ARTIST OF THE MONTH - July 2007
MARNIE TARBELL
Ga-noh-la-gus

Painting, drawing

Mohawk Nation / Turtle Clan / Off-reservation
born: February 15, 1972

Marnie Tarbell first started drawing as a way to keep herself occupied, but over time her art began to assume much greater importance to her life.  It has since become a vehicle for her spiritual growth.  Drawing is a way to look inside herself, and a way of getting something out.  Color is a particularly strong passion for her.  She loves to mix colors and her creations are vibrant with rich tones.  Creating is at once spiritual and intuitive.  She does not approach the blank page with preconceptions.  When she sits down to create, she first says a prayer, and then allows whatever is inside of her to appear on the page.  Marnie’s mother, Tammy Tarbell, is a well known ceramic artist, and has been Marnie’s main influence as an artist.  Marnie is a self-taught artist, although she plans to study art in college.  She completed a GED instead of high school and has taken a class at the Haskell Indian Nations Jr. College.

The themes in Marnie’s work revolve around women, being Native American, and living with your feet in more than one world.  Her Three Sisters series have been very popular, as are her cityscape silhouettes.  When she visually expresses these themes, she imports emotion as well as beauty into the work.  Recently she has begun to work in oils, and on a larger scale than previously.  A young Mohawk woman with much talent, Marnie has just begun her career as an artist.

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