Artist of the Month - Marlene Wiedenbaum
Marlene Wiedenbaum, our June LongReach Artist.
I am a passionate realist, working with a palette of soft pastels, sanded paper, and a kneaded eraser. My early years of working in the abstract helped me refine my handling of the medium and sharpen my understanding of shape and form as it manifests in the natural world. I feel obligated as an artist to reflect the world I live in, to look keenly at my environment, and to present it to the viewer in an engaging way.
My ongoing “Threads” series is inspired by a once thriving family business, Abrams Fringe. The series is a connection to the Abrams women, my mother being the last. Near the end of her life, I was compelled to examine the lace, spools and fabrics left to me from the business and their generation as I said goodbye.
Paintings from the “Sacred Ground” series explore a more generalized struggle with loss, that of the American Landscape. I’ve spent much of the last thirty years exploring preserves, state parks and conservation areas of the Hudson Valley. In collaboration with several organizations including the Minnewaska State Park Preserve, the Mohonk Preserve, The Nature Conservancy and Scenic Hudson, “Sacred Ground” pays tribute to and supports land preservation and planned development and hopefully increases the public’s understanding of preservation. “Rock Hill” paintings are of my own acreage, which connects to the Mohonk Preserve.
Marlene Wiedenbaum PSA-MP (Pastel Society of America- Master Pastelist), graduated Queens College, SUNY New Paltz & attended the Arts Students League in NYC. Her award winning paintings have been exhibited internationally, including the International Pastel Artists Invitational in Taipei, Taiwan and the Xian Art Museum, China. Her work is featured in books commissioned by the Taiwanese government and she is an International Honorable Member of the Beijing Pastel Research Academy. Wiedenbaum has been featured in various publications including the VIC Pastel, Newsletter of the Pastel Society of Victoria, Austrailia; Fine Art Connoisseur, Fine Art Today. Art Times, and American Artist. She teaches pastel at the Woodstock School of Art. An award winning MASTER Pastelist & Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America, and an Elected Member of the Audubon Artists Org., Marlene is also an Active Member of such prestigious arts organizations as the Woodstock Artists Association & Museum, NYPAP & LongReachArts. Her work is in private and public collections throughout the country and is represented in the tri-state area. Marlene is currently serving on the Board of Governors of the Pastel Society of America.
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