With the sheer number of pursuits Mary Joan Hinson is involved in, it’s a little hard to believe she operates on the same 24-hour clock as the rest of us. A full-time artist preparing to open a new art gallery, she also teaches college courses, volunteers, practices martial arts, is a classic car enthusiast, is writing a book and is even preparing to start manufacturing her own garden light she designed herself.
Hinson says she feels like she has 10 new big ideas pop into her head every day.
“I love to create. I go to sleep every night excited to wake up to work,” she said.
Born and raised in Jacksonville, Hinson attended Hendricks Avenue Elementary School. She went on to take classes at FSCJ and to study art during the summers at the Florence Academy of Art before earning her PhD in philosophy from Capella University.
Naturally competitive, Hinson found she could quickly pick up most sports she tried. She spent several years in Reston, Va., training as a roller skater, becoming a regional champion and competing in the nationals.
More recently, she’s taken up Brazilian jiu-jitsu. She used to compete but now does it to stay active, wishing to avoid injury.
Hinson has also owned several horses over the years and was an avid equestrian. Though she hasn’t ridden in a few years, her passion for horses remains evident, as they’re frequent subjects of her artwork. She’s currently painting a large side profile of Secretariat, the undisputed greatest racehorse of all time, for the family that owned him.
Many of her other works of art are displayed prominently around town. Driving down Atlantic Boulevard, it’s hard to miss her colorful “Welcome to St. Nicholas” and “Florida Shorebirds” murals. River City Science Academy also commissioned Hinson to paint its 300-plus-foot mural, which she completed in two months.
Many of her favorite pieces are more abstract, however, often incorporating shapes and the Fibonacci sequence. For the last 10 years, she has lived and worked in a riverfront house with her English Bulldog, Bentley, where she has an art studio stocked with supplies.
A classic car lover, Hinson has recently begun hand-painting cars in her garage. She spent months painting a 1956 Porsche 356A, which turned quite a few heads at this year’s Amelia Concours d’Elegance.
She drives a classic of her own, a 1965 Corvette, and aspires one day to own one of her dream cars – a Jag XKE or a Mercedes 300 SL with gullwing doors.
Bursting with creative energy and spontaneity, Hinson is the type of person who jumps at the opportunity to teach herself new skills. When an epoxy floor installer told her that the special, checkered finish line design she wanted for her garage floor wasn’t possible, she bought the supplies and learned how to do the project herself.
“I always want to learn, I really am hungry to learn,” said Hinson.
Now, she’s even developing a prototype of a metallic butterfly garden light that will refract light off of its bent wings. She came up with the idea after wanting to buy one like it, but discovered that nobody made what she was looking for.
Hinson enjoys teaching as much as she enjoys learning, teaching art and art history at FSCJ. She’s currently writing a book on Simonetta Vespucci, believed to be the model for many of Boticelli’s works, including “The Birth of Venus.”
On top of everything else she has going on, Hinson is preparing to open an art gallery at Ocala’s World Equestrian Center in January 2027. Called “Brush and Oil Fine Art,” it will feature some of the world’s most talented equine artists.
She may stay extremely busy, but Hinson says she has no complaints. She expresses thanks for the opportunities she’s enjoyed and exudes deep gratitude for each new day, which, for her, is another opportunity to create, adventure, learn, and explore.
“I feel very fortunate in my life, I really, truly do. I’m very lucky, it’s such a gift,” said Hinson.
