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 Galleryat 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.
Posted in Paintings | Comments Off on 2015 Brush Strokes
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!
• TO ENJOY VIEWING PORTFOLIO v.002 FOR FREE ONLINE
Click on the cover image above, which will take you to the publication’s MagCloud page. You’ll then click the red “Read Now” button on the cover image to open the catalog in MagCloud’s brilliant Web Viewer.
• TO DOWNLOAD A FREE PDF FILE OF PORTFOLIO v.002 (6 MB)
Either: 1) CLICK HERE; Portfolio v.002 will open in a new window; then click your browser’s download button to download the file to your PC or Mac; OR 2) CLICK ON THE COVER ABOVE to be taken to the portfolio’s MagCloud page where you’ll click on the dark blue “Buy Digital: FREE” button to add the free PDF to Your Cart. Once checked out and downloaded, your free PDF of Portfolio v.002 is best viewed using ACROBAT READER, with your display preference set to View > Page Display > Two Page View > Show Cover Page in Two Page View. If you’re using PREVIEW, select View > Content Only > Two Pages.
• TO PURCHASE PRINT COPIES OF PORTFOLIO v.002
To purchase collectible, perfect-bound print copies of Portfolio v.002 for $15 each, click on the cover image above—which will take you to the publication’s MagCloud page—then look for the dark blue “Buy Print: $15.00” button. Perfect for yourself, as a gift, or for your gallery and your gallery’s customers and collectors!
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
Posted in Paintings | Comments Off on New “Spirit” Painting Series
Back in the days of vaudeville, Gypsy Rose Lee and her mom found themselves booked into a third rate theater specializing in the dubious art of stripping. This was comically dramatized in the 1962 film version where the young “Gypsy” is introduced to the inner sanctum of stripping by a trio of strippers, each insisting, in her own inimitable way, that to succeed “You Gotta Have A Gimmick.” “Gimmick” is yesterday’s word for today’s all-purpose “hook,” as in: if you want to guarantee stardom on the world stage “You Gotta Have a Hook.” But in vaudeville “hook” meant if you gave a lousy performance somebody from backstage would wield a big, long hook and reel you right off the proscenium. There went your rent money and your reputation in show business. Not so today. Have a great hook and you’re in the running for whatever the media demands.
A video has been put up on YouTube of “Sunsets, Show Tunes and More,” an art opening of mixed media paintings by Marilu Norden at the Long Gallery of The Academy Village, Tucson, Arizona on Friday, December 5, 2008, combined with a book signing of Marilu Norden’s new novel, UNBRIDLED: A TALE OF A DIVORCE RANCH. Click on this link to view the video:
Inspiration for my newest series of water media/oil paintings on canvas springs from my love of musical theatre, a genre I was happily involved in and captivated by at a certain time in my life, and for which will forever hold a fascination for me. What fun to sing and dance across a stage to the accompaniment of a full orchestra, or similar tuneful support, acting out and being part of a plot (book) enhanced and embellished by an unforgettable (in most cases) musical score!
