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Artist Statement
Marie Renfro says,” I use color, intuitive marks, rhythm, movement and texture to manipulate space as a source for my personal search for order in a conflicting world. With my artwork, I attempt to voice fears, celebrate awakenings and illuminate those contradictions that fill my field of vision.
My work is very personal and largely autobiographical. I feel that all my paintings have a relationship to an experience in my life as I rely to a large extent on intuition. Art is a definite way of knowledge or approach to truth. I do not get an idea for an image and then paint it, rather, the painting reveals to me, in the same manner as dreams, imagery that usually remains buried in the subconscious. I trust my instincts and see my studio work as continuum of activity that is directed toward self-knowledge, awareness, and inner growth.”
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She has a Master’s of Fine Art from Texas Woman’s University in Denton in painting and a minor in Ceramics, with many workshops and travel to a number of foreign countries. She has been on numerous paintings trips with Watercolor Worldwide with Rob Erdle and credits him with showing her the world. What an education to travel to all the different countries and look at the art in the famous museums and galleries of the world. She taught at Collin County Community College for 8 years and was a partner in Gallery VIII for 21 years. She has now retired from teaching and spends her time painting and entering competitions across the country.
She began her art classes with four years of drawing and then moved on to clay sculpture and oil painting. She moved to Texas in 1970 and studied with the numerous artists that the various art groups in Dallas brought for demonstrations and workshops. She painted in oil for many years until about 1985 when she decided to try watercolor. She really loved the spontaneous burst of color on the paper. She availed herself of many of the Southwestern Watercolor Society workshops and credits them with learning to paint in watercolor. After a few years, she began to miss texture in her work and after a three day collage workshop with Jane Jones she fell in love with collage. It has been her forte’ ever since. She now works in Golden Liquid Acrylics on paper and canvas.
She says, “Painting has been my favorite mode of expression and it has helped me through many of life’s rough spots.”
This year Marie had work accepted in the current SWS show as well as the Plano Art Association 2005 National Juried Show and the Navarro Council for the Arts Show. She won the Irving Art Association’s Medal of Excellence in the Texas Neighbors Art Show in Irving, TX. She won First Place in the Richardson Civic Art Association show in Mixed Media and an Honorable Mention in the Texas Visual Arts Association Show, Citation.
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