ABOUT THE ARTIST Marilyn Holmes is a native of Des Moines, Iowa and a graduate of the University of Iowa at Iowa City, Iowa. She began painting in oils while she lived and worked in New York City before moving to Denver, Colorado. She is a long-time journalist who began painting in watercolor in 2006, when she lost much of her eyesight to macular degeneration (AMD). The disease destroyed her central vision which made both reading and writing difficult. It also affected her depth perception and color distinctions,

Although her eyes are damaged, Marilyn considers herself fortunate to retain her peripheral vision. Shapes and colors are often distorted and objects at a distance are blurred. The AMD forced her to paint loosely. Marilyn has always been attracted to impressionism and vibrant colors. Instead of striving for precise images, she likes to interpret landscapes and scenes in a free-flowing style and let her imagination compensate for minute details she has difficulty seeing, she tries to capture the essence of the place or object rather than the reality.

Marilyn has studied primarily with Cheryl St. John, Patricia Barr Clarke, Rick Brogan and Rita Derjue. Since the first watercolor Marilyn entered in a juried exhibit was accepted, she was encouraged to continue painting and exhibiting. In addition to working with them, Marilyn particularly enjoys painting in the unique New Mexico light.

She credits a great deal of her motivation to her late brother-in-law, noted author and artist R.V. Cassill, her identical twin sister, author and artist Kay Cassill and most of all to the critical eye of her late daughter, Vivian Holmes.

EXHIBITIONS PRIVATE AND CORPORATE COLLECTIONS
• Denver, Colorado
• Saline, Michigan
• San Diego, California
• Truro, Massachusetts

MEDIA REVIEWS
May 2008 North Denver News article by Rachel Pollock

Critics have called Marilyn’s painting "lively, loose and spontaneous, impressionistic and whimsical, sensuous with lush color, fresh and atmospheric with a sense of wonder, mystical, and fun."