MaryAnn Cleary
Original Impressionist Paintings & Charcoal Drawings
Cambridge Minnesota

MaryAnn was born and raised in Butte, Montana. There she grew to love the outdoors and the big skies of Montana. She attended college there and graduated with a degree in Chemistry, even though her passion was art. After graduation, Maryann married and raised two children, James and Julie. She continued to develop her art passion by painting whenever she could and taking workshops and classes. During this time, she also moved to many areas across the Rocky Mountain region - Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona.

While living in Arizona, MaryAnn took several art classes at the Mesa Community College where she refined her drawing and painting skills from the excellent teachers on staff there who believed that an artist must have drawing skills first. There she took many life drawing and portrait painting classes as well as other art classes. 

Recently, she returned to her home in Minnesota after spending two years on a work assignment in China. In Minnesota she has a small studio on the lower level of her log home that faces the Rum River or also known as the Spirit River, thus the name Spirit River Studio.

MaryAnn has won many awards during her career as an artist. Recently, she decided to fulfill her life long dream of being an "artist" and left the corporate world to pursue her passion full time. She continues to enjoy the outdoors with canoeing along the river in front of her home and hiking and camping whenever possible. She enjoys painting from life as a plein air painter as well as working from photographs that she has personally taken.