Mary Ann Varley has always been an artist. She can’t really remember not making drawings and paintings. Born in England immediately after the Second World War, her family promptly came to Canada. She was brought up in Nova Scotia and Ottawa. Mary Ann began teaching in 1968 in Quebec City. When she and her husband moved their young family to Ottawa, they taught at Ashbury College. Thirty years later she retired from teaching at Ashbury. She is also a life long learner, with a Master of Arts, B. Ed., B.A. (Fine Arts). She has taught various sessions at the Ottawa School of Art at the Shenkman Arts Centre. She also manages the Old Stick Cooperative Studio. A highlight of her career was being a recipient of The City of Ottawa, City Builders award in May 2018 for her contribution to the arts, nominated by Lynn Alsford, president of Arteast. Her recent solo shows include The Crichton Street Gallery, The Good Eats Café, the Galerie Old Chelsea, and the Shenkman Arts Centre, Trinity Gallery. She has been in group shows at the Rothwell Gallery, Galerie Electric Street Gallery, The Crichton Street Gallery, Sienna Gallery, Da Artisi Gallery, Cumberland, Ottawa Mixed Media Association (OMMA), the Ottawa School of Art, as a Member of The Foyer Gallery, Fredric Remington Museum(USA)and Arteast.
She was the juror for the New York State Art Show at the Fredric Remington Museum (2020)
The use of collage including photographs is a common technique in her work. Drawing, acrylic, oil and mixed media are her usual media.
