Marilyn Hayes

Barbara Heile studied painting and received degrees (BA76 and MFA82) at American University in Washington, D.C. during a time when the faculty was still grounded and sensitive to the tradition of painting as embodied by artists who worked in a visual and refined expressive process.

She works primarily in oil and cold wax and began exploring acrylics in 2022.

Any medium that affords her a visual and painterly way into relationship with what she is feeling - and open to seeing - is her path.

Her approach is truly Aquarian in nature. Her work is original and she is open to the new; honoring of tradition she is not held by it. In earlier years the landscape had her full attention. This gave way to her interest in the abstract surface for its own sake, as expressive paint. The inner landscape of her felt sense is at present her main subject where new shapes come into painted form.

The paintings express joy and freedom and a depth of stillness through the healing qualities of color and light.

The directness and spontaneity of her approach, often using her hand directly to move the paint, can be felt in the surface and in the free interplay of color. She sees her way of painting as a path of expressive contemplation and is grateful for this way of loving the world as a visual artist.

Barbara has been actively showing in group and one person shows since the early 1980‘s and is a familiar face among artists in Rappahannock County. She enjoyed three years teaching Drawing and Painting at Lord Fairfax Community College in Warrenton, VA. Until its closing in 2015, she kept an active and open studio at River District Arts in Sperryville Her daily studio work now takes place at home.

Her natural call to painting supports her wish to share the experience of the mystery we all live in as human beings. A lifelong meditation practice supports the silent depth you can experience in even her smallest paintings. Her paintings have found homes around the world.

Being the mother of three independent and creative sons, raised in Rappahannock County, is by far her most rewarding life experience.

Barbara keeps an active diary of her work in progress on Instagram @bheileart ~~~thank you for looking! ~~~

MARILYN HAYES

The images in my encaustic monotypes are memories and imaginary inner reflections of significant features in the environments/locations where I live or have visited. The power and energy of certain features in the landscapes — the hills, mountains, skies, clouds, and water fascinate me. Working in encaustic wax monotypes enables me to transfer the essence of what I have seen or heard from my unconscious memory to the images in the prints. The bold color and movement in the work reflect my sensory and imaginary experiences and the swirling energy of the natural world.

The work reflects my love of and connection with nature, especially in the Blue Ridge foothills and my experiences and the unseen power and energy of the natural features of places I have visited.

BIOGRAPHY

Marilyn Hayes lives in Arlington, VA and has a second home place in Madison County, VA in the foothills of the Blue Ridge. She has been exhibiting her work since 1999 after studying at the Washington Studio School and continues exhibiting in the greater Washington DC area as well as in Virginia.

http://www.hayesartsstudio.com/