Meet October’s Emerging Artist Marianne Rice
What is influencing your work at the moment? I have had the great privilege of working with local artist, Kathie Wheeler this past year, and she has influenced me to challenge myself and grow in ways I am truly grateful for. I have been introducing new techniques to my work, like working with a limited palette, using a palette knife and changing how I handle my brush to explore new paint applications, brush strokes and color combinations. I am continually trying to shake up my desire to paint detail. I may even paint a section of something then deconstruct it with a brush, and work back into it, to a nice effect. I have also been doing some “master copies” where I take a revered work of art and try to copy it, to better understand how the masters worked. I would say right now, the words “explore” and “challenge” define my current practice.
How did you come to focus on your current subject? When I first began oil painting I thought I would focus on landscapes, but as I have grown as an artist, I have found myself more drawn to the portrait and the human figure. Few subjects are more moving emotionally and visually than the bodies we live in and the faces that greet us. I also really love painting a still life. I am a gardener, a good cook, I feed a large family, we keep chickens and honey bees and I find great joy in creating with my hands. I love preparing and eating a good nourishing meal with family and friends and I have a kind of wistful, sentimental feel for the way a still life painting uses these simple, everyday objects and transcends them into something beautiful that narrates a story about our human existence.
Can you articulate what draws you to a particular composition? When I am looking at a painting’s composition, I generally consider things like “the rule of thirds” and the “golden ratio” which are terms used in art, photography, and even architecture, both generally set key points of the composition in a way that help your eye to travel throughout the painting and not fall dead in the water. I think our eye is drawn to such compositions naturally, but I am always keeping these in mind when I am painting. I will also look for a sense of balanced asymmetry, and the use of diagonal lines that also lead your gaze into and throughout the painting.
Who or what has strongly influenced your work? I have really enjoyed studying the works of classical artists like Jules Breton, John Singer Sargent, Rosa Bonheur, William Merritt Chase, Anders Zorn, Mary Cassatt, Philip de Laszlo, Joaquin Sorolla, Frank Duveneck, Cecilia Beaux, and many more. I am drawn to detail and representational art, but find as I mature as an artist, I am stretching myself to loosen up and experiment with bolder brushwork, edges and color.
If you could have one work of art in your home from a museum or private collection, what would it be? From a museum, I would have to say Jules Breton’s “Song of the Lark.” I saw it in person at the Art Institute of Chicago during my first experience in a large art museum, and found myself profoundly moved by that painting. A contemporary painting in a private collection I admire would be a piece titled “Farewell Jupiter” by Bryce Cameron Liston, It is a beautiful figurative painting with stunning dappled light and vivid blue shadows.
Why did you decide to work in your chosen medium? I am drawn to oil paintings over other mediums because of the luminosity and texture you can get with oil paint, I like the workability of the medium, and most importantly, I like the longevity of oil paintings. To recognize that my art could survive well past my lifetime and the lifetimes of even my children or grandchildren, gives it a feeling of permanence and legacy; a record of the things that bring beauty and meaning to our fleeting lives.
What’s the most indispensable item in your studio? Probably my tubes of paint, I imagine if I was left with little else, I would still make art with just my fingers and paint.
How do you know when a piece of work is finished? I consider a work finished when there is nothing that bothers my eye any longer when I look at it. Sometimes that requires me to set it aside for a while and come back to it later to determine if it is indeed “finished.”
From where do you draw your inspiration? I draw my inspiration from classical and contemporary artists alike, reading books, watching instructional videos and visiting galleries and museums. Visually, I can be inspired by just about anything, and I think one of the joys of painting is training your eye to truly see beauty in the unexpected, the way light hits an object, the shape or color of a cast shadow, the arch of a back, or the movement of the hands.
What does your studio look like? I currently work in a small office space just a short half mile from home. It allows me to focus on my art away from the distractions of home, and it also allows me to focus on my family without the distractions of art when I am home.
Marianne Rice (b. 1979) is a fine art oil painter, born and raised in a small rural town in Wisconsin, where she resides today with her husband and four boys. She is a self taught, representational artist, working in oils since 2019. Marianne paints in both indirect and alla prima approaches, focusing primarily on the portrait, human figure and still life genres. She aspires to capture with the permanence of oil paint, the essence of the human spirit and the sacred in the everyday. To transcend the ordinary into something profound and beautiful that
narrates the story of our fleeting human existence. Marianne draws her inspiration from classical and contemporary artists alike, reading books, watching instructional videos and visiting galleries and museums. She is a member of the Oil Painters of America, and this past year attended workshops with local artist Kathie Wheeler and artist Timothy Rees. She continues to explore her alla prima approach, joining fellow artists for live model or plein air painting whenever possible. As an emerging artist, she dedicates consistent time at her easel and continues to experiment and challenge herself to grow and mature.
Having discovered her love for oil painting at the age of 40, she feels fortunate to have the opportunity to pursue and create art. It is one of the few innate human impulses that connects us to the past, reaches into the future and holds such power that even amidst the trappings of
modern age, still stirs the human heart to longing, nostalgia, familiarity and novelty, sadness and joy. What a gift.
