M. Craig was raised in a multi-cultural (African American/Japanese) Air Force family. They travelled extensively between Japan and the United States. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Mills College, in Oakland California, with a degree in Fine Arts. She has lived in Tucson since 1976 with her husband and daughters.
Throughout a 30-year career in the real estate industry, she has forged a path of community-integrated arts. She is known in Tucson real estate community for southwestern hand-painted "Mi Casa es Su Casa" (My House is Your House) tile housewarming gifts. In 1996 Tucson's Hearth Foundation (shelters for homeless women and children sponsored by Tucson Association of Realtors) selected her paintings for their fundraising card series. In 2008 M's greeting tiles were presented as gifts to new Habitat for Humanity homeowners.
M has taught origami workshops since 1996 to many groups in Tucson, including Canyon Ranch Resort & Spa, Tucson Children's Museum, Tucson Botanical Gardens, Pima County Public Libraries, Green Valley Recreation Centers and Tucson Medical Center's Oasis Adult Education Program, Integrative Touch for Tucson, The Southern Arizona Arts & Cultural Alliance, Pan Asian Community Alliance, and Tucson Chinese Cultural Center.
As a member of Catalina Rotary Club, M distributes dictionaries and teaches the art of origami to local elementary school children as part of Rotary's commitment to literacy and numeracy.
M is the co-founder of the Tucson Origami Club, president of the Japan-America Society of Tucson and organizer of the Tucson Japanese Culture & Origami Meetup Group. Monthly meetings provide delightful opportunities for inter-generational, multi-cultural learning experiences.
A portrait artist from the 1970's, M's oil paintings were exhibited in a one-woman show at the Invisible Theatre during the production of "Spoonbread and Strawberry Wine" in 1996. Her origami works of hummingbird and bats were on display in the Art Exhibit at the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum in 2005.
In October 2009 M's framed portrait of Rotary International 2010-11 President Elect Ray Klinginsmith was presented at the Oklahoma City Rotary 21b/27 Zone Institute.
Siamese "Kitty" was a family companion for eleven years. Her sweet memory and resilient spirit inspired the concept of the VIP Pet Portraits in 2007. Hand-painted on simple 18" mission roof tiles, the pet portraits are a celebration and commemoration of the lives of dear friends & family members.