Is it possible that behind every artist destined for greatness there is a kitchen? Masters Picasso, DaVinci, Matisse, Van Gogh and Degas each painted pictures of seemingly mundane kitchen utensils, as well as kitchen scenes themselves. Could there be a connection? That silly thought ran through my head as this issue’s cover artist, Marcia Holmes, led me through her home to her studio–the kitchen. Everything I surmised an artist could want was there: paints, brushes, art supplies, easels, canvases, subject photos, CDs by the musician Sting, a Frigidaire, a cook top, and a dishwasher. Undoubtedly, an artist’s utopia!

In the studio/kitchen (Kitchendio? Studien?), Marcia had several projects underway. On one easel was work from the series of plein aire paintings she did while on a trip to St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. An enormous painting-in-progress of several horses running free was in the sunroom off the studio/kitchen (Kitstudien? Stukitchio?). Behind that were abstracts, portraits of family and friends, and obvious experiments that waited their turn for Marcia’s attention.

Walking back through the studio/kitchen (Stuchen? Kitdio? Sorry. I’ll stop now.), Marcia showed me more of her work. The depth and breadth of her portfolio was impressive, and one could easily assume that the paintings represented a lifetime of work. It was hard for me to believe that Marcia has only been painting since 1999.

Interestingly, though Marcia grew up in a creative family, surrounded by the arts, she never considered becoming a painter; she appreciated art, but never had the urge to pick up a brush and paint. Marcia’s mother, Arline Bailey Crews, is a successful artist; her father, Walter Bailey, is a builder of custom homes and a fine-furniture maker; and her sister, Linda Pfister, is a graphic designer in New Orleans. Marcia believes that by being exposed to creative people, participating in their conversations, observing them as they worked, and admiring their finished creations, she must have subliminally stored that knowledge away somewhere in her personality for a later time.

In spite of the artistic environment of her youth, Marcia entered college to earn a bachelor’s degree in what is arguably the next–to–least artistic profession: business administration. She got her master’s, entered the profession with probably the least artistic expression– accounting–-and worked as a certified public accountant for 20 years.

In the midst of a divorce, Marcia was encouraged to take up painting, if only as a distraction from the divorce. She says, “I was contemplating going back to work and decided to try my hand at art over the summer. I had recently been in touch with Muffin Speilman, who had been the featured artist when I co-chaired the Harvest Cup Polo event in 1998. She invited me to join an art group in New Orleans in the fall (of 1998), so I just started painting. Muffin inspired me, critiqued me (as did my mother) and gave me the confirmation I needed to show my work.” Very soon thereafter, Marcia had her first show at Antiques de Provence in Covington during the October 1999 Fall for Art coordinated gallery openings.

I gathered from talking to Marcia that her apparently spontaneous release of artistic expression was something akin to the Big Bang theory of the universe, in that one day she couldn’t paint, and then, BANG! The next day she could. Marcia laughed modestly at my analogy, but did admit that it seemed that way to her, as well.

That expression, it seems, is not limited to painting alone. For her work, “Mum’s Night Out,” Marcia was inspired by a dress that she had seen. The painting then inspired an original poem with the same title that literally came to Marcia in the middle of the night. “I had seen this beautiful, elegant dress and I had begun to work on a painting of it. Then I had a dream about it while the painting was in progress, and I woke up during the night and wrote the poem.” The painting is featured on the face of Marcia’s business cards, with the poem soon to be included on the reverse.

Marcia’s signature style, by her own admission, is still evolving. She describes it as “figurative and impressionistic, taking a subject from realism to abstraction. I am also painting realistically, but in my own style, with mixed media.” As a relatively new artist not yet jaded by years of dubious opinions on what works and what doesn’t, she is enthusiastic about experimenting with different media, often combining several different types together to see what the outcome will be. One unusual approach involved a composition made of melted beeswax dripped over stretched canvas. Summing up her artistic growth, Marcia says, “To try is the only way you can grow as an artist.”

Since she began painting professionally, her work has found its way into public and private collections throughout Louisiana and other Gulf states. Her paintings can be seen at restaurants, corporate offices and the St. Tammany Parish Courthouse on the northshore, and in an Austin, Texas gallery. Locally, Marcia is featured at Brunner Gallery in Covington. Though she had no formal training prior to becoming a professional, Marcia now studies several times a year with nationally recognized artists. Her work has earned her membership in several art societies, including the St. Tammany Art Association, the Alabama Pastel Society, and the Degas Pastel Society. She has held board memberships with the Hattiesburg Civic Arts Council and the Junior League of Greater Covington.

As we said our goodbyes and Marcia walked me to the front door, I caught a last glimpse of her kitchen/studio, and it inspired me, as well. I drove home, walked directly into my own studio/kitchen, pushed aside a pile of airplane parts that had been accumulating on the kitchen table (a story for another time), created a Ferdi po-boy and began to write this story. The kitchen is an artist’s utopia, indeed!

Marcia’s work is shown locally at Brunner Gallery in Covington. She accepts limited commission work, and can be reached at (985) 845-0331.

Copyright 2004, M&L Publishing, all rights reserved.