Next Sunday, my School House Studio will be my School House Gallery again for the Bedlam Farm Open House. One of the artists who was not in the Gallery in July, is Marilyn Brooks. Marilyn is one of those women that I find admirable, one of those women who chose to change her life for the better.
When she was 52 and both her children were grown, (Connie, who owns Battenkill Books being one of them) Marilyn went back to school to get her MA in English. Needing only three more credits to graduate, Marilyn decided to take an oil painting class. It sounds to me like she would have changed her major to painting if she had taken this class at the beginning of her education, because since taking that class, she “fell in love with moving paint around on a canvas” and hasn’t stopped.
Marilyn told me she’s captivated by color and tries to have each painting be a combination of realism and impressionism. She continues to take lessons and feels she has more to learn about technique. But that’s one of the things I love about Marilyn’s work, its not so caught up in someone elses style and technique. These can become too important and the art becomes tight loosing it’s originality, authenticity and emotion. Marilyn’s Painting have a naive confidence that appeals to me. And, she says she feel most alive when she’s painting. That’s good enough for me.
For more information on the Bedlam Farm Open House go here or click on Events on the top of my page.
My husband and I are really looking forward to our trip to NY to visit Bedlam Farm! See you Sunday.
It will be lovely to meet you and your husband Cathy. We’ll try to keep the good vibes going.