Marney Ward
SFCA

Marney’s physical subject is flowers but her underlying subject is light. Marney is particularly interested in the way translucent petals transform light and create complex shadow patterns. Watercolour is the perfect medium for her large floral close-ups, with its spontaneous flowing qualities and its clear, transparent colour that allows the light of the paper to shine through. Marney has also been experimenting with the unique textures that can be achieved with granulating pigments.

After an Honours BA in Fine Arts and English, Marney received a Canada Council Doctoral Fellowship to complete her PhD on the art and poetry of William Blake (UBC). Marney taught English at the University of Western Ontario and then taught Transcendental Meditation in Vancouver and Victoria, before embracing a career as an artist. Over 35 years of meditation bring to her painting a special understanding of the role consciousness plays in perception and creativity. Since the early nineties she has taken classes and workshops in Chinese Brush Painting and with many watercolour artists including Caren Heine, Ann Hunter, Alan Bruce SFCA, Sheena Lott, Brent Heighton SFCA, Kiff Holland SFCA, and Elizabeth Kincaid. In her work she strives to capture the essential spirit of the various flowers she paints, as well as the “minute particulars” which make each flower unique.

Marney is a signature member (SFCA) of the Federation of Canadian Artists, and Past-President and currently Vice-President and Exhibitions Chair of the FCA Victoria Chapter. She has received 14 awards in juried FCA shows and has been on the jury panel for several FCA shows on Vancouver Island. Marney has taught watercolour classes for over ten years, previously through Camosun College and Artworld, and currently through her home studio in Victoria. She is represented by Federation Gallery in Vancouver and The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Butchart Gardens and Winchester Galleries in Victoria.

Marney has participated in every FCA Victoria Chapter exhibition since she became an active member in 1994. Other juried exhibitions include Sooke Fine Arts, Sidney Fine Arts, Look, BC Festival of the Arts, Federation Gallery in Vancouver and the NorthWest Watercolor Society in Seattle. She has participated in the Summer Exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, as well as their famous Moss Street Paint-Ins, and hosted a two-person exhibition with Sherry Mitchell SFCA at Goward House as well as two solo shows at Saanich Municipal Hall. Her recent major solo exhibition of 30 paintings at the prestigious Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay was held over for a total of six weeks in July and August 2008. Its success and the concurrent featuring of her work on the cover of the July Focus magazine and in a full-page colour image inside Boulevard magazine, as well as local papers, has brought her renewed recognition.

One of Marney’s paintings is featured with full page coverage in the April/May 2009 publication of International Artist magazine, competition #50, Flowers and Gardens.

Contact Marney Ward SFCA

marneyward@shaw.ca

Phone: 250-595-0220

Website: www.marneyward.com