Mary Lou Kessler is a multi-talented artist. She designs and hand-draws all of her cards. She finishes them with embroidery/cross-stitch, iris folding, quilling, pastels, and watercolors.
Growing up in a small rural community in Southern Illinois, she started by designing clothes for her dolls. Her grandmother and mother taught her to create and embroider dish towels and quilt blocks. As she grew up, her parents enrolled her in the Art Institute of Chicago mail-order drawing classes. From there, she attended the local community college watercolor evening art classes. That is when she started drawing her own designs.
After moving to Las Vegas in 1985, she transferred that talent to making cards. However, working at an engineering firm took up all of her extra time, and she never got back to designing and making cards.
Mary Lou and Jim (her husband) retired and moved to Mesquite in 2010. Upon their arrival, she went looking for something to do. She decided to volunteer at the art gallery. After a few times, she became a member. Not only did she start making cards again, but she also took up jewelry making, crocheting, and wood burning. You can find all of these items at the Art Gallery.