Day 211: Marcia Wenbert

I sign under my maiden name of Weller – the story behind the name of “Art By Weller”. I was born in a small logging community – Vernonia, Oregon – where both my parents attended high school, met each other, married, and started their family. They soon moved our family to the Portland Metropolitan area. Through the years I lived and attended school in Beaverton, and Hillsboro, Oregon. My mother was (and still is) a great supporter of my interest in art at a young age and encouraged me to draw, paint, and of course the initial introduction to all art – coloring. I attended art classes as a child at the Oregon Art and Craft school in Portland, Oregon. Again, with my mother’s encouragement, I entered local art competitions and often sold my pieces at these events. When in Junior High and High School I took every art class I could fit into my schedule – I enjoyed trying the clay arts as well as casting metal.
As a young artist I was interested in charcoal and my favorite subject was that of the faces of older men – the wrinkles offered the art of shadowing and shading and I found it to be challenging and fun. I also enjoyed pastels – again the blending aspect was a challenge. As I started my own family in my early twenties I soon put the art tools away in a box until they were older. The art box came back out in the late eighties when I took up watercolor. I had a fascination with tropical fish at that time and was successful in selling several of these paintings. The art supplies were boxed away again as the boys activities increased and my mothering skills were in high demand again. In the early 2000’s the boys were on their own and starting their own life journeys. I located my box of art treasures and started painting again. This time I found acrylic’s and discovered that I loved the blending I could get of the colors while they were still wet – and the challenge of working quickly to obtain these special blends. I also enjoy trying methods to add texture to the otherwise flatness of acrylics. It was a time in life that art became very therapeutic for me. Jumping ahead to 2009, the year my life took a different turn. Due to changes in my health I learned that I was no longer able to stay in the corporate environment that had been a big part of my life for 30 plus years. The blessing in this was an opportunity to focus full time on my art. I took my work to a local gallery, asked if it was marketable, and have since found that it appears to be very marketable as I have sold pieces each month since entering the Arizona market. I landed in the state of Arizona in 2008, after meeting my soon to be husband in 2007. We live in Mesa, Arizona, and I absolutely love the weather, Sonoran Desert landscapes, Arizona skies, and of course – my husband. In 2010 I help found the Mesa Art Center Artist Cooperative located on the Mesa Art Center campus. I continue to support the arts in Arizona and in others as I come across artists along my journey in life. Artist Statement: My style has been described as unique, colorful, and whimsical. I work with acrylics on canvas, etching with India ink, and watercolor. I enjoy creating art with a single subject that is infused with color. Recent work has been influenced by a move from Oregon to Arizona in 2008; I am inspired with the many colors found in the landscapes of the Sonoran Desert, and the Arizona skies.