MarnsArt.com ~ About Marnie

After 20 years working in sales and management, traveling 75% of the time, I couldn’t imagine ever slowing down into retirement. But also I couldn’t imagine what I would do with my time. Although an avid water and snow skier, I had no other hobbies. I recognized that those two very aggressive sports probably would not be enough to fill my time into my senior years.

Then one magical day, a friend handed me a paintbrush, a blank piece of paper and a kids set of watercolors. That was it. I was fascinated. Just watching the paint droozle, color into color, seemingly out of control, without a goal, was such a turn on.

For the next three years I painted just abstract impressions. Took classes at Bellevue Art and Frame, to set up my pallet and get a few clues. What a release of all of my creative juices. I love vivid colors and what fun, like finger painting, abstracts are.

Through this group of talented artists I have been exposed to a group of teachers who have allowed me to expand upon my curiosities and creativities. On the island of Kauai Jennifer Almadova, taught me to stain in lines and layer on glaze after glaze for a sort of `fine art’ finished image. All of my paintings of flowers, my wave and even my Electric Palm came from Jennifer’s technical and spiritual teachings.

Wanting to loosen my style up and get back to more impressionistic paintings I joined Priscilla Klass's group in Half Moon Bay. Priscilla gets in and out of a painting quickly. She uses more water, less paint, lets the light come through.. I relaxed a little and painted something other than a flower, thus, the `Rooster’, `Daffodils’, and more.

In Paris Jann Pollard taught composition and perspective in painting structures, buildings. We also learned to paint outdoors in `plein aire’, thus Palais de Luxembourg, and Tuilleries. Then at Jann’s follow up seminar in California we learned digital manipulation of photos to compose the image you want to paint.