Mary Black received her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and BFA from Sonoma State University.  Her abstracted encaustic paintings have been exhibited nationally to include the prestigious Encaustic Works ’07 juried by acclaimed artist Joan Snyder.  She has been the recipient of many awards and recently her work was chosen to appear on the label of the highly touted Eric Kent Cellars 2005 Chardonnay wine.  Mary and her husband reside in Sonoma County, California where they also grow premium chardonnay grapes in the celebrated Russian River Valley.

Encaustic painting is a method utilizing a paint which consists of beeswax mixed with pigment and fused with heat, thus fixing the colors in the process.