Personal expression and the creative process using the exploration of color, light and motion, best represent why I am drawn to making art.
I remember picking up a pencil and drawing as a kid. My middle school years were spent in Rome, Italy, where I was exposed to a wide variety of art and artists. I filled tablets with sketches and watercolors and started cartooning. In high school, I was the cartoonist and artist for the school paper and continued to sketch and paint for pleasure. It was natural for me to pursue a degree in studio art at the college level. I received a degree in Fine Arts from Humboldt State University.
Breaking news: This image was banned from the show by GOO. It was removed from the wall after it had been hung in the activist section of the show. It is still for sale. Half of the proceeds will be donated to the local chapter of 350.org or a similar NGO that fights local fossil fuel development.
Maybe it is my interest in all maritime related topics and the conduction of human behavior, misbehavior and the environment. I present here a selection of my pirate-related images for your enjoyment (or rejection!).
Michael Marzolla’s work explores his fascination with color, light, space, shape, movement and the creative process. The terms that best describe his motivation to make art are learning to look and learning to see using the freedom of abstract expression. He is an inspired eclectic.
Michael was born in Oakland, CA. and spent his early childhood in the Bay Area. In 1958, his family moved to Rome, Italy, which inspired his artistic endeavors. As a child, he spent hours drawing and painting and began cartooning and illustrating in middle school in Rome. He returned to the States in 1962, and attended high school in Long Beach, CA., where he became the cartoonist and illustrator for the school newspaper. After high school, Michael served in the US Coast Guard, and then majored in art at Humboldt State University, where he studied under Jim Anderson, Leslie Price and Stephen Daley. He graduated in 1973, with a degree in Fine Arts. He served in the Peace Corps from 1973 to 1977, in Guatemala, Central America. Michael’s assignment included developing educational illustrations and cartoons. In Guatemala, he met and traveled with the painter and sculpture, Peter A. Bradley, who encouraged his eclectic style. After the Peace Corps, he attended graduate school at UMass in Amherst, Massachusetts, and majored in non-formal international education. He then worked in Lesotho, Southern Africa with a local community education organization and his assignment included the training of the organization’s local artist/illustrator team. Michael has lived in Santa Barbara since 1983. Michael had a 30 year career as an educator with the University of California.
He is now focused on painting, drawing and photography. He exhibits with the Abstract Art Collective.
Influences: Goya and El Greco, Turner, HonoréDaumier. Morris Graves, Sam Francis, Hockney, Rothko, Stella, Morris Louis, Motherwell, Peter Bradley, and the Mexican muralists Ribera, Orzoco and Siquieros. Cartoonists R. Crumb, Danny O’Neill, Ralph Steadman, Bill Mauldin, Walt Kelly.
“Bandera Negra”, acrylic on canvas, 18”x24”x1.5”© 2014 A. Michael Marzolla $850.00
