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marie@mariefox.com
Culling Cranberries and Catching Fireflies
USAir Magazine
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Testimonials
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 Art has always 'floated my boat'. Growing up by the Bluefish River and sailing our red catboat, I took in visual stimulation from the historic structures of Duxbury, Massachusetts and a landscape painted by the seasons. My imagination flowered in the colorful garden of stories recounted by my family. Anecdotes passed down from one Marie to another through three generations helped me inhabit the past as living history.
I began my folk art paintings in 1985 after ten years in Southern California as an art restorer and quiltmaker, professions which trained me in patience and precision. On returning home to New England, I was newly entranced by its history, weather, whimsical architecture and intimate spaces. I was celebrating my 40th birthday and Duxbury its 350th. Duxbury made me feel so young that I felt inspired to capture its past in paintings whose every corner tells a story. Each work is designed to move the viewer through space and history.
When painting an image, I live in its world where meaningful details speak to my senses. I can retrieve a childlike quality which animates these small dramas. I try for a story frame which rewards many viewings and hope my work will create a sense of well-being as it reminds viewers of their own favorite people, places, and times. I have that same feeling in creating it.
Here are a few answers to questions about my artistic style, inspiration, history and technique. Imagine sitting down with me over a cup of tea as I give you context for my work.
Folk Art Style
Artistic Inspiration
Artistic Journey
Painting Technique
GALLERIES
- Sailor's Valentine Gallery, Nantucket, MA
- Newbury Fine Arts, Boston, MA
- Gallery Two, Woodstock, VT
- City Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- Dassin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Frank J. Miele Gallery, New York, NY
- Fraser Fox Fine Art, Charleston, SC
COMMISSIONED PAINTINGS
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The White House Christmas Tree, 1986
- Commissioned by the White House
- Presented to President and Mrs. Reagan during televised Lighting of The National Christmas Tree Ceremony.
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Hand-painted wooden Easter Egg, 1987
- By invitation of First Lady Nancy Reagan
- Egg displayed at the White House Easter Egg Roll
“The egg you created delighted thousands of children...You can be sure it had a very special place of honor in the White House Easter Egg showcase.”
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Nancy Reagan, May 29, 1987
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Historic Plymouth, 1987
- Created for Plimoth Plantation, MA
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A Celebration of The Arts, 1990
- Featured artist for Maryland arts festival
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The Freedom Trail, 1995
- The Freedom Trail Foundation, Boston, MA
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The Frog Pond on The Boston Common, 1998.
- Created for Boston Mayor Thomas Menino
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The White House Christmas Tree, detail
Historic Plymouth
The Frog Pond
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PRESS
- The White House
- Featured artist at nationally televised tree-lighting ceremony.
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Boston Globe, “Honored, Marie Fox of Duxbury”
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Boston Herald, “Painting her way to D.C., Bay State artist chosen for fete”
- Los Angeles Times
- Today Show
- Duxbury: 1637-1987, print displayed by Willard Scott, 1987
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A Celebration of the Arts, print shown by Scott, 1990
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Country Living Magazine
- Catching Fireflies on cover, 1990
- Selected for “Country Classics You Can Buy” 1991
- USAir magazine, 1993
- Cover and feature article: “Culling Cranberries and Catching Fireflies”
- Read Article
- Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau
- Cover of
MasterList, 1998
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 Marie, Willard Scott, Jim Nabors
Duxbury: 1637-1987, detail
Cover of
US Air, July 1993
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PUBLISHED ARTWORK
- Panasonic corporate calendar:13 images
- Also in Japan: poster, jigsaw puzzle, department store calendar
- Bigelow Tea Company: print
- Lang Graphics: notecards
- Country Curtains: prints
- Bostonopoly: jigsaw puzzle
- Washington Post: illustration
- Prima Designs: advent calendar
- Duxbury Rural and Historical Society: book illustration
- Maryland Art Festival: Featured artist, limited edition print
- Historic Boston poster: over 35,000 sold
- Duxbury 1637-1987: 8,000 sold
- Historic Plymouth: 10,000 sold
- Stave Puzzles: wooden jigsaw puzzles: current
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Snowy Night, detail
Sweetser’s General Store, detail |
SCHOOLING
- 1967: B.A. With Distinction in Art History, Wellesley College
- 1967-70: Studied sculpture at Rhode Island School of Design
- 1973: Awarded 3-year Ford Foundation/National Endowment For The Arts Grant to study art conservation
- 1976: M.A. in Art Conservation, Oberlin College
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Picture Day, detail
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WORK
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- 1970: Co-founded and taught in Newport Summer Arts Program, Newport, R.I.
- 1971-72: Year-long traveling exhibit of Russian art, Russian Crafts in Ancient Times and Today; set up and managed retail shops in 6 major museums across the U.S.
- 1972-73: Designed and purchased exhibit-related items for schoolchildren to buy at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- 1980-85: Art Conservator for private collectors; hand-dyed silk clothing: designed, constructed and sold internationally
- 1986-present: Quilter, painter and publisher of fine art
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Sewing Lesson, detail
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ABOUT THE PRINTMAKER
 Supervising the printing of my art is husband and business partner, Bob. For nearly 30 years Bob has been in the printing and graphic arts business. Over the last decade he has directed the production of books, calendars, greeting cards, and hundreds of other high-end products for publishers across the United States. When we met, I had no idea that Bob had the professional skills to make my folk art paintings into fine art prints.
Another happy coincidence was Bob’s familiarity with Duxbury. Not my hometown of Duxbury, Massachusetts, but Duxbury Reef which is located 20 miles north of San Francisco. As a marine biology student in the late 1960’s, Bob spent a summer closely inspecting life in the reef’s tidal pools during very low tide. The reef is underwater most of the time and was certainly invisible to the crew of the ship Duxbury which ran aground there one night in 1849. The three-masted ship, built in 1833 near my girlhood home, soon floated free, leaving only its name behind. What romantic serendipity for us!
During his college years Bob became involved in several major land conservation efforts. Seeing the danger of runaway development in urban Marin county, which skirts the north shore of San Francisco Bay, he started a two year campaign to establish a Regional Park District. In 1971 County Measure A was passed and the district created. In the thirty-five years since, it has preserved over 20,000 acres.
At the same time Bob also joined the effort to establish the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. He became the Marin County Chairman of this group and, because of his familiarity with the county, was called upon to draw the boundaries used in the legislation that established the park in 1973. He is proud that with the creation of the park it became possible to walk on public lands from San Francisco to the tip of the Point Reyes peninsula 45 miles distant.
Since graphic arts was one of the first fields totally changed by the introduction of the personal computer, Bob was no stranger to this technology. In 2000 he joined the fairly new site Match.com to explore the possibility of finding love the high-tech way. Two years and many first date stories later he met me.
Less than two months after our first online meeting, I flew from Los Angeles to meet Bob. Over dinner the first night he asked me if I would like “....to see some one-room schoolhouses?” This turned out to be the perfect pickup line! The next day our long drive through rural Marin County included stops at three such treasures. It ended with a promising goodnight kiss.
We married four months later in Duxbury in the steepled church pictured in the print Skating Party. Years earlier when I was painting the wintry scene, I little imagined marrying there. But on that beautiful August day, we both knew we’d stepped into a story I might have painted.
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