About Marianne A Lake George area resident of over 45 years, Marianne has been capturing the natural beauty of the lower Adirondacks in her watercolor art for the past 25 years. Marianne discovered her artistic ability at a very early age. At the young age of six, she was already carrying a sketch pad and pencil to draw objects and scenes that caught her attention. Throughout her childhood and into adulthood, she took numerous drawing classes utilizing a wide variety of medias and materials. Marianne first tried watercolor painting in high school on Long Island. The medium was a great match for her "impatient" personality. "Oils and acrylics took far too long to prepare, work with and dry," says Marianne. "When an opportunity arose, I wanted to begin painting immediately. With watercolor paint, all I needed was a few seconds to fill a container with water and I could begin work. A few minutes after - the painting was dry." Later, as a mother of eight children (and grandmother to sixteen grandchildren), Marianne found free time to be even more scarce - furthering her interest in the medium's quick accessibility. Marianne began taking formal instruction in the art of watercolor painting as her children became older and more independent. Her first instructor was Tad Januszkiewicz, a formally trained artist from Poland residing in Glens Falls. "Tad was a talented, sweet and entertaining man," says Marianne. "The students would paint objects and rooms inside his home studio, and also tulips and other flowers in his backyard off Glenwood Avenue on warmer days." Tad felt strongly that watercolor art was quite challenging as a medium. He would often state, "If you can do watercolor, you can do anything!" Years later, Marianne studied under John Gallucci, one of the area's most famous watercolor artists. John is perhaps best known for his works depicting the 1980 Winter Olympics held in nearby Lake Placid. John offered instruction over weekend retreats to his home in Silver Bay on Lake George. John's style was more softer and free flowing than Marianne's, allowing her to explore various different techniques for extracting and abstracting imagery in her subjects. Despite the free flowing influences of both Tad and John, Marianne prefers a more "realist" style of interpretation. "My style has been refined primarily based on the feedback of my family, friends and customers," says Marianne. "I like to create paintings that people can enjoy not only for its own artistic beauty - but also to recall their own personal fond memories of the painting subject. This is such a beautiful area. People enjoy capturing and taking a little bit of it home with them." -{peony}-