About Marla
Hi, I am Marla. I am a painter, illustrator and a surface pattern designer.
My love of art goes back as far as I can remember, I have always drawn and painted. Having grown up in the beautiful islands of Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, I am naturally drawn to vibrant colours, and rich textures. My main inspiration is nature. I am especially drawn to the flowers and birds in my garden.
My artistic career did not follow a straight path by any means! I moved to Montreal, Canada in 1968 with my small family. While raising my children in the countryside of Joliette, Quebec, I ran a small cottage industry creating silk paintings, scarves and kimonos. I studied graphic design and illustration and am old enough to remember those days when everything was hand painted and text was applied using letraset dry transfer decals.
I then took a huge detour in my career path!
In my late forties, I was offered the opportunity to learn to fly and a new passion was born! I earned my Private Pilot Licence and became known as the “painter pilot”, flying around the Quebec countryside and setting up my easel and paints to capture the scenes that I had seen from the sky. I was offered a job as a flight instructor and I added Commercial Pilot Licence and Flight Instructor to my ticket. A 20 plus year career followed working with my partner running a small flying school which eventually lead to small aircraft design and manufacturing. My art was side lined and was reduced to short periods of sketching or doodling as a means of relaxation and decompressing from my very stressful occupation.
At 68 my partner and I sold the business and retired and I decided to return to my love of painting. I soon discovered however, that technology had taken art to unimaginable heights. The world of digital art was now available. This was an exciting new discovery for me, and I set about learning everything I could about producing art and designs on the computer. I am now in my late 70s, and I am comfortable with Photoshop, Illustrator, social media, and iPad art - all self taught. I have an Etsy Shop and sell prints of my original paintings, and I produce original mixed media art on paper and canvas. My pattern designs decorate pillows, textiles, wallpaper and a host of other items. I am currently exploring an abstract intuitive style, but feel that I am just getting started. It is never too late to learn, and I am enthusiastic and excited about where I will be led next. I hope that I can look forward to many more years of productive and creative endeavours.
