Meet Marney!
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Meet Marney! *
Early Days
Marney was blessed with a very creative mother and grew up in homes with lovely gardens. From helping her mother in the garden, she learned to love and nourish flowers and to appreciate the individual characteristics of each flower or shrub. She loved to dabble with watercolours throughout her childhood. Marney has also been interested in perception, consciousness and creativity for most of her life. In the seventies, after a BA in Honours Fine Arts and English, she earned a PhD from the University of British Columbia on the art and poetry of William Blake. Her Blake-inspired interest in consciousness led her to study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Europe, and then to devote a decade to teaching Transcendental Meditation. In the early nineties, with her youngest child in school, she decided to revisit her first passion, art. From classes in Chinese Brush Painting she learned practical techniques of brushwork and how to take advantage of the peculiar challenges and magical properties of water. From fellow Victorian Emily Carr, she was inspired to express the living spirit within everything she paints.
Immersion in Watercolour
Marney studied with many local watercolour artists in the Victoria, Vancouver and Seattle areas of the Pacific Northwest, including Caren Heine, Sheena Lott, Kiff Holland, Elizabeth Kincaid, and many others. She learned from each but went on to develop her own unique style: large, vibrant, often back-lit close-ups that reveal not only the minute particulars of each flower but also her own emotional and spiritual connection to that flower. Marney has been teaching watercolour classes for over 30 years, first through Camosun College and Artworld in Victoria, BC, and then through her own home. In 2014 she adapted her 8-week live course to an online course in floral watercolours, which enabled her to reach artists around the world.
Accolades
Marney has achieved Senior Signature Status (SFCA), the highest ranking possible with the Federation of Canadian Artists. She is a Past President of the Victoria Chapter of the FCA and has served as juror for a number of shows in Victoria, Nanaimo and Vancouver. She has also been granted elected membership with the Society of Canadian Artists (SCA), a Toronto based National organization that has members and exhibitions across Canada.
Marney was pleased to win major awards in three of their Annual Exhibitions, two of which were held in Gainsborough Galleries, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Altogether, Marney has won over 20 awards in various juried exhibitions in Canada, including the prestigious Annual International Representational Show (AIRS) at Federation Gallery in Vancouver. Most notably, her painting Butchart's Begonias won the "Best Work on Paper or Under Glass" in the 2015 Sidney Fine Art Show on Vancouver Island, a major exhibition featuring almost 400 juried paintings. For close to 20 years Marney was a regular, invited participant in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria's annual July Paint-In and was represented in their Art Rental program.
Solo Exhibitions
Marney has had two solo exhibitions with Winchester Galleries in Victoria, BC (see video to the right) and represented them as a guest artist with a third exhibition at The Oak Bay Beach Hotel. She also had a large solo exhibition at The Old School House Art Centre in Qualicum Beach, BC, in Summer 2014. Her most recent solo exhibition was in Spring 2019 at Chapel Gallery, Victoria, see video below.
“I keep trying to come up with that one word that can truly describe just how amazing your work truly is other than beautiful, amazing, exquisite, or unbelievable but there isn’t just one word. It takes all those words just to begin to describe your work. Really! ”
“This is so close to realism, I actually thought it was a photograph at first glance. You have an incredible understanding of watercolour, and an amazing talent.”
“In this fear driven world right now, your paintings offer a moment of repose.”