- Expressionist
- Impressionist
- Painter
ARTICLES
In 2007, Mary Grace, and her husband, Ted, purchased a home in the enchanting Community of Cordillera, Colorado. Dismounting the fascinating and rewarding art carousel, Mary Grace began advancing fearlessly into her vision of fine art exploration. She continues painting with JOY in the Valley Valley in her wonderful loft studio that overlooks the amazing plethora of mountain magic. Her kinship with Mother Nature and animals inspires her painting and elevates her creative energy that she brings back to her work in their Dallas residence.
Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks
Cordillera Spirit Magazine
by Ann Schimmel, 2016
I have been an animal lover all my life. Growing up in Marshall, Texas, I enjoyed a country life collecting every critter I could love, touch, pet, ride, or save. During my 50+ years as a graphic designer and children’s book illustrator, this affection and admiration for animals permeated my career. It has been a joyful ride creating my whimsical version of God’s handiwork.
Whether these nonsensical animal reflections appeared in published books, magazines, games, corporate image promotions, advertising brands, greeting cards, billboards, or TV commercials, they originated in my imagination where I partied with all my frivolous fantasy family and loved every minute of it! Even with licensed characters I inherited from the Muppets, Sesame Street, Disney, or Barney, I was often able to slip in some of my own kooky creatures. The first Barney book, JUST IMAGINE, has my Cavalier, Clancy on the cover and on every page. She went with me to book signings and entertained the kiddos. I always included “find Clancy” when I autographed the books.
My transition from Children’s book illustrator to expressionistic impressionist oil painter has become quite a challenging journey. Fortunately, I do not give up easily and I am continuing to embrace the visual imagery and creative energy that surrounds me in Colorado. The most important thing is that, just like my illustrating days, I am still embracing and surrendering to animal images, enjoying nature, and loving every minute of it!
Coming Full Circle
Dallas Style & Design
by Christiana Lilly / Photographed by Richard Pruitt
After decades as a celebrated illustrator,Mary Grace Eubank tells stories through fine art.
HEART IN THE STORM/ PANDEMIC 2020 is a somber scene. On the canvas, there are cascading showers of penetrating hues of deep blue that create symbolic, atmospheric darkness. On closer observation, one finds the residential grid of the suburbs on the left and the city skyline on the right. In the center of the painting is a red bleeding heart emerging from the ashes.
With impressionistic realism, the intensely emotional piece was created during the pandemic by Dallas artist Mary Grace Eubank to emphasize the strength of the human spirit.
Eubank grew up in the east Texas town of Marshall, where she developed her skills as a young artist until she attended southern Methodist University, where she graduated with a degree and fine arts. She began her professional career at the drawing board in Dallas while accumulating a litany of freelance jobs involving anything that inspired and enlightened children. Her love of animals shined through her work, and the cards she designed often featured whimsical Faina that would put smiles on children’s faces.When the company got the license, two characters from the children’s television workshop, Eubank was one of the assigned designers for the cards. She eventually left the drawing board and added Sesame Street to her freelance repertoire, opening doors to countless opportunities in the industry.
Illustrating became an all consuming passion and career. She redesigned or created more than 25 board games for pioneers Fisher-Price, Milton, Bradley, Mattel and Hasbro; this included developing her own licensed characters such as crocodile Dentist.She illustrated more than 100 books with Random House, Simon and Shuster and MacMillan. As a loaded member of the industry’s fraternity of accredited illustrators, Eubank was invited to attend book signings and talks at bookstores, libraries, churches, and schools.
As “Big Bird burn out” set in, Eubank accepted more assignments that featured her unique characters. She was recruited by the Lyons group and Alan, Texas, to participate in the formulation of the popular Barney characters, turning live action into illustration and creating a style book that is essential for licensed characters.She also illustrated many of the first Barney books, games and products.
Never one to stop, Eubank worked consistently through the years with clients on commissions and advertising projects, and she created brands for corporate image promotions. She also attended numerous workshops with nationally and internationally known artists. This work allowed her to explore a range of styles and tiptoe into fine arts. With studios at her homes in Dallas and Colorado, she is investigating various subjects and situations while experimenting with different media and techniques. After so many years of the restricted boundaries required to work in children’s illustrations of licensed characters, Eubanks says that painting with spontaneous abandonment is truly emancipating.
“I’m not starting over; I’m transitioning from one element to another,” she says. “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”
Mary Grace Eubank
Dallas Style & Design | Arts |
A PROFESSIONAL artist since graduating from SMU in 1966, Mary Grace Eubank is an internationally recognized award-winning illustrator of more than 100 published children’s books and games. Now retired from that aspect of her career, she is exploring the world of fine art, primarily using oils to create pieces that are every bit as enchanting as the illustrations that garnered her reputation.
“After more than 50 years of playfully employing the magic of whimsical characters, from Big Bird to Barney, I am redirecting my creative energy,” says Eubank “I want my paintings to reflect an expressive, soulful dialogue that is symbolic enough to unleash personal perspectives but subtle enough to invite individual opinions and emotions that synergize the distinctiveness of life. I’m still illustrating stories but in a more visual narrative.”
Only a few years into this new adventure, Eubank is enjoying the departure from restrictive, commercial categorization and exploring looser, freer artistic techniques with a style that is both abstract and impressionistic.
From her studios in Dallas and Colorado, she creates unique, award-winning pieces that attract collectors and interior designers. With boundless, optimistic enthusiasm, Eubank says, “I find it impossible to retire that rewarding sense of artistic discovery that I am blessed to celebrate with joy every day.”
Formidable Fearless Fierce
Preston Hollow Advocate Magazine
by Alyssa High / Photographed by Jessica Turner
Almost every child in America has enjoyed Mary Grace Eubank’s work, from Sesame Street and Barney to Fisher-Price and Random House.
After graduating from SMU in 1966, Eubank began working for The Drawing Board, where she had the opportunity to be one of the artists using the Sesame Street-licensed characters on greeting cards. It was there where she took on major clients, met art directors and eventually met Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets.
“It just absolutely was being at the right place at the right time,” she says. “And I’m very, very grateful.“
After shifting to freelancing, Eubank went to the New York Stationery Show to meet the art directors from the Children’s Television Workshop. Coincidentally, one of Sesame Street’s illustrators broke his hand and was unable to sign autographs, so though Eubank had not officially done any work for them, she spent the day autographing Sesame Street materials.
This was the beginning of her long career as an illustrator for many of the top children’s brands, including the Children’s Television Workshop, The Muppets, Sesame Street, Hasbro, Fisher-Price, Random House, Mattel and more. But one character would not be the same without her: Barney.
Eubank says that for the first Barney book, Just Imagine, she was tasked with being the first person to illustrate the purple dinosaur. After working with other artists to create Barney’s stylebook, she put a little bit of her own flair on the book: her dog, Clancy.
An avid dog mom of many Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Clancy was one of many that have graced the Eubank home. And that imprint was left on that first book, which Eubank often signed with the words “Find Clancy” to encourage children to figure out where on each page she’d strategically placed the loving pet.
“It’s like my own version of Where’s Waldo,” she says.
Once corporate illustrations became more challenging than it was worth, Eubank partnered with writer Mary Hollingsworth. The pair did 16 books together.
“I’m very very grateful,” she says. “But then I finally got burnt out with licensed characters, something I call the ‘Big Bird Burnout.’”
So she quit illustrating children’s materials and started painting. So far, she has had shows in Dallas and Colorado, where she and her husband have a second home.
“It’s just more fun to me. Whatever color I want, and I can make a lot of the things that I do for designers,” Eubank says. “And so if they call me and say we’re looking for a painting for a teenager’s room or a child’s room, it’s a piece of cake for me. Because that’s what I like to do.”
Top Dogs and Their Pets
Photographed by Daniel Woo and Richard Pruitt
A diverse collection of celebrity, ne-art portraiture, Top Dogs and Their Pets parallels the well known faces of entertainment, politics, sports, and celebrities alongside the warmth and companionship of their beloved pets.
Mary Grace Enhank & Happy
After more than 50 years of playfully employing the magic of whimsical characters, from Big Bird to Barney, I am redirecting my creative energy,” says Eubank. “I want my paintings to reect an expressive, soulful dialogue that is symbolic enough to unleash personal perspectives but subtle enough to invite individual opinions and emotions that synergize the distinctiveness of life. I’m still illustrating stories but in a more visual narrative.”
Only a few years into this new adventure, Eubank is enjoying the departure from restrictive, commercial categorization and exploring looser, freer artistic techniques with a style that is both abstract and impressionistic.
From her studios in Dallas and Colorado, she creates unique, award-winning pieces that attract collectors and interior designers. With boundless, optimistic enthusiasm, Eubank says, “I nd it impossible to retire that rewarding sense of artistic discovery that I am blessed to celebrate with joy every day.
