marsha’s fine art

see detailed photos Immersed in Florida Southern

Immersed in Florida Southern
24×36 inches
original oil on canvas

This piece was accepted into the Melvin Exhibition on Florida Southern Campus. It also was one of 100 artworks selected from thousands of entries to display in the upcoming Arts to Hearts Project for second edition of The Great Book of Artmakers featuring International Artists.

Possibly interrupting his wading in nearby Lake Hollingsworth, a sandhill crane pauses on the lawn of the Florida Southern campus, observing a young woman as she sits quietly reading a book featuring one of the campus buildings beside a reflection pool. The Florida Southern campus exhibits architecture associated with Frank Lloyd Wright, who masterplanned the campus and designed several of its buildings. Wright’s work harmonizes nature with manmade buildings into a seamless whole.
In contrast, the modern industrial-looking building in the background was designed by architect M. Jeffrey Baker, whose work complements Wright’s organic architecture woven throughout the nature-themed campus. Baker’s signature red building emerges under towering oaks draped with Spanish moss.

Hearts Unfolding in Quiet Reflection
16×20 inches
original oil on canvas
$350

Honorable Mention for TERAVARNA Spring Competition.

This scene combines central Florida’s thematic swan motif with nearby Bok Tower Gardens. The two subjects seem fittingly correlated. The creator of Bok Tower, Edward W. Bok intended this garden to be peaceful and reflective both in space and sound. At its center rises the Singing Tower carillon from which 60 bronze bells chime and echo throughout the garden space. Gracefully traversing the waters in front of the tower, origami swans form a heart, poignantly illustrating the symbolic central heart of Florida.
I like gardens, Japanese influences, and impressionism.

The Cardinal of Directions
16×20 inches
original oil on canvas
unavailable

From unseen hands,
The cardinal receives directions,
A message not of chance.
The N-E-W-S guides him
As he surveys the quilted homes below.
The chalice of time points him toward
A nest awaiting homespun memories.
His building begins with a humble paper scrap.

This piece is rather special and it depicts a string of surreal events surrounding the cardinal, a bird of direction. On one occasion, cardinals were carrying an important message to a close relation of mine, whom I will name B, who was worried about an impending move back to NC. While walking through a nearby park, she showed me a video with a pair of cardinals repeatedly tapping that very day at her laundry window. Seeing the surreal quality, I remarked that the encounter seemed to be a positive sign that she ought to move back to NC as the cardinal was the state bird for NC. A string of events ensued. The second event…after walking a short distance, as we proceeded through the extensive space, about five cardinals circled overhead as local bird enthusiasts spread out peanuts on the sidewalk. The third event… we continued on to visit the downtown area, and in a small quaint gift shop, B spotted a mini cardinal on the table and purchased it to place on her desk at home. The fourth event…two days later, remarkably B got an offer on her house which she had up for sale for months. The fourth event…a couple weeks later, I was reflecting on how a friend of mine always calls North Carolina “North Caroline”, chopping of the “a”, but conversely, the odd thing is that she always put an extra “a” at the end of my daughter’s name. When I saw B two days later, she mentioned how for the first time in her life she met someone name Carolina (not Caroline). The stories seemed intertwined. The fifth event… the cardinals continued occupying areas on her street. The neighbor set up a video to monitor these beautiful guests and they would sometimes go pecking at B’s rearview mirror. It seems the bright visitors might have been urging her to look back to NC.