My name is Marie, I grew up in Ansbach, a traditional Bavarian town in Germany. It was there I discovered a world of creative possibilities. As a young girl, I spent hours watching my father's hands intermingle common kitchen ingredients - flour, butter, sugar - sifting, stirring, and molding, as if by magic, until delightful artistic pastries and cakes arrived. He was well known in our village for his artfully delicious bakery treats. As I matured, I also grew inspired to create, choosing to express my artistic side a little differently.
Throughout my life, I was fascinated with the Old Masters, Renoir, Matisse and Van Gough. When abstract reached the art world, I admired the color combinations and the unrestrained expression as it represented freedom. I have never been good at boundaries; I am an explorer at heart. I came to the United States at twenty-one on my own and it's that same adventurous spirit that drives me to create in a variety of genres -realistic, abstract, impressionist - even photography.
I also enjoy several mediums: watercolor, pastel, acrylic, oil - each offers a different experience of fluidity, surprise, depth of color, control (or lack of it). Every stroke creates a different outcome. I enjoy working with a variety of tools as well; laying the colors on the canvas and watching the painting come alive. As each image begins to appear, I begin pushing, blending, shaping, much like my father did with his pastries. And when it's complete before me, I see something emotional and meaningful. There may be joy, sadness, anger, calm - but there is always meaning in all of it. And that's what I want to share.
I take my inspiration from the world around me. In some of my work, I like to push the limits by combining realism with abstract, contemporary with impressionism. Although painting landscapes brings me much joy, the love to express my emotions through colors in abstract is still my favorite painting style.
I hope you will enjoy my paintings as much as I have enjoyed creating them.
" Today Marianne Eichenbaum lives in Gilroy, California. She is an award winning, internationally recognized Artist.Her works are held in private collections in Europe and the United States and shown in a variety of exhibits in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, and Southern California, Carousel du Louvre, Paris, Cantania, Italy, Wunder Kammer, Palermo, Italy, Museu Europeu d' Art Modern in Barcelona, and many other venues in Italy, Germany, and Spain. As one Collector commented,
"She is one artist whose work will always offer one beautiful surprise after another"
