The Seabrook Island Artist Guild (SIAG) will host Mary Grayson Segars, an oil painter from coastal South Carolina who works almost entirely with a very limited palette of primary colors. Mary will provide a free demonstration and two-day workshop.
Free artist demonstration
Monday, March 2, at 1:30
Oyster Catcher Community Center
Two-day Workshop
Tuesday and Wednesday
March 3 and 4 from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Oyster Catcher Community Center
To register for this art workshop, please contact Gary Kunkelman at garyk1@comcast.net. The Seabrook Island Artist Guild workshops are open to Guild and Non-Guild members. Participation is limited to 15.
Mary Grayson Segars was naturally drawn to sketching from an early age. Growing up in Blacksburg, Virginia, she was rarely without a pencil and sketchpad. Her deep interest in nature and the mechanics of life led her to major in biology at the College of William & Mary. After graduation, she spent six years working as a research technician at the University of Georgia Veterinary School. She later married a veterinarian, and the couple lived in Hartsville, South Carolina for 13 years before moving to Beaufort, South Carolina in 1996, where they raised their three sons.
During high school in the early 1970s, Segars taught herself pastel portraiture and began accepting commissions at just 16 years old. Over the next 22 years, she completed an estimated 250 pastel portraits. While living in Athens, Georgia and working at the veterinary school, she learned the scratchboard technique—a medium she loves, though rarely uses today. Her artistic interests later expanded to include pen and ink and colored pencil.
Until 1999, art remained a hobby alongside part-time work, family life, gardening, swimming, running, and extensive school volunteering. After settling in Beaufort, Segars committed to art as a professional pursuit. Teaching herself oil painting from library resources, she embraced her first fluid medium. Initially challenged by color theory, she limited her palette to primary colors—a discipline she continues to use today. Remarkably, she held her first show just five months after beginning to paint in oils.
Segars has completed three large-scale public art projects in Beaufort, including two murals and a mosaic. She is also an accomplished educator, offering workshops, one-day classes, and private instruction throughout the Southeast. Her work has been featured in numerous juried festivals across Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. From 2010 to 2020, she participated in Piccolo Spoleto in downtown Charleston and was awarded Best in Show for her
Most recently, Segars was named Artist of the Year by the Port Royal Sound Foundation, an organization dedicated to environmental awareness and education. For the past 12 years, she has maintained a studio and gallery—Atelier Off Bay—in downtown Beaufort, where she also manages 14 studio artists. body of work at the 2015 Piccolo Spoleto Festival. In 2016, one of her paintings was selected for a full-size billboard in South Carolina’s Lowcountry as part of the ArtPop program.
Her work is currently represented at Atelier on Bay in Beaufort, South Carolina; George Davis Fine Art & Antiques in Savannah, Georgia; and City Art Gallery in Greenville, North Carolina. More information can be found at www.marysegars.com.
To register for this art workshop, please contact Gary Kunkelman at garyk1@comcast.net. The Seabrook Island Artist Guild workshops are open to Guild and Non-Guild members. Participation is limited to 15.
-Submitted by Rod Morris for Seabrook Island Artist Guild
(Image credit: marysegars.com)