Mary has been fascinated by computers and digital media since she was a teen. Whether writing BASIC programs on her TRS 80, shooting down aliens on her Atari, and in Galaga or making touch downs on her Coleco Electronic Quarter back hand held console, she has been connected to screen technology for most of her life.

Mary’s leadership in technology fields spans from the development of digital imaging and workflow technology as well as SGML & HTML in 1990s to the application of AI technology in educational content design today. In her professional career as a Religious Communicator, Mary’s work has been focused on the creation of digital content that is measurably impactful and transformative. She believes that digital media has the ability to evoke a sense of the spiritual and wrote her MFA Master’s Thesis on “developing an aesthetic framework for evoking a sense of the spiritual in motion media design.”

At the same time, Mary continues to witness and experience how digital media as presented on display technology is being used today to influence humans toward rampant digital consumption for the sake of corporate financial gain. In 2020, Mary became deepened impassioned about the impact of display technology and digital media on the natural world. In 2023, Mary became painfully aware of how social media was affecting her and her spouse’s personal life and began to research the physical, mental and spiritual impact of social media on humanity.

In 2025, she decided a unique approach was needed to imaginatively communicate how for the sake of humanity and the natural world, humans must figure out a better way to survive with our cell phones and screens so that we may thrive. Thus, the Kranky Thumb Collective was born.

Her goal is to reimagine humanity’s relationship with nature and technology so that all of creation may equitably thrive.

Mary has a MFA degree in Motion Media Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design, a Master of Divinity from Wake Forest University, and a Master’s Certificate in Comics from the Center for Cartoon Studies.

To learn more about Mary’s art visit: maryandreolli.com