Marsha Glazière is an accomplished American sculptor, author, and contemporary mixed media painter. Her large paintings dramatically synthesize the recognizable in a semi-abstract style and masterfully incorporate colláge onto rich impasto surfaces. She transforms industrial metals into graceful, life-sized figures with exquisite detail. Glazière’s bas-relief paintings brilliantly showcase her diverse artistic aptitude. One can almost feel the emotion of her strong figures that literally project their message as they move beyond the traditional confinement of a frame.Glazière received a BFA degree from the University of Illinois where she studied painting and textiles. Her advanced studies include a Master's Painting Program under the direction of painter Nathan Oliveira of Stanford University, a Monotype Study Program under the direction of artist Michael Mazur of Yale University, and Anatomical Study at the University of Washington School of Medicine.Glazière’s artwork has been featured in over 150 exhibitions in museums, galleries, corporations, and universities throughout the world. Her work is also held in many private and public collections. Her work is held as part of the Permanent Collection of the NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, AmSouth Bank, Artbank, and the University of Washington. Glazière’s commissioned work includes a painting commemorating the 20-year anniversary of the achievements of Olympic Gold Medalist Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a life-sized bronze statue of a baseball player in honor of the Negro Baseball League, and the enormous 10’ x 14’ sculpted architectural friezes for the main entablature entrance of Bolles School. Her murals decorate the walls of the pediatric ward of the Grenada National Hospital in St Georges, Grenada, West Indies, and the Casa Colonial Hotel in Oaxaca, Mexico.Glazière is passionate about activism through art. She is astutely current on the global state of affairs and is often compelled to incorporate civil, political, and environmental concerns into her artwork as can be seen in Quake, Metamorphosis…. Bound, and Science….Dismissed. She states: “Illuminating the issues of our time through visual expression is a meaningful and artistic way to shed light on their importance.” Her most extraordinary artwork is 192″w x 69″h x16″d in size and contains eleven female figures draped in her own country’s flag. The spectacular artwork’s message is one of international peace. Glazière believes that we can achieve this type of peace by “reaching deep within ourselves, beyond borders, languages, doctrines, politics, culture, and the perceived need for territorial and ideological dominance to find and celebrate our human commonality in unity.”During Glazière’s three-year residency for the Seattle Public School District in Seattle, WA, she was the recipient of a grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development where she piloted and directed the Visual Arts Program for the City of Seattle’s Summer Youth Employment Program. She also received a Cultural Education Grant from the King County Arts Commission to teach art to urban-at-risk youth in the Seattle Public Schools in connection with United Indians of All Tribes Foundation and YouthCare, Inc.Glazière has held Visiting Artist positions in Oaxaca, Mexico on two different occasions, one of those sponsored by Rice University in Houston, TX. She has taught at the Bellevue Art Museum School in conjunction with Western Washington State University, as well as Florida International University and the University of North Florida.
My painting references and honors the Hopi Nation. It also pays homage to Judith Jamison, former principle dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. I have been fortunate enough to see her dance several times. Dimensions 48″w x 48″h MediumAcrylic mixed media on canvas.
Life on earth is in a precarious state. The world seems to be discharging so many climatic and human tragedies and there seems to be no letting up. Gradually an idea for a painting began to germinate. I knew what the title would be before I made a single mark on the canvas—Quake. Dimensions 54″w…
This past year of dealing with the viral pandemic has been a challenge for us all. I’m sure we all discovered just how much the e-charged world means to us. It has been our thread to every kind of connection–human, business, entertainment, and news. The lack of face-to-face contact with family and friends, the restrictions…
The Tasting Room – Farmer’s Market – Olympia, Wa These dancing goats in front of The Tasting Room represent a legend pertaining to the origin of coffee. Featured in my book, Eclectic Coffee Spots in Puget Sound. The original coffeehouse paintings are an assembláge of acrylic paint, charcoal, pastel, colored pencil and colláge. Dimensions14″w x…
The Ortega Bridge, considered a local historical landmark and is referred to as the Old Ortega Bridge located on the west side of Jacksonville. It sits at the mouth of the Ortega River, where it flows into the St. John’s River and features a fabulous view of the Jacksonville skyline, especially at sunset. The first…
My website has just been beautifully re-vamped and I feel the urge to get back to blogging. Our chaotic and troubled times are influencing my thoughts and my work more and more, specifically environmental concerns. To me these concerns have become increasingly and clearly political—influenced by greed and ignorance. America has always been the promise…