, whether her subjects were the Amish in Ohio, Gullah community members near Charleston, or veterans from across the country. As she claims, she prefers to portray people who are “under the radar.” Although she has painted with oils, her real forte is watercolor, which requires, in her words, “patience, fortitude, and practice.”

Whyte was born in Bainbridge, Ohio, twenty-five miles east of Cleveland, and early on displayed a keen interest in art. However, opportunities for art instruction were somewhat limited. Once she enrolled at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia for formal training, she encountered a general disdain for watercolor and representational art. The school was known for its progressive curriculum, which included the liberal arts, but Whyte elected to concentrate on art with courses in drawing, graphic design, sculpture, and painting. She spent her junior year in Rome where she painted mostly landscapes, graduating cum laude in 1976 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree as well as a teaching certificate that her father had insisted she acquire.

For the next fifteen years, Whyte remained in Pennsylvania, working at times as a graphic designer and portraitist. Attracted to a nearby Mennonite community, she recorded simple daily activities like hanging out the wash along with rural landscapes. In 1991, she moved to Seabrook Island—just south of Charleston, South Carolina—a move that would transform her life. In search of a model for a class she was teaching, she visited a senior center and met a group of older African American quiltmakers. These women warmly embraced her and agreed to let her paint them, a collaboration that ultimately resulted in a publication and traveling exhibition. Whyte’s sensitive depictions are enhanced by her facility with watercolors; broad strokes flow across compositions simulating smoke rising and wind blowing, while tighter brushwork meticulously details hair and skin tones.

Whyte went further afield—from Mississippi to Florida—to develop a second major project, Working South. The underlying theme for these large-scale watercolors was people in occupations that were on the verge of obsolescence, such as a shoe shiner, an elevator operator, several textile workers, and individuals employed in aspects of the fishing industry. A third figurative series, We the People: Portraits of Veterans in America, consists of likenesses of veterans from all fifty states. The featured sitters represent a true cross-section of the United States military and are an ethnically diverse group of men and women from many walks of life.

In addition to these significant endeavors, Whyte has undertaken numerous portrait commissions, written manuals on watercolor, produced a dozen children’s books, all while maintaining an active schedule of workshops around the country and in Italy. In 2013 Mary Whyte was honored with the South Carolina Governor’s Award for the Arts.

The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina
thejohnsoncollection.org