When asked which artists she particularly admired, she responded “I have always been very influenced by Rembrandt and Velasquez, particularly by their dramatic use of light and dark. Rembrandt left an amazing number of very revealing self-portraits, a visual diary, as did Van Gogh, Kathe Kollwitz and Egon Schiele. ...I frequently use myself as a model. A self portrait is extremely personal." [http://ceciliabeauxforum.blogspot.nl/2012/08/mary-beth-mckenzie.html]