Artist Statement
My name is Marni Sheppard and I am an artist. I paint the energy of the subject that is capturing my attention which is always nature. I work from photographs and until recently I only worked with black and white images that I took where I would interpret the color. I followed this method of painting for decades. This practice forced me to let go of color theory and its confines where now my use of color is my subjects voice.
I consider myself not a landscape painter but a portrait artist. And by that I mean I focus on that single tree or flower as an individual and connect and depict its energy. And from this observed energy the colors for the paintings are chosen.
Nature is strong and fragile. It is forever changing. My love for nature is my religion. I hope my paintings in turn inspire deeper connection within the viewer to nature’s forever strength and endless beauty. And, to inspire a deeper connection to our planets desperate need for conservation.
“It is only through beauty can we truly see what is or isn’t standing right in front of ourselves.”
Color is a process of choice. I use it to depict the life force of these trees that I portray.
“allowing the beauty in nature to speak creatively in my heart” - Marni Sheppard
Marni Sheppard
"I speak for the trees…"
The energy of creation is a powerful thing and one with which I love experimenting through art. With trees as my muse I explore color, texture, and emotion with a myriad of marks on canvas. Trees are strong, resilient, and constantly changing and I love expressing the energy that they hold. My greatest joy comes from helping others connect to this same energy within nature which in turn allows for their creativity to shine and that is why I love to teach art. I graduated from Art Center College of Design with a BFA in Communication Design with honors in Pasadena California. I currently run a non-profit called Fine Arts Advisory Council that raises funds each year to help the visual and performing arts programs on Mercer Island, WA for students K-12 mifineartsed.org. I am a full time artist and painter and I am also a musician and songwriter and perform locally in Seattle.
Marni currently lives in Seattle Washington and paints both in Canada and the US.
Marni Sheppard draws from Nature emotionally and visually with works that captures the energy of trees. She considers herself a portrait artist. With this focused attention she pulls out the energetic colors that these trees hold within that in turn taps into the pulse of nature. This heartbeat is something Marni spends most of her time listening too, and these paintings are a celebration of that sound with a constant play of color, mark making and light.
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