Studio Life

Marilynn trained at Wayne State University with experimental watercolorists, Mary Jane Bigler and Louise Nobili in the late 1950’s, the era of abstract expressionism. She earned both BFA and MA in Painting.

In the mid 1980’s, Marilynn discovered Post-Modernism during MFA studies with Vera Klement, Robert Peters, and Tom Mapp at the University of Chicago. Abstract expressionism and post-modernism affected Marilynn’s teaching methods.

Her interest in creating and communicating ideas is an important issue in the learning programs she offered – a result of a Lilly Fellowship when Marilynn researched the origins of ideas for the visual artist.

Content development is addressed in programs she presents. Her training coupled with passionate painting prepared her to offer a varied program to those who studied with her.

Marilynn’s images and ideas were published in Watercolor Artist Magazine, April 2011.

PAINTING PHILOSOPHY

Marilynn’s images have changed significantly over the years. At first, her paintings were abstract and focused on color and shape as the subject. But then in 1986, she encountered Post-Modernism during her MFA studies and she began to search for ideas to add purpose and meaning to her paintings. She examined personal life experiences. Soon her attention shifted to universal issues resulting from her travel that allowed her to experience other cultures. Even so, she still thinks of herself as an abstract artist that includes representational imagery within a flat space. She considers her work lyrical abstraction. Changes in her images prepared her to offer students a variety of ways to construct their paintings.

MORE ABOUT MARILYNN

After years of settling into a new environ, Marilynn has finally adjusted to her world in Franklin, Tennessee.  She is now creatively and intellectually stimulated and ready for serious painting and explorations.

HONORS

Ball State University Painting Professor Emeritus 

Outstanding Creative Endeavor Award, Ball State University 

Michigan Watercolor Society Lifetime Achievement Award

Great Lakes Fellow, Michigan Watercolor Society 

Nautilus Fellow International Society of Experimental Artists

Cardinal Fellow, Watercolor Society of Indiana

PAINTING EXHIBITS AND AWARDS

53 one or two person exhibits 

Nearly 260 national and international exhibitions with 101 awards including

Canson Paper Merchandise Award, Southern Watercolor Society 

First Place, Illinois Watercolor Society 

Second Place, Pittsburgh Watercolor Society

(Top) Award, Watercolor Society 

(Top) Award, Watercolor Society   

Gold Medal (Top) Award, Red River Watercolor Society

Bitsy Irby (Second) Award, Mississippi Watercolor Society

Best of Show, Faeries Minnetrista Exhibit, Muncie, IN

Golden Vision Award, Rocky Mountain National Watermedia

First Place, Watercolor West, Brea, CA

Third Place Award, Alabama Watercolor Society

PERMANENT COLLECTIONS

Ball State University, Muncie, IN

Minnetrista Cultural Center, Muncie, IN

Delaware County, City Hall, Muncie, IN

ANR Pipeline Company, Renaissance Center, Detroit, MI

Rockwell International Science Center, Thousand Oaks, CA

American Motors, Southfield, MI

Buick, Flint, MI

Channel 50, WBKD, Southfield, MI

Hartland Foundation, Hartland, MI

Sinai Hospital, Detroit, MI

FTD International Headquarters, Southfield, MI

Wayne State University, Detroit, MI

PUBLICATIONS

“A New Beginning”, Workshop Creativity Section, Watercolor Artist Magazine, April, 2011 issue

“In Their Own Words”, Watercolor, Fall ’96 issue, pp. 42-45

“Reworking the Workshop”, Watercolor, Fall ’95 issue, pp. 8-12

“Creating Personally Significant Images”, Watercolor, Spring ’94 issue, pp. 14-17

Authored 8 catalogue entries, Brucke, German Expressionist Prints, – Specks Collection ’89

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Rachel Rubin Wolfe, Ed., Splash 11, New Directions, North Light Books, Cincinnati, OH, 2010, painting reproduced, p. 138

Christine M. Unwin, The Artistic Touch 4, Creative Art Press, Bloomfield, MI, 2010, painting reproduced p. 54.

Technical Editor, Watercolor Painting for Dummies, Hoboken, NJ, Publishing Inc., 2008

Betty Lou Schlemm, Watercolor Expressions: 125 Artists Create Moods with Brush and Paint, Gloucester, MA, Publishers, 1999. Painting reproduced p. 109

Susan Tellman and Marilynn Derwenskus, Words and Images, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, 1996, 25 poems and 25 paintings reproduced in full color

Rachel Rubin Wolfe, Ed. Splash 4, The Splendor of Light. North Light Books, Cincinnati, OH, 1996. Painting reproduced p. 57

Mary Ann Beckwith, Creative Watercolor, Rockport Publishers, Inc., Rockport, MA, 1996, paintings reproduced p. 75 and p. 113 

GRANTS

Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant

3 Indiana Arts Commission Grants

Lilly Faculty Open Fellowship

14 Ball State University Creative Arts Grants

Partners of the Americas Fellowship, Brazil

Arts Foundation of Michigan Grant

Michigan Council for Arts Creative Artist Grant

ARTISTS’ RESIDENCIES

Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT (12 years including 2 fellowships)

Connections Fellow, Mary Anderson Center for the Arts, Mt. St. Francis, IN

Alex Katz Associate, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL

Cummington Community of the Arts, Cummington, MA

EDUCATION

MFA, University of Chicago

MA, BFA, Wayne State University

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Tennessee Watercolor Society, Member

Southern Watercolor Society, Member

Nashville Artists Guild, Invited Member

Art Chap Artists, Founder

Michigan Water Color Society, Signature Member, Great Lakes Fellow, Past President and Newsletter Editor

International Society of Experimental Painters, Signature  Member, Dolphin Fellow, Past President

National Watercolor Society, Signature Member

Watercolor Society of Indiana, Signature Member, Cardinal Fellow, Previous Vice-President