Oil Painter Marianne Rice is VIVA’s June Guest Artist!
Artist Statement:
I am an emerging artist creating traditional, representational oil paintings using classical techniques, in hopes of bringing beauty and a sense of wonder into the lives of others for generations to come. I consider it a great privilege to make a life with art. I believe humans are created “imago Dei” and as such are born co-creators. Few things bring greater joy than exercising that inborn creative energy. In our humanness we are inclined to attach meaning to things. Paintings have life; they lay witness to our human existence, and that imbues them with significance. To be moved by a painting is to sense a spirit of familiarity, a shared human experience that returns you briefly to a moment, a place or a wistful memory. Such images brought to mind, move the heart toward emotion, and what is art if not emotion?
Marianne answers some questions!
How did you come to focus on your current subject? I was approaching my 40th birthday in April of 2019, and with my youngest son off to school, I had made a commitment to doing something creative after an intense season of parenting our four boys. After watching some YouTube videos and purchasing a small set of oil paints, I plotted some green blobs along what vaguely resembled a landscape, and immediately knew I wanted to be an oil painter. When I first began 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.
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. I have had the great privilege of working with local artist, Kathie Wheeler and have been welcomed into a fold of local artists for plein air and live model sessions this past year and a half, and this has influenced me and challenged me to grow in ways I am truly grateful for.
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.
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.
Marianne’s Biography:
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 the Portrait Society of America, and this past year attended a workshop with local artist Kathie Wheeler. 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.