Marilyn M. Prucka, artist

4454 South Custer Road
Monroe, Michigan 48161
(734) -242-2174

Biography

Personal
47 years old, married 29 years to Robert W. Prucka, 3 grown sons: Michael, William and Robert G. Michael married to artist Leah Renee Gregoire.

Education
1971-- Henry Ford Hospital School of Nursing, Detroit, Michigan - Diploma, Registered Nurse 1990-- Monroe County Community College, Monroe, Michigan - A.S. in Art 1997-- University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio - B.A. in Art - majoring in printmaking and minoring in painting

Employment
Worked on and off part-time as an Emergency Room staff nurse until 1993, career was gauged according to the needs of the family.

Memberships
Spectrum Friends of Fine Art Toledo Artists' Club Glass Club of Toledo

Awards
Have received many awards since 1985, most notably -

Best of Show: University of Toledo Student Show, 1994, painting Monroe City - County Fine Art Exhibition 1995, painting 1998, drawing

Honorable Mention: Salon Des Refuses, 1996, lithograph

Accepted in Toledo Area Artists Exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art,1997, painting

Two purchase awards from the Monroe County Library , Bedford Branch Show, most recently in 1998, a First Award in painting and a purchase for the same. The other was a First in Graphics and purchase, printmaking (collagraph), in the late'80's.

First Place: Spectrum Friends of Fine Art, 1998 Impressions of Nature, painting Monroe City - County Fine Art Exhibition, 1999, mixed media

Exhibitions
Late '80's, Two woman show with sculptor Laurie Sharkus at Monroe County Community College, library, a collection of collagraphs.

1996, African Art History Student Exhibition, University Of Toledo, Muticultural offices in the Student Union, a series of five collagraphs inspired by African art and culture.

1997, One person showing at The University of Toledo, the Field Experience Office of the Department of Education in the Snyder building, a collection of collagraphs and linoleum cuts inspired by African Art History, and Art of the Ancient Americans - Eskimo influences.

Commission Experience 1995, Illustrated eight hand images and a logo for publication: The Basket House, Book 1 Flowers, by Gerda "Jodi" Shebester, the hands were in various positions demonstrating basket weaving.

1997, Redesigned and tole painted images on a baby crib from the late 1940's, Mother Goose theme.

Statement

The imagery in this exhibition represents three categories of technique that I have been exploring for the last couple of years: on-site painting, collage with mixed media and polymer clay. They help relay my fascination with the interplay of light and color, texture and line created by edges.

The "Oz Series" developed from a small sketch book collage; made from bits of a magazine. There was a range of rich darks with yellow line that brought to mind the "Yellow Brick Road" and "Dorothy's" search for happiness - the search for the "Emerald City." The most obvious path, the "Yellow Brick Road," doesn't necessarily lead one to the greener pastures. The painting, "The Search For Oz," was developed from this concept. The yellow line doesn't lead to the green patch. Next came the collages of the "Urban Sunset" which reminded me of my quest to find a place in 'big city' art. The green patch is minute among the larger shapes. It mirrors my own search for creative development and contentment. My art career has developed by taking less obvious routes. In my quest for 'high art' imagery, I believe I became lost in the lack of self insertion.

Three summers ago my husband and I discovered Beaver Island, Michigan. I carried along some of my paints and drawing supplies for the week's stay, thinking I would probably do some small watercolors. After a few days and frustrated by several failed watercolors, I took my chair and acrylics and went down to the beach. The wind was blowing briskly, certainly not a day for fast-drying water media, but I persisted. The result was "A Windy Day at Bailey's." It was my first ever fully finished and satisfactory outdoor painting containing the feeling of a real experience. The wind kept me busy spritzing the paints and holding onto my small canvas; my sandals had even drifted away. It was a glorious experience! I did two more paintings that week observing and playing with the colors and textures of the skies, land and waters. I really began to 'see' the need to not only copy, but incorporate the feeling of the scene. Later that week, I gave an impromptu showing at the Beaver Island Lodge Bar and gave one painting to the then owners Dick and Arlene Bailey and one to my husband. "A Windy Day," I saved for myself as a visual first page of a dairy. I didn't know it then, but I'd found the edge of Oz.

I didn't paint outdoors again until the return visit to Beaver Island, a year later. I finished a few more paintings and was really beginning to comprehend the feeling of painting a place. I didn't realize, however, that I'd found Oz until I studied outdoor painting with artist Neil Frankenhauser. I was encouraged to discover that this was 'high art' -- my own high art. I'd discovered Oz quite by accident; not by following the traditional, well-mapped route, but by taking the back roads of Beaver Island. With these paintings I find color, texture, serenity and vivid memories; a glorious view with the inner life and artistic self-fulfillment.

The polymer clay pieces are the 'fault' of artist Kimberly Arden. Her instruction in clay was filled with a sense of play and whimsy that sent me on an adventure seeking out all the possibilities of this medium. It too addresses my interests in texture, color and mixed media. A layering technique called 'mokume gane' was the catalyst for my first piece, "Canyon Gold". I was able to layer, slice, push and rearrange, giving a rock and roll appearance that was pure fun. This manipulation reminded me of geologic tectonic formations. Added to the clay layers are beads, rhinestones, mica powders, metallic pulvers, and various foils lending themselves to become jewel-like landscapes. They are the water, the dew and the sparkle of light - the gems of the earth.

All the images in this exhibition realize my fascination with the natural beauty of sky, land, vegetation and water patterns in and on the earth - all that is around me. And they answer my search for 'Oz Art.' The answer is inside me, "There's no place like home."