Mary Newcomb

'Dandelion for Ben',

MARY NEWCOMB 1922-2008

Graphite on paper with gouache, 4 x 2.5 cm, signed and inscribed verso.

Mary Newcomb was born in 1922 at Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex and later moved to Wiltshire with her family.  After achieving a B.Sc. in Natural Sciences at Reading University in 1943, she then gained an Education Diploma.  Newcomb then taught mathematics and science at Bath High School for five years, marrying Godfrey Newcomb, a Norfolk farmer in 1950.  Mary Newcomb lived in rural Norfolk until 1971, then Suffolk, returning to Norfolk in 1984 where she lived until her death in 2008.

Mary Newcomb attended evening art classes at Bath School of Art at Corsham Court, Wiltshire, working with clay. Her life as a painter began when she made early nature sketches volunteering at Flatford Mill Field Studies Centre in Suffolk (set up by painter of birds Eric Ennion). A untrained artist, her unique vision captured and celebrated rural life.