Mary-Amy Cross Hentschel, 88; New England artist used beach rocks as canvas

Mrs. Hentschel, who excelled in many artistic mediums including watercolors, oils, acrylics, pen-and-ink sketches, scouted beaches of New England — Rockport and Gloucester were her favorites — with family and friends for just the right stone or rock in her mind’s eye for a special subject. “Her painted stones were sold at craft fairs and juried art fairs throughout New England for 30 years,’’ said her son Kelvin Cross of Charlestown.

“It’s always a challenge to discover who or what may be hiding in the various odd-shaped rocks, just waiting for me to bring them out with my paint brush,’’ she told him.

She once wrote of her choice of rock-painting: “For me this is the perfect job. I can make business trips to the beach to get the rocks. I’m my own boss, and I thoroughly enjoy creating my own animals, birds, and people from the stones.’’

Her rock painting of Caldwell was awarded first prize for crafts by the Concord Art Association in 1977. She also received several first and second prizes for paintings from the Bedford Arts & Crafts Society’s annual outdoor show, her son said.

Mrs. Hentschel died Oct. 5 of complications of cancer in the nursing unit of Carleton-Willard Village in Bedford, where she lived with her husband, William Hentschel. She was 88.

Mrs. Hentschel’s second cousin was artist Norman Rockwell, whose iconic paintings of American life appeared on the covers of The Saturday Evening Post.

During World War II, when Mrs. Hentschel was visiting Rockwell in Stockbridge, he asked the young Mary-Amy her opinion of a picture he had painted of a soldier kissing his girlfriend on a train with a little girl standing on the seat in front watching them.

“The seats were a bright blue, but mother thought they should be a darker blue, but didn’t say anything,’’ said another son, Gregory Cross of Easton.

On the way to the train, Rockwell’s wife asked Mary-Amy what she really thought of the cover painting. When she said it needed “darker blue seats,’’ Rockwell’s wife turned the car around and had Mary-Amy tell him her thought to his face. Darker blue seats appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on Aug. 12, 1944.

Rockwell learned earlier to respect his young relative’s art talent. Kelvin Cross said Rockwell paid for her to study art at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., from which she graduated in 1942 with a major in illustration. “You certainly show real talent, and I am proud to be related to you,’’ Rockwell wrote to Mrs. Hentschel after seeing her painted rocks.

Mrs. Hentschel was a gracious woman who lacked pretense and did not brag about her talent. She was, friends said, more interested in caring for her family and raising her three sons.

“My Mom was humble and not a self-promoter. She never spent time complaining about misfortunes, even to the end,’’ said another son, Peter Cross of Braintree. “She always made the best of whatever came her way with a combination of grace, humility, and humor. So when encountering a dank, dreary day while on vacation at a lake, she didn’t despair. She seized the moment and created a sublime work of art.’’

She was born Mary-Amy Orpen and raised in Providence. Her lineage traced to the Mayflower, her family said, and Josiah Bartlett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

She always wanted to be an artist. After graduating from Pratt, she illustrated children’s books and designed greeting cards for the Norcross Greeting Cards Company.

David Dettinger of Winchester, a longtime friend, met Mrs. Hentschel in the 1940s at a YMCA-sponsored social program for college graduates in New York who went on ski trips together. “Mary-Amy made friends wherever she went,’’ he said.

In New York, she met Frederick Cross. They married in 1951, and after a six-month honeymoon in Europe, during which she painted watercolors of their trip, they settled in the Boston area. In 1964, they moved to Bedford, where they raised their sons.

Her studio there was the dining room, her son Gregory said. “Mom was very engaged with her family and her work,’’ he said. “She was very independent, optimistic, and could find beauty everywhere.’’

After Mr. Cross retired, they lived in Harvard for 10 years. After his death in 1992, she moved back to Bedford. She and Hentschel married in 1999. For a time, they lived in Acton.

“They spent time traveling and enjoying the outdoors and especially canoeing well into their 80s,’’ Kelvin said.

When the rocks she needed were too heavy to carry, Mrs. Hentschel was helped by her longtime friend, Janet Blake of Belmont.

“We would walk around the edges of the shore and Mary-Amy was very particular. I’d see a rock, and she would say, ‘Throw it back,’ ’’ Blake said.

Blake accompanied Mrs. Hentschel to many juried shows throughout New England, including a well-known one in Westport, Conn., where Mrs. Hentschel’s work was exhibited and sold. Mrs. Hentschel and Blake met as members of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Bedford, where she was actively involved and a member of the altar guild.

“No matter what kind of fairs the church had, Mary-Amy always gave her painted rocks to sell for its benefit,’’ Blake said. “Mary-Amy was marvelously sweet and nice and never mentioned she was an artist.’’

Blake said she owns a unique rock painting of Mrs. Hentschel’s, “one of a washerwoman scrubbing the floor.’’

Mrs. Hentschel remained active as long as her health permitted, Kelvin Cross said.

“Mother loved the outdoors, and her age didn’t hold her back,’’ he said. “In the winter of 2004-2005, I took her to a sledding hill, where she went tubing . . . at age 82. She also loved the water. Just 14 months ago at 87, she kayaked for a half-mile and then swam when she returned to shore. She loved it, but was sore for two weeks after, and said it was worth it.’’

In addition to her husband and three sons, Mrs. Hentschel leaves a brother, the Very Rev. J. Robert Orpen Jr. of Chicago, and three grandchildren. A service has been held.

Gloria Negri can be reached at negri@globe.com.