My higher education degrees (B.A. and M.A.) are in English (writing and English literature), and I spent most of my working career as an editor and manager in publishing in San Diego, painting and taking art classes as I could. When the company was sold, I determined to focus all my attention on my art efforts, which I have done since.
I have been drawing and painting most of my life, with a hiatus here and there. Initially, my work was figurative, and although I love and continue to draw and paint the figure, I am currently focusing on mixed-media abstract work on paper featuring a great deal of line work as well as strong color. I especially love using methods and materials in different ways, without rules; it is always exciting to test new waters, and each medium and material has its special challenges, rewards, and pitfalls.
It is the formal elements, the tools of the visual artist (such as line, color, composition, value, shape, texture, design), and not the "subject," that I find exciting and that I feel make a piece of art satisfying or not. It is always a challenge to incorporate these elements successfully into any work.
Although my current work does not focus on recognizable images, my attempt is to reach deeper than the surface of the work, making the piece not just a design, but a thought process and a working out of whatever idea or concept might have initiated the piece. In the end, for me, art is a continual challenge, a learning and exploring process that is never finished.
Media: watermedia, acrylic, pastel, charcoal, pencil, ink, collage, pastel, crayon, mixed
Styles: abstract, figurative
Memberships: San Diego Artists Guild, San Diego Watercolor Society, La Jolla Art Association, San Diego Art Institute
Classes/Education: study with Joan Schonberg, Willie McGrath, Ken Goldman, Reed Caldwell, Jim Machacek, Herbert Olds
Awards and Exhibits:
Studio: Marion Mettler Studio, 5546 Waverly Ave., La Jolla, CA 92037; 858 459-7525.