About
If You Love Stories. . .
About Mary Kathleen Scott
I’m an artist and illustrator specializing in lettering. If you need a way to visually showcase your story, theme, or message, I can create a lettering and/or illustration piece to represent your ideas in a beautiful way. I work with authors, production companies, churches, shops, and many others to convey their story or message in a single visual image.
I have a love for lettering, art, and book and stationery stores, so naturally I love working with clients that intersect with these loves.I draw and create for the love of the process and it’s how I best communicate ideas. I find it fascinating to turn a theme, story or idea into a visually compelling illustration.
I work with authors, event coordinators, and small productions and businesses to create a compelling illustration that visually represents their story, theme or idea. The challenge of pulling out themes in story and translating those themes to a visual representation makes the work interesting. And I believe in the tangible magic of stationery, books, and posters.
Vision
To create illustration and lettering art that tells a story or communicates a message or theme that speaks to an audience with meaning and intention.
Mission
To help authors, event productions, and businesses translate their stories and messages into visual illustrations that communicate their vision and draw customers in to their world.
My process
Tools: Pencil, Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop
When you need your story or ideas translated visually into a beautiful illustration, simply contacting me with your needs and what you do gets the process started.
After working through your brief and going over specifics, I begin work on your project. I always work through numerous sketches until I reach a near finalized point. Here I work closely with you on making changes to the sketch and upon approval of a final sketch, the magic happens digitally where I work to create your illustration and provide you with all the assets and products you need.
I specialize in lettering and have a deep love for what can be done with letterforms and how they relate to each other. Much of my work has a vintage feel with natural textures, softer hues and deep contrast. I primarily work with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop but first my ideas are always flushed out on paper.
My Work
Lettering & Illustration
Books, Magazines, Posters, & Cards
My Story
My Background
I grew up in a tiny, one light town in the mountains of NC. Cross country, track, reading, and art were my loves throughout high school. I continued that same combination into college at Wake Forest University. I also started working at a stationery store where I discovered a new world in stationery and fell in love. I never thought both art and stationery or books could be combined until much later.
Somewhere along the way after college I let go of the art.
Instead I made my way into teaching high school history near Charlotte, but still keeping with the theme of story. With the birth of my second daughter, I stayed home with both our girls and there I began to make my way back to art. Starting in 2012 I taught myself photography, branding, and website design, and grew a product photography and branding business that included website and logo design.
In 2017, I gave it all up with a cancer diagnosis, and for the next two years helped my husband build up his landscaping business until I got the feeling it was time to return to art.
I quit working for my husband full time, but instead of photography I went back to what I loved in college, charcoal, pens, and pencils. While I love photography and product photography has elements of story in it, I found more depth, themes, and story to the world of drawing. Here I found I could express deeper messages and stories. And in those stories, I found my purpose. To visually communicate, in beautiful ways, themes rich with life that resonate with others.
By the way, I still run, always have, though not competitively. I love to read, especially the classics and modern classics. I’m also a fine artist and you can see my work over at Breadcrumbs Studio.