Artist’s Statement
Before I embarked on my adventure in painting, I asked an artist I respected for his thoughts on where to begin and how to to approach a painting. His best advice: don’t try to paint a feeling or specific emotion. Just paint. The emotional quality will come through.
Keeping this in mind, I began to paint my surroundings, the wild beaches of Truro in particular, en plein aire. I studied with fine artists connected to the long tradition of painting and art-making on the Cape including Robert Henry, a student of Hans Hofmann’s, and Fine Arts Work Center Fellows Jim Peters, Bert Yarborough and Richard Baker. Through them I learned to explore materials, free myself from the constraints of representing the real world and work in a more expressive way, responding to color and composition and creating work from both understanding and emotion. I am also particularly influenced by the Bay Area Figurative Movement including painters David Park, Wayne Thiebaud and Richard Diebenkorn.
I am currently working with encaustic wax, one of the oldest forms of painting. The technique allows me to build and remove textured layers of color, transparency, and pigments. Keeping true to that first piece of advice, I try to focus on the joy of creating, and also painting with honesty. My hope is that the resulting layers create not only intriguing and beautiful surfaces, but also give emotional life to the subjects, whether figures, structures, or boats, and hint at the mystery inside.
Recent exhibitions include Teaching Traditions (2013) and Art of the Garden (2012) at the Provincetown Art Associiation and Museum and the two-person show Timeless: Explorations in Wax-based Media (2011) at the Cape Cod Museum of Art.
My work is featured in Deborah Forman’s comprehensive book, Contemporary Cape Cod Artists: Images of Land and Sea (Schiffer Publishing, 2013).
Education
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduated with Honors in 1985
- Studied painting at the Provincetown International Art Institute with Jim Peters
- Workshopped with Robert Henry, Bert Yarborough, Tom Knechtel, Richard Baker, and David Hilliard at the Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown MA
Projects and Shows
- Member of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM)
- Invited to participate and create artwork for the 2008 Gala Dinner at PAAM
- Invited to participate in Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC) Monoprint Projects
- Participated in Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC) All Town Shows 2005 - 2009
- Participated in a group show curated by Fine Arts Work Center Fellow Nathalie Miebach at FAWC January 2008
- Participated in numerous member shows at PAAM between 2000-2009
Recognition
- Member’s Juried Show, October 2011, PAAM
- Member’s Juried Show, March 2004, PAAM
- Member’s Juried Show, February 2003, PAAM
Marc's work on display at 3Harbors Realty, 11 Truro Center Road, Truro, are available through the Addison Art Gallery.
