ABOUT

There was a time in my life when I could not afford a cheap print on the wall, and my landlord would not permit a picture hole anyway. His favorite color in wall decor was dull gray. I became depressed and irritable. Were my children and I to have a dull, gray life?

To escape the wasteland of news I could not change,  and the giggletrack of television  I began to sketch and write again. I began to rediscover myself in the process. I sent out a manuscript of four poems to twenty-five magazines, most of whom did not even bother to reply. For those who did take the time to reply, I still have some of their critiques scribbled off thoughtfully in a hurry. The last place to which I mailed a self-addressed return envelope published all four poems, still my best. This was a long time ago.

I learned that I could strive, and thereby experience my life while painting and writing. I had studied art and writing in high school and disappointed my art teacher when I decided to pursue dance instead of painting. But with a dance career long behind me, I returned to painting again. Besides covering my walls with color, in spite of the landlord, I believe the decision saved my life.

Color and thinking are still the motivators for my paintings. I think I know the Paleolithic. I would especially like to ask them how they painted in dark claustrophobic caves, using which extinctive animal fats. Why did they paint on certain rocks to give the illusion of moving form? How did they know it?

Some of my abstracts have been compared to Jackson Pollack, whose work I knew nothing about when I set out.  I'm sure he would have a good laugh.

My works usually, but not always, tell a story, and I try to invite the viewer to enter into the story as a participant. Color, texture, dream, reality, memory; these are the neighborhoods where art lies for me.
 

What about you? I'd love to hear!

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Best,
Marlene