In San Francisco, her seascapes and bridge views were exhibited at the Golden Gate Bridge Gift Shop and the Treasure Island Museum. In northwestern Virginia, she affiliated with The Portrait Guild of Fairfax where she began painting house portraits; the Loft Gallery in the historic town of Occoquan, where she was a featured artist; and the Springfield Art Guild, in which she was elected President.
Her art has been exhibited at art shows and festivals on the east coast from Richmond, Virginia to Annapolis, Maryland. On the Monterey Peninsula, her watercolors have been displayed in shows at the Monterey Museum of Art at La Mirada and the Thomas Kinkade Museum and Cultural Center, and she was an award winner in the Juried Visual Arts composition at the 67th Monterey County Fair.
Mary Lou devoted much of her to time to creating house portraits on commission for individual homeowners, family heirloom gifts, and real estate closings. She works from photographs and has painting homes from Italy, Belgium, Canada, and most of the States