Since the early '90s, Mary Ellen has painted murals, furniture, miniature houses, greeting cards and even pumpkins. The latter became so popular at Hallowe'en that she became known as the 'The Pumpkin Lady'. In September, she would hand pick 2,000 pounds of pumpkins which filled her home waiting for the paintbrush to transform them into haunted houses, goblins, or cornucopia.
Mary Ellen paints people of all ages and has discovered a new creative niche in portraiture. She has worked with acrylic, latex and gouache paints as well as colored pencils, but her portraits are almost exclusively watercolor or graphite.