Native
to the Chicago area, Mary Flock Lempa
began studying art at
the University of Illinois at Urbana/Chanpaign. In 1983 She
attended L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Nantes, France. She obtained
a BFA in illustration from Rhode Island School of Design in
1986. Returning to the Chicago area she maintained a freelance
illustration career in Riverside, Illinois. Between 2000 and 2006, Mary and her family moved to Vermont, camped the American West and Europe extensively and lived in
Espanola and Albuquerque New Mexico. She currently lives in La Grange Illinois with her husband, and two children.
Commercially, Mary is known for her use of English scraperboard
and Clayboard with color washes. She combines traditional and digital media to complete her illustrations for print and web. Mary
also creates portraiture, architectural and landscape paintings and drawings in a variety of traditional media. In addtion to illustration and fine art she creates hand rolled, hand painted ceramic tile inspired by the Portuguese and Spanish tradtions. Mary is currently experimenting with illustration on ceramic tile.
