Meet Marci Graham

(Click any art image to see it larger.)

Marci’s passion for art began early. She still remembers sitting in her grandmother’s kitchen where she would watch her Grandma paint delicate flowers and butterflies on blown out eggshells and then she would try to reproduce the same tiny details on those curved surfaces with a brush of only 2 to 5 hairs. She remembers how happy she was there, and always wanting to paint yet one more egg shell.

In 3^rd grade Marci carefully glued pieces of colorful construction paper together and created an exquisite Balinese Dancer mosaic. After she completed it she never saw that piece again, as it went on tour for the American Red Cross. Her early endeavors ranged from a full size paper-mâché gorilla in the 7th grade, to an oil painting of a grand old oak that would hang dustily over the couch in her parents living room long after it ought to have been retired, to a wire sculpture encased in polished plexiglas...that lived as an end table for many years in her adult home.

One of 7 Sketches

In 1972—in the middle of her studies at Des Moines, Iowa’s Drake University—

One of 7 Sketches

Marci spent a summer in Florence, Italy, diving deeply into the art of the Renaissance as part of an overseas art program. During that summer she felt vitally alive as she immersed herself in Italy’s rich tradition of art and culture. There she felt her freedom, both as an artist, as well as in her playful interactions with those she met. As part of the program she spent each morning studying art history in the cathedrals and gardens of Florence. Afternoons were spent creating many on-site drawings of markets, bridges, and other key locations. Life drawing filled many evenings.

Marci had longed to paint and sculpt, and to study art. Her “husband to be,” however, wanted her to focus on work that would be more likely to earn money. She relented, and largely abandoned her art, and herself; rather than majoring in art she compromised and majored in Interior Design instead. Even so, she had the opportunity to deeply study art history, as well as perspective, the history of period furniture and the details of composition and watercolor rendering. At least she was in the Art Department. Although Marci learned to create beautiful spaces and to make an income, there was always a longing to simply create for the pure sake of expressing herself and creating. For many years after earning her BFA, Marci’s art was vague memory...a painting hung in a back bedroom or leaning in a closet.