Marcia Reich

My first introduction to painting came while I was training to become a psychotherapist. During my graduate studies, I became curious about the arts as a therapeutic tool. Although I never became an art therapist, that first art therapy class marked the beginning of my journey as an artist. I have now been painting for over 15 years.

As an artist I work intuitively. This translates into something like this: I let my eyes and hands do the drawing and try to manage the interference from my head—especially in the beginning stages of the painting. All my paintings start with a surface full of random marks, colors and shapes. There are multiple layers in each painting—sometimes 20 or more. Decorative papers, beads, old book pages, ribbons and fabric are often part of those layers. I always work on multiple canvases at the same time as this gives me time to step away from one specific painting and let it germinate. Eventually a shape, symbol or color will begin to resonate with me and a painting begins to develop.

I can never explain intellectually when or why a painting of mine “works”—or doesn’t. It’s an inner knowing that often baffles me the artist and to the non-artist, it often seems unimaginable or just plain odd. But every painting has a story and each layer is like a chapter in a book. It’s somewhat ironic as I always imagined I would become a writer. In the end I became an artist who paints her stories.

Self-Exploration Through The Arts - 2002-Current.
ArtSpace - Mixed-Media Workshops - On-going

Batavia Cafe-Solo Exhibit - November - 2014
Les Beaux Ans Gallery - Solo Exhibit - December 2015 - Jan 2016

Chagall, Klimt, Modigliani, Richard Diebenkorn and many other artists

mixed-media, women, spiritual, acrylic, cityscape, painting