Marilu Norden

New blog entry! And about time! I have been busy painting, which has been delightful. But I realize that in order to make that mean something to someone who might be interested in viewing what I’ve been up to and purchasing one of the resulting paintings, I should be more “out there!” So, here I am, still (thank the good Lord) able to do what I love to do, as I approach my 93rd year on God’s beautiful earth!

The world of the Southwest Native American entered my art spirit with a vengeance way back in the 1980s after a visit to New Mexico, and has never left me.

Santa Fe and Taos, pueblos, and the land of their peoples has forever fascinated me, so this provides endless expressions on canvas in oil as I attempt to capture its magic and bring it to life artistically. I lived for ten years in the mountains of Santa Fe where I painted many canvasses and went out to Taos Pueblo and the surrounding countryside as well, always learning and creating.

I am now living in Phoenix, but I always have my heart and artistic vibe centered in the world of the Pueblo Indian and the land he calls home. My paintings attempt to give the viewer a glimpse of that world. Although in the past, I have produced works of art in acrylic, watercolor, and pastel, I am now and forever an oil painter. Despite the fact that it takes time to dry, the medium is so satisfying in its ability to personify that colorful world I wish to share with viewers. So keep an eye here on the latest paintings I am producing as I attempt to share on canvas a particular way of life, that of the Native American, so indigent to this great country of ours!  

above: “Red Dawn at the Pueblo” by Marilu Norden, oil on canvas, 36″ x 36″, $3500

I’ve been very busy working away in my new studio in Phoenix, finishing three large canvases—and three smaller ones—just since the 1st of May!

On May 2nd, I had openings of my work at two more galleries in Arizona: one in Glendale (Thomas Kinkade and More Gallery at Arrowhead Towne Center, between Dillards and JCPenney), and the other in Mesa (Thomas Kinkade Gallery in Superstition Springs Center).

A large work of mine, “Pueblo Sunset à la Gigi,” which had been part of the solo show I had back in 2008 in Tucson, “Sunsets and Show Tunes,” actually sold last month through Wild Holly Gallery in Carefree, Arizona, who had the painting on consignment, and, thanks to an interior designer working with the gallery, “Pueblo Sunset” is now going to grace the wall of someone’s lovely home! An auspicious beginning for 2015!

My business manager, Fred Smith—an amiable former gallery owner himself—is working with the Mayo Clinic here in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area to sign me for future exhibitions at their two area medical campuses of my Southwest-themed paintings and for me giving a talk in January 2016 in their auditorium about my art, my life, and about “Creative Aging” (seeing as how I will have reached the high-water mark of “90-years-young” in July of this year)! That fact alone inspires me to fill up with supersonic, high-octane determination to grow my talent and paint as though my life depends upon it … which it does! It’s so easy to fall off the saddle, and I, like so many of us fallible humans, have mucked about in the mud of good intentions, sometimes rising to accomplishment, but too often not. So I feel fortunate to be given the opportunity of creative expression at this juncture and will “keep on keeping on” as well as any of us can on this racetrack we call life.

I’ve been working hard in my studio this year, busily creating exciting new Original Canvases for you to enjoy! So far, in the first six weeks of 2015, I’ve already produced SEVEN new Original Canvases in my signature style, “Vibrant Spirits of the Southwest!” Click on the image above to get a closer look at these new works, or visit my ONLINE GALLERY for titles, dimensions, prices, and to view the paintings in much greater detail. Perhaps one of them is “calling” out to you, whispering to your heart that where it really belongs is with you, in your home!

The all-new 48-page catalog of my latest Original Canvases from my “Vibrant Spirits of the Southwest” series is now ready for YOU to enjoy, and for GALLERISTS to use in selecting new works that they want to CONSIGN for their galleries in 2015!

The true story behind my award-winning first novel UNBRIDLED: A TALE OF A DIVORCE RANCH was featured in an August 28, 2013, article called, “Divorcing at Dude Ranches,” published in the Huffington Post! Read the article HERE. I found the comments “interesting,” to say the least! (scroll down about nine inches below the article to find the comments)

Written by Theresa Iker, the article is based on a recent interview she did with me about my experiences at a divorce ranch in Reno, Nevada, way back in 1951. The interview was part of Iker’s research for her Scripps College thesis on the American divorce ranches phenomenon, circa 1930s to 1960s. AOL picked up the article and it went viral internationally!

The circa 1951 letterhead from Pyramid Lake Ranch—30 miles north of Reno, Nevada—the "Desert Lake Ranch" setting of my semi-autobiographical novel, "Unbridled: A Tale of a Divorce Ranch." (click on the image to see a high-resolution version of the historic letterhead)

Marilu Norden, circa 1952, about a year after the divorce ranch experience

I am presently hard at work in my Scottsdale, AZ, studio creating a series of oil paintings on canvas and panel which focus on the theme of “Spirit”—a subject that fascinates me as it relates to the culture of Native Americans still living the ancient pueblo life of their ancestors in New Mexico and Arizona. In my brightly hued oil paintings of this theme, I aim for a mystical quality that will intrigue the viewer to actually “feel” the essence of the “spirit” conveyed in the art. To see more of my paintings from this new series, visit https://marilunorden.compaintings.

“Spirit of the Crow Man, Taos” by Marilu Norden, 12″ x 16″ oil on panel

Sales of both novels: UNBRIDLED: A TALE OF A DIVORCE RANCH and my latest: THE GHOST PAINTER have been going well, thanks to the three book signings I’ve done recently. The first was under the auspices of Western Writers of America, who held their annual convention in Albuquerque where authors did book signings at Barnes & Noble at Coronado Mall! Next I did a reading/signing of THE GHOST PAINTER at Collected Works Bookstore in Santa Fe, and another signing at Hastings, in Santa Fe’s DeVargas Center. As well as these locations in Santa Fe, TGP can also be found at Garcia Street Books, Travel Bug, BODY, Palace of the Governors Bookstore, Double Take and A Step Back In Time. Albuquerque’s Treasure House Books & Gifts (in Old Town) also has THE GHOST PAINTER and UNBRIDLED, as does Moby Dickens Bookshop and The Brodsky Bookshop in Taos, New Mexico! TGP is now in the Phoenix area: The Book Rack in Mesa and Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe! If none of these fit your “out and about” list, you can buy both at Amazon.com! Happy reading!

Marilu Norden at Hastings in Santa Fe’s DeVargas Center on July 14, 2012.

THE GHOST PAINTER

A new paranormal thriller by author Marilu Norden coming soon, in early 2012!

World-famous Santa Fe artist, Adelaide Moran, newly deceased, finds herself in heaven, and, obsessed with not having finished painting her “final masterpiece,” plots with her earthly assistant, Ramon Hererra, through shamanic means to steal the soul of Angelina Bonelli, a talented young New York City artist, to complete the task.

A new paranormal thriller by author Marilu Norden coming in Early 2012.

Marilu was interviewed by Dave Becker for “State of Nevada” on KNPR, Nevada Public Radio, on March 1, 2011, as a member of a panel of people who were part of the whole divorce ranch experience. To listen, click HERE.

PROGRAM NOTES: Back in the 1930s and 40s, Nevada was one of the few states you could get a quick divorce. So many people flew in for a few weeks or months—the time it took to complete the paperwork. They stayed on “divorce ranches”—complete with cowboys, horse rides, and cocktail hours. Sometimes even Hollywood stars came to stay: Clark Gable and Ava Gardner, among others. We take a look back at the “divorce ranches” with a historian, a former guest, a ranch owner, and a cowboy who said he’d “died and gone to heaven” when he saw all those ladies.

GUESTS: Marilu Norden, former guest at Pyramid Lake Ranch and author, Unbridled: A Tale of a Divorce Ranch; Bill McGee, former cowboy at Flying M E Ranch and co-author, The Divorce Seekers: A Photo Memoir of a Nevada Dude Wrangler; Beth Ward, former owner, Whitney Ranch; and Mella Harmon, architectural historian who studied the divorce trade.

A 20-minute interview with Marilu for “The Story”—a nationally syndicated radio program hosted by Dick Gordon out of WUNC Chapel Hill, North Carolina—aired Tuesday, February 22, 2011. To listen, click HERE.

Marilu can be heard talking about her experiences in the 1950s at the Pyramid Lake Ranch divorce ranch outside of Reno, Nevada, that was the subject of her award-winning novel, Unbridled: A Tale of a Divorce Ranch.

Here’s a photo of Marilu during the interview:

Marilu Norden Being Interviewed by Dick Gordon for "The Story