Paintings. "I have really only recently felt that I might have found my feet in a paint medium" says artist Marlene Carpenter. Her constant struggle has been to find a connection or common ground between drawing and painting. It really was a watershed moment when a collegue commented "but your paintings are just like your drawings." This is a goal that she is continuously working towards and keeps ticking over in the background.
Prints. Artist residency programs have added greatly to her resource pool, with added exposure and introduction to international artists and their studio practices and exhibitions. Creative print workshops, with shared access to printing presses and knowledgeable assistants, is another one of Marlene's much loved activities. Dry-point etching and mono printing are top of the list.
Drawings. Marlene's studio is always well stocked with rolls of paper. The cutting, flattening, gesso-ing and stretching of paper is all part of the process to enable the making her drawings. The large scale of her drawings and a mix of homemade charcoal sticks and powders and life drawing sessions are all important material elements.