biography of Mary E. Michael ACHEY (1832-1886)

Birth place: Scotland

Death place: Washington state

Addresses: Central City, CO, active 1868; Napa Valley, CA, active 1876; Aberdeen, WA, c.1880 and after

Profession: Sketch artist, portrait and nature painter, muralist

Studied: Self-taught

Exhibited: Central City, CO, 1868; Aberdeen, WA (views of early settlements, Indian encampments, Civil War army camps, portraits of settlers); Mus. of Hist. and Industry, Seattle, 1986 (Regional Painters of Puget Sound)

Work: State Hist. Soc. of Colorado

Comments: Descendant of a Dutch painter, she sketched native scenes while following her husband to army posts from Missouri to Colorado. When her only daughter died of diptheria, she blamed her husband for falling asleep during a nightwatch at her bedside and left him, taking her two sons to Central City, CO. They then moved to Napa Valley and later openend a studio in Aberdeen, Washington, where she supported herself and her sons with her art. Although she was a prolific artist, many of her works are unlocated.

Sources: Rubinstein American Women Artists 63-64; Hughes, Artists of California, 12, who states that she died in 1885; Peggy and Harold Samuels, 2; Petteys, Dictionary of Women Artists.; Trip and Cook, Washington State Art and Artists.