LifeSpire Unveils 2023 Holiday Card
This year’s holiday greeting features ‘Winter Cardinals’ created by Mary Kent, a resident at Lakewood since 2019.
Mary discovered the fun of making art as a child at Patrick Henry Elementary School in Richmond and has been drawing and painting pictures ever since. After taking many art classes in high school and college, she pursued a lengthy career in business and banking, and found very little time for her creative outlet. Upon retiring in 2000, Mary decided to try something she had always wanted to do – she took up watercolors and fell in love with the medium. She has studied with many prominent Richmond artists and has participated in workshops around Virginia, the Southeastern United States and further afield in California and in Greece.
Mary drew much of her early inspiration from the Virginia landscape and particularly enjoyed painting in outdoor locations such as Maymont Park, Forest Hill Park and Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. Soon after, she started taking her paintbox along on her travels to create sketches and studies of her favorite vacation spots. More recently, Mary has begun incorporating people and pets into her artwork, and is having fun exploring a medium that is new to her – drawing with colored pencils.
A member of the James River Art League since 2005, Mary has served as President and held a number of positions on the Board. In 2019 she was the recipient of their William H. Youngblood award for service. Mary currently teaches watercolor classes at Lakewood and takes great pleasure in sharing her joy of painting with others.
