Wendy Marquis of MuralQuest talks about the emotional payoff of being an artist, how to make it work on and offline, and the process of collaboration and constructing one of her timeless images. She is a great example of an artistic multitasker- she does everything from faux finishes to huge murals! This chessboard table top was created for the New Hampshire Music Festival Showhouse. Wendy used colors to blend with fabrics in the room.
What’s your practice like?
At present, my practice consists of several different elements.
1. My most favorite is part is creating acrylic paintings on canvas of vintage trucks set in the Montana landscape. I have started a new chapter in my business with this in mind, called “Vintage Art Montana”. I also print giclees and greeting cards from these images. After painting big murals for years, I have really been relishing creating smaller pieces where I can really get into more detail and realism.
2. My newest creative endeavor consists of building and painting hand painted serving trays using some of these images as well.
3. Another element of my practice consists of cutting and painting rustic metal hearts out of corrugated metal.
4. I have also been doing faux finishing and murals which was the bread and butter of my business for the last 10 years until 2006, when I moved to Montana and the economy took a nosedive.
Your website, MuralQuest, has a really clear layout and is easy to navigate and view all the pictures, as well as see all the different ways that you present your work. How did you put the website together? Where is it hosted? What would you tell other artists who would like to follow your example?
Muralquest is hosted through a local company. I would tell artists to do as much as they can by themselves because it is much less expensive. My website has been a fantastic tool to showcase my work. Especially when I was faux finishing a lot. It serves as a great introduction to me and my work and saves me time running to peoples homes right away.
Are you new to Twitter? How have you found the experience so far?
I am only into a couple months of using Twitter. I think it’s a blast. I love how you can only type a limited number of characters. It’s wonderfully fast moving and people have to just “cut to the chase”. I love the fact that I am interacting with other artists and business people and getting connected with local businesses as well!I also enjoy how it gets me out of the scope of my local area and into the great big world! This is very healthy and inspiring for me because I spend a lot of time in my little studio in Churchill, Montana, which is a tiny little town 20 minutes outside of Bozeman, so I feel quite isolated. It helps me socialize! I have trouble thinking of enough to say, though…
Your work is very consistent, even the commissions. How do you keep your artistic vision while collaborating with clients and interior designers?
I keep my artistic vision by staying centered on my ethics and my vision of good taste. It’s kind of like doing yoga. You have to stay centered and balanced while moving all of your body parts without falling over. I work hard at listening to what my client wants. I believe strongly in striving to create what they see as their vision in combination with my artistic view and sense of timeless beautiful art that people will love for a long time. I go into a job knowing that the client is trusting in me to be the expert, and I have a responsibility to live up to that.
How do you price your work?
I am trying to come up with a $ per inch formula for my paintings and prints… It doesn’t always work and I have to tweak things constantly. With my murals and faux, I look at time and materials and come up with a job fee.
How do you make most of your sales? Word-of-mouth, collaborations with others, online?
My sales of my paintings have been through the Coop Gallery that I am in,called The Artists’ Gallery, LivAspenArt Gallery in Aspen,local farmers markets, Art Festivals and word of mouth. Oh, and I also displayed some work in 2 Parade of Homes…
I am working to strengthen my online presence through “Facebook” and “Twitter” as well. I have also been using “I Contact” for e mail marketing. I work really hard on these emails but it seems like such a large percentage of them never get read. I am not sure how well it really is working for me. I am thinking of perhaps doing it through my own email program and bagging the service.
You have a very thorough process when working with clients- from developing a sketch to the final product. Could you talk a little about how your process goes and how it makes collaboration run more smoothly?
I start with listening very thoroughly to what my client wants. My favorite and most satisfying moment in my life happens when I hear my client say they love what I have created for them. It seems like I work with all my heart and soul in suspense for that precious moment to arrive. When it happens my heart just sings! And I am inspired to create even more…To start the process, I make sure that everything is up front and written out in a contract so there are no gray areas. Preliminary sketches accompany a deposit and a signed contract. Sometimes I allow the client to see the work as it progresses…When the final is delivered I receive the final payment.
How have you integrated your artwork with your home life?
Integrating my work into my home life is tough. Before I moved to Bozeman, my studio was in a separate space from my home. Then it was easier because when I was home, I was all about home. I tend to get obsessed with a project and get tunnel vision. My husband is very patient! Now my studio is at home and I have a harder time getting away from it. But I like that I can work at 11:00pm if I want! And there is no additional rent to pay.
You’ve accomplished quite a bit in your career. What are your favorite successes?
My most favorite success was large mural I did at Church Landing, a hotel in New Hampshire. That was a dream come true job. It was an historical mural so I had to do a lot of research and it was like a big puzzle to put together. It was a great piece to put my name on the map in that part of the world. It was integrated into and absolutely beautiful space that gets a great deal of traffic. I also got to work with a lot of fun creative people which made it fun socially.
Now I am building a body of work here in Montana. The best success that I have gotten so far is when people react to my paintings emotionally. One woman said she thought my work was joyous! That felt so good because it is all about what I see here in this amazing place that I live and it all comes back out of my heart and my hands into my paintings. The work that I am doing now evokes memories and sentiments for people that is very fascinating to me. My paintings tend to inspire people to tell me their stories about their past….their trucks, their families…
One Comment
What absolutely beautiful art.