We were lucky to catch up with Marla Faith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Marla, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

They let me play. They gave my crayons to entertain myself. I spent time alone outside looking at the clouds and in my room drawing. They never stopped me from expressing myself, even when I drew them as monsters. They encouraged me and hung my art on their walls. They let me go to the college of my choice to ‘follow my bliss.’ Rather than putting expectations on me, they allowed me space to discover. My mother signed me up for a 6 week summer art school in Paris when I was 16. I had freedom to explore to see art and to make it, as a teenager in Chicago. They respected my independence.

Marla, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a visual artist who loves color and capturing the soul of someone in oil portrait painting. I have always made art, and have enjoyed teaching studio art and art history in public and private schools and at museums in Nashville, Chicago, and New York. When painting a portrait, I take dozens of photographs of my subject to find the one that will make the best painting. The light, color, composition, environment, clothing, and additional items all tell something about the person. I want to make a living portrait rather than render a staid likeness. I’ve included pets and large families in my portraits. I have learned by doing, practicing and improving over the years. I received a BFA from The School Of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an MS (in museum leadership) from Bank Street College. I have learned mainly by looking at great art, and losing myself in painting, trying to make the best painting that I can. My work is expressionistic and realistic, but not traditional or photo realistic. My favorite figure painters are Suzanne Valadon, Sorrolla, and John Singer Sargent, as well as Van Gogh and Gauguin.

I also make highly personal symbolic drawings and mixed media collages. They sometimes serve as prayers for peace for specific events in the world. These are healing to create and hopefully healing to look at. My mixed media collages use all kinds of scraps, including my previous art, and act as a form of meditative play. The drawings are like small psychological mirrors of soul stories and personal journeys, which can be ‘read.’ Symbolism from several spiritual and cultural traditions often appear in my art, mixed with my own visual language. I have great respect and admiration for Buddhist art, Inuit art, Pahari miniature painting, and Romare Bearden’s collages.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Don’t give up, most skill and talent comes with time, not automatically. Improvement in one’s art form takes patience, practice, perseverance, and passion. One must get out of one’s own way and let go of self judgements. You do it because you love to do it, there is no other reason. Perhaps someone compliments you when you’re a child and you feel encouraged. Maybe you are bored and doodle to pass the time. The more one practices anything, one fine tunes it, like becoming a good cook or a flexible dancer. No one told me I wasn’t ‘good” at art and so I continued to play. I found it to be a mirror to how I was feeling, and that I could visually express emotional states. Art making was a life saver for me.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

To bring more truth, love, and beauty into the world. To reflect the enormous beauty I experience, and to uplift people and myself through what I create, and how I teach. Art is a spiritual path for me. Go to an art museum and it’s like being in a cathedral, where people stand in silent awe before an artwork that touches their soul. My mission is to be a conduit for the truest creative expression to flow through me and onto the canvas or paper. I believe that art has healing potential for those who make it and for those who view it. Something mystical happens when one is painting without ego, when one can disappear and allow something true and beautiful to take form.

Contact Info:

• Website: marlafaith.com
• Instagram: marla.faith

Image Credits
1. Exhibit at Nashville Airport, autumn 2023