Trees are my source of inspiration. Trees bridge the Earth to the heavens. “As above so below.”
I was born in Vancouver B.C. and grew up traveling up and down the west coast of Vancouver Island. From my earliest memories this landscape became the backdrop to my growing fascination of the forests that create the world around us. Each tree has a story to be told, they make you listen. My paintings tell their story.
The “looking up” series challenges the viewers relationship and perspective of the forest. The trees majestic stature towers over the viewer putting man in its place: as an observer not a destroyer. I distress my paint brushes to replicate the unpredictable nature of the forest and to express its emotion and energy. My composition and use of color attempts to capture the “balance” between the power and fragility of the natural world we live in.
I have been painting the forest and trees for most of my life. After studying communication design at Art Center College of Design, in Switzerland and then in Pasadena, I engaged in a successful career in graphic design. And, then as an instructor at Art Center, I followed my passion of teaching. In 2001 I returned my focus and design skills back to the forest and my study of painting.
Currently I am a fulltime artist, wife and devoted mother to two little girls, Sage and Sienna. My studio is in Mill Valley, California where I am surrounded by coastal redwood trees, which are a consistent inspiration for my paintings. I frequently travel back to Canada to seek out new stories to paint.
My family and I are daily looking up and seeing what splendor shines upon us as we happily hold on below.
Marni Sheppard
Education –
B.A. Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA, USA
Emily Carr College of Art and Design, Vancouver, B.C.
Solo Exhibitions –
2007 – “Looking Up” Tiburon Town Hall
2007 – Washington Mutual Bank, Tiburon, CA
Current representation -
SFMOMA Artist Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
LindaLando Fine Art, Vancouver, B.C.
Tiburon Art Gallery, Tiburon, CA.
|
