Artist, Marlise Newman, is one of two featured artists in our October, 2021 exhibition, NATURAL WONDERS, and to gain a little insight into her artistic practice, day to day in the studio, inspiration and what's next, we sent over a few questions for her to answer.
Enjoy!
Q: Have you always been an artist? Tell us your background.
A: I have a distinct memory of a tempera painting of fall leaves I did in first grade. “Mrs. Morgan” made such a big deal out of it and I felt very special. My aunt was a well-known professional artist and so I knew at an early age that art would be my future.
Q: Have you trained as an artist or are you self-taught?
A: Being more of a creative dreamer, I was steered in the direction of advertising art and design so I could make a living. I worked as a graphic designer, then years later became interested in interior design and started my own interior design business. During that period of time I decided to follow in my dear aunt’s footsteps and started taking watercolor classes at Queens College in Charlotte… this turned into exploring oils and after many classes, workshops and a life-changing residency I decided to take on life as a full-time painter.
Q: We mostly represent your flora and fauna works, but you have also painted landscapes and boats. What is your favorite imagery to paint?
A: I do love the flora and fauna works-and have some ideas to revisit both the landscapes and boats with the abstracted style that you can see in my present series.