Marliese Scheller

Being asked what my art represents, why I paint a certain subject, or draw a certain way are questions to which I don’t have a readily made answer. Inspiration is something that arises from within. It not only touches the inner soul but evolves with time, a type of ‘work in progress’ that is influenced by the seasons, travel, and literature. At the start of my career, I was fortunate to have met Henri H. Gowa, a pigment specialist, and Frans Masereel, one of the greatest woodcut artists of the twentieth century. Gowa taught me the technique of colors, the hues and the combinations as they were used by the painters of the Middle Ages. In my oil paintings I have followed his teaching. The resulting luminosity stems from the choice of colors applied with a palette knife on a traditionally prepared support (gesso on Masonite). Graphic art is also present in my work. In my black and white period, I experimented and adapted the techniques of woodcutting to ink drawing, which allows me to use larger surfaces, render space and volume through crisp lines and bold areas of inked or bare paper. Each medium is a vehicle through which I express a spontaneity that combines traditionalism and realism. Independent of the subject matter or medium, the mastering of a technique is at the heart of my work.