Marlene Wood, Artist
Deerton, Michigan
posstroke@sbcglobal.net
847 791-8403
Profile
Marlene Wood is the past owner of Positive Strokes Art School and Gallery (Palatine, Illinois {2000 –
2018}), past president of TAG (The Art Guild of Palatine), and, presently, director of Zero Degrees Art
Gallery (Marquette, Michigan), and Chair of the Fresh Coast Plein Air Festival and Competition. She
has been teaching art to adults and children for over thirty-five years. Her passion is to teach in a way
that elicits personal self-discovery, emotion, and the unleashing of creative juices. The heart of
Marlene’s philosophy is that “if one can learn to see correctly, all else {in art} is both teachable and
obtainable”. Marlene brings with her a diverse art education and a positive and supportive approach to
teaching.
Marlene’s background includes study at The Palette and Chisel (Chicago, Illinois), Studio in the Woods
(Wauconda, Illinois) and workshops/instruction with many known artists such as Richard Schmid, Scott
Burdick, John Naylor, Bruno Serdo, and Jim Pollard. Much of her insight has also come from fellow
artist friends, students, and associates. Her past training and work in Clinical Psychology has helped her
to build and strengthen creativity and motivate her students through the use of a helpful, constructive,
and encouraging teaching style.
Marlene encourages students to see and draw correctly and to then move beyond that realm into personal
self-creativity, artistic progression, and experimentation with new mediums. Seasoned students are
encouraged to become dynamic artists through risk-taking and finding new ways to approach their
creative growth.
Presently teaching classes and workshops for Marquette Arts and Culture Center (Marquette, Michigan),
Bonifas Art Center (Escanaba, Michigan), and through her personal Studio, Positive Strokes Art Studio
(home and away workshops), Marlene focuses on oils, pastels, plein aire painting, and drawing. She has
also developed and oversees/teaches art programs at several outside agencies and educational facilities.
She has been selected to be part of a variety of community and fundraising projects and juried public art
displays.
As an artist member of Zero Degrees Art Gallery (Marquette, Michigan), Marlene displays and sells her
artwork and is presently the Gallery Director. She has been involved in Marquette Art Week, creating
3D community hands-on projects, is the coordinator of the Annual Plein Air Painting Competition
(Marquette, Michigan), a member of Lake Superior Art Association, and winner of several art show
awards. Her work can also be found in many private and public collections.
Artist Statement
Art is History! When I look around me, I feel the necessity to share the beauty, change, definition of
time, and life stories that forever exist and transform in both my personal world and the world I exist in.
People are my favorite – depicting their personalities and lives through obvious emotions, stature, and
their interactions to their surroundings. I find it more important to paint someone’s essence than to show
all their infinite details. One recognizes friends and strangers as they relate to who they are or might be
in terms of their individual makeup and character.
Landscapes will forever hold me in awe – their beauty, everchanging powers, and how they represent
the multitude of diversity that surrounds us. I love to travel, to paint landscapes that depict an area,
region, or the personality of what is around me. Water, in the form of oceans, lakes, rivers and wetlands,
is my favorite. It seems to embody nature’s diversity, as its movement represents constant change – like
our everchanging lives.
My recent move to the Lake Superior area in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan allows me to enjoy daily
diversity, create plein aire paintings on the shores of Lake Superior, and take in the wonderful art and
culture that is so alive here! This is where my heart is, my permanent home, and a special feeling, not
just a place, where I have traveled to for over 35 years. I never tire of the endless changes, the
uniqueness, and the sheer beauty of this area I now call home.