Marilyn Williamson

Botanical Drawing and Still Life

Marilyn's childhood interest in art continued through two years of college art instruction. After pursuing an entirely different career, Marilyn returned to art in 2004 after Carol Sutherland, art teacher and mentor, encouraged her to resume drawing.

Marilyn has studied drawing with Sutherland for four years, drawing orchids, trees and tropical plants at the Atlanta Botanical Garden in graphite, ink and colored pencil. Other recent classes and workshops include Botanical and Still LIfe Drawing and Watercolor with Carla House at Callanwolde Art Center, Colored Pencil Drawing with Mark Menendez at GAHA, Watercolor and Drawing with Ken Umbach, Drawing with Coleen Sterling, and Pastels with Marsha Savage (the last three at BRMAA).

Marilyn's work has been exhibited at the Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association Holiday Sale, 2006; Druid Hills (Atlanta) Tour of Homes Artists' Market, Spring 2007; St. Luke's Episcopal Church (Blue R3/6/10a Botanical Garden Student Show, January-March, 2008; the Gilmer Arts and Heritage Association show, "Out of the Woods," April 2008; and the "Key Ingredients Regional Juried Show" at GAHA, October 2008.

Marilyn says, "After I retired from a long career as an academic librarian, I renewed a lifelong interest in art and began to draw and paint flowers, trees and still life. Portraying three-dimensional subjects in two dimensions has become my way of more fully appreciating the natural world and sharing my perceptions with others."

Residents of Cherry Log, Marilyn and her husband have been involved in the Blue Ridge area for about 15 years and are almost full time residents now.

After beginning college as an art major, Marilyn switched to English. She received her B.A. degree from Agnes Scott College, her Master of Librarianship from Emory and her M.A. in American Libry. Marilyn is a member of Southern Appalachian Artist Guild, Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association, Gilmer Arts and Heritage Association, and Atlanta Botanical Garden.