Marie Powell
Having grown up in a semi-rural environment of the Pacific Northwest, I’ve always been drawn to the outdoors and the natural world. For many years, I’ve enjoyed hiking and biking in this area, and have always been fascinated by the forests, coastal scenes and wildlife of the Washington and Oregon coasts. As a child, I spent wonderful summers on the Long Beach Peninsula at our vacation cottage, and in 1970 moved there permanently from the Seattle area. Throughout my art career I have incorporated the scenes and feelings of the coast and its natural flora and fauna into my paintings and prints. It’s how I think and what I do. Eventually, this carried over into my work in New Zealand where I create my art during the 4 summer months there. In addition to the source of my subject matter, I’m constantly discovering new ways and new mediums in which to work. It truly is “all about discovery”.
Monotypes
My most recent art endeavors involve my passion and fascination with printmaking. The monotype is an original one-of-a-kind work of art, made by inking a plate, creating the design in the ink, placing paper on top of the plate, and running it through an etching press. This sounds simple, but in reality it is an extremely challenging task. This process is interesting and exciting because there is no limit to what the artist can utilize to create the images on the plates. I find the process to be a constant problem-solving challenge, since much of what happens in the final product is uncontrollable by the artist. The final pieces are always a surprise in some respects, which makes the creating of monotypes an addictive and passionate experience indeed!
My latest series of monotypes is entitled “Impressions of New Zealand”. These were all created exclusively in New Zealand where I work independently at the Te Kowhai Print Trust in the township of Whangarei. I have been a resident of New Zealand for many years, traveled, hiked, and bicycled there, and have always loved the gorgeous Native New Zealand trees and plants which make this place, especially during the summer, a wonderland of foliage. For this body of work, I was able to incorporate my love for the lush forests of New Zealand directly into each of the monotypes I created. The Native plants I used actually have been “embossed” into the 100% rag paper, leaving the lovely textures and shapes of the plant images on each piece. The high quality oil based inks I used for this process with their glowing and vibrant colors have enhanced the images and set them off against a background of deep rich tones. These are truly a work of love on my part. I enjoyed every minute of creating them, and I feel that this is some of the best work I’ve ever done. I’m very proud of this collection, and hope you will enjoy the energy and vibrancy of each original work of art.
Mixed Media
Although I’ve worked over the years, in several mediums including oil, soft pastel, watercolor, and acrylic, I generally have experimented with mixed media approaches to painting. Most recently, my canvases have been completed with a combination of collage and paint. Collage materials are applied to the canvas first, creating interesting textures and designs. These are sometimes pieces of other art materials, my own art pieces, fabrics, found items, papers, or canvases. Acrylic paints and inks are added on top of these to create abstract designs as well as recognizable subjects. When finished, everything is coated with 2 or 3 layers of UV varnish. These canvases are sometimes framed, but usually left unframed. Occasionally I work on archival papers, and these are framed under glass. Again, my subjects are from the natural world……..flowers, still life, coastal and nautical scenes, forests, and all those wonderful natural aspects of the coastal environment, both in the Northwest U.S. and in New Zealand.
Marie Powell's Work at RiverSea Gallery
Click on the following thumbnails to see bigger pictures.
Top
| Back
| Home
|
