She studied in Frankfurt in 1896 and in Paris from 1897 to 1898 where she was taught by Jean-Baptiste Champeil and Denis Puech.
Pownall exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1893 to 1899 and received an honourable mention for her work at the 1899 Exposition Universelle.
[2] In 1902 she married Alfred Bromet, a barrister, but she continued to use her maiden name for her work.
Pownall was elected an associate member of the Royal Society of British Artists in 1932.
[4] In 1935 she wrote an illustrated autobiography, "Response", under the name Mary Pownall Bromet.