We were lucky to catch up with Velvet Marshall recently and have shared our conversation below.
Velvet, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
Growing up in a household with parents that were working artist, intuitively I followed their example. As a child, instead of a lemonade stand, I had an art table of my watercolor and crayon drawings for sell. Individual paintings would go for 25 cents and a triptych would sell for a dollar. I’d rally the neighbor kids and put on plays and theater productions for which I’d charge the neighbors admission. The profits came in handy as my ice cream money. Growing up I had many creative interest dreaming of one day becoming an artist, a ballerina, a classical violinist, a rocket scientist or an astronaut. In my 20s I fell into a modeling career which I pursued until my 30s when I decided to change course. I went back to school and started working secretarial jobs for various corporations. In 2008, I had been working as a executive administrator for a global brokerage firm when the financial crisis happened and like many people I found myself laid off and out of work. This brought me full circle and it was then I decided I would create my own art business using the tools that I had picked up along the way.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I am a visual artist with years of painting experience, teaching art, gallery exhibitions, exhibition management, financing, marketing and curating. I possess a strong theoretical foundation in art and I have solid academic qualifications. I am a second generation American painter and artist born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Originally trained in a classical, realistic style mentored at an early age by my father, Chet Marshall, a leading Disney artist who produced artwork for posters, watch faces, consumer products, and theme parks merchandise. I later developed an appreciation for the more progressive work of painters both American and European in the modern abstract expressionist movement which I utilize in my work creating an effect that is very textured and sensitive to luminosity to predict various aspects of experiences in life with the primary use of mediums such as oil paint, roofing tar, latex, watercolor, tea and common household mediums used in daily life.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
At the age of seven my father was brutally murdered in our family home. His murder has gone unsolved for 49 years. My mother struggled after my father’s death and as the oldest of two children, I took on a lot of adult responsibilities at a very early age. My sister and I were in and out of foster care until I turned 18 and became my sister’s legal guardian. I grew up under this dark cloud of fear, loss and victimization that left its mark on my entire life. Until five years ago, when by coincidence, I was able to make contact with retired detective Tom Lange who worked on my father’s homicide case. With Mr. Lange’s help and the information he provided me with I was able to reopen my father’s murder investigation and finally confront my biggest fear, my father’s alleged killer. The killer was my father’s old business partner who murdered my father with the motive to collect $350K from my dad’s life insurance policy. I found this selfish,violent man who had caused so much grief to my family, old and alive on social media of all places. Armed with new DNA technology, homicide detectives and the district attorneys office, I felt confident that justice would finally be served until my father’s killer succumbed to cancer early this year. Homicide detectives were unable to close the case because of the killers death but confident they had their man. So they did something extraordinary and allowed me to recover from the evidence lockup my father’s final possessions. This included my father’s missing family heirloom ring, which my father always wore. I wear it with pride on my finger now. The experience has helped me to close a chapter in my life so I can finally move past it.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I love that I can express things and emotions with art that I can’t express in words. Some feelings and stories go beyond words.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.velvetmarshall.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/velvet_marshall_fine_art?igshid=ZDdkNTZiNTM=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089451840627&mibextid=ZbWKwL
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/velvet-marshall-03540172
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/velvetmarshall?t=I93Od33v-nuYKelMYKQehg&s=09
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@VelvetMarshall
Image Credits
These photos were taken by friends