Mary Gregg Byrne

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.[2]

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.[2] 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.[3]

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,[3] 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.[1] In 2003, Byrne won a Benjamin Franklin Award for her illustrating work on the 2002 children book One Smile.

Illustrator

• Rachel Wolf, Splash 5: The Glory of Color 1998.
• Rachel Wolf, Best of Flower Painting, Volume 2 1999.
• Rachel Wolf, Splash 6: The Best of Watercolor 2000.
• Cindy McKinley, One Smile 2002.
• Heidi Charissa Schmidt, Too Many Murkles 2003.

• Official website