Marcia Milner-Brage: Symposium Participant

Spelled like Marsha, but pronounced Mar-seee-ah. I live in Cedar Falls, Iowa. I've drawn my whole life, through good times and bad. In my distant past, I taught art to children, college students, and seniors; I exhibited my work in solo and group shows and received an occasional commission. But for 22 of the past 25 years, my day job was managing my husband's medical practice; my everyday job was raising 2 children. We retired 3 years ago and my children are successfully launched, allowing me to draw even more than ever. Whoopeee!!!!

In April 2010, I discovered Urban Sketchers. The timing was perfect: I needed an artist community, a place to share my work and gain inspiration from other artists. Urban Sketchers has been a real gift to me. Dare I say it's changed my life? It's re-energized my drawing practice. I am SO excited about the Symposium in Portland, meeting and learning from the presenters and other participants. The only thing better than making art is making art in the company of friends. A personal goal: I'm hoping to learn how to get essential information down faster in my drawings, to be "sketchier".

I tend to jump around from medium to medium---ink, pastel, watercolor, gouache, charcoal, pencil. It's going to be a challenge for me to figure out what tools to bring to Portland. Here's some recently done drawings posted to Urban Sketchers:

Cornfield from Lone Tree Road, Cedar Falls, Iowa

My Washing Machine

Indian Lake County Park Meadow, Dane County, Wisconsin

Bike Path Under Main Street Bridge, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Canada Geese, George Wyth State Park, Cedar Falls, Iowa

If you'd like to get a gander of more of what I've done: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49028620@N04/

I also write short personal essays. My essay, "First Drawing", will be published in Manifest Gallery's International Drawing Annual (INDA5), forthcoming this fall. If you can't wait until then, you can read it now on my writing blog: http://venusatthecheckout.blogspot.com/ (While you're there, "Shipwrecked", an earlier posted essay, was published in an anthology about childbirth loss. My drawing, "Stillbirth on Black Paper", is the cover art. http://mourningsicknessbook.blogspot.com )

--Marcia