About Marlowe Emerson

Living between the forest and the ocean has proven to be my most significant influence and inspiration. I am interested in natural objects as symbols, how they act as nature’s language, and what they reveal about the world around us. My process in painting and mixed media is about observing nature and its cycles and recurring patterns. The technique is sometimes expressive and personal, sometimes more deliberate and constructed. It contrasts the attitude of organic forms frozen in time to the vibrant energy of the brushstroke. I work with various qualities of acrylic paints and different types of pastels to acheive a matte, sometimes chalky finish.  

The collage elements are obtained through photography or scanning, then digitally altered. I am inspired by the meditative aspect of photography and how it helps us connect to the reality that each moment is fundamentally different than the last and will never exist in exactly the same way again. You can capture a cloud formation, a wave on the ocean, a pattern in a leaf, a shadow on the wall and realize that no other human would ever get to see it if you had not taken the photo in that moment.  I enjoy the adventure of being the first human to lay eyes on such amazing creations. That is how most of the collage pieces are created and each has its own story to tell within the painting itself. 

The title of my website, "Wind and Sand," alludes to my attempt to capture the fleeting essence of things, the ethereal and the ephemeral, the inherent motion and metamorphasis of things.