Blog

I haven't been posting any of my latest work over the past few months as I am preparing for an art show in August. I am very fortunate to have received an arts grant through the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council and McNight Foundation. Unfortunately I was beset with physical set backs, a herniated disc that left me somewhat immobile for most of the first nine weeks of my project work time line before my issues were somewhat healed, at least to the point I could get back to the easel. I have had to put my nose to the grind stone to be able to fill the gallery. The opening reception is scheduled for August 14th at the Paradise Art Center in Faribault, Minnesota. The display will be open to the public from August 14 to September 30th. The theme of my show should be no surprise, "Art in Nature".
I have been working with different techniques as a mixed media, primarily in pastel as well as been exploring the capabilities of gouache. This has all been exciting and new to me, but still need to fine tune the techniques and process. I am especially pleased with my new underwater paintings which must be viewed in person to appreciate this new style of work.
I currently have a half dozen new works which are not yet posted on this website, but I should have them posted as well as others in the next month.

I thank you for your patience and look forward to meeting those who are able to attend the reception and grateful to those who may have the opportunity to view the gallery.

Marc Moller

I am pleased and excited to announce two gallery shows coming up this summer. The first show starts May 5th at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, Minnesota. The National Eagle Center is focused on educating the public about eagles and other raptors. The Wabasha area of the Mississippi river is an ideal location to view Bald Eagles the year 'round as well as the spectacular scenery. The show will run from May 5th through August. An opening reception is to be held Thursday, May 14th from 5 pm to 6:30 pm.

A display of my art will be on exhibit from May 5th through August 2015. The National Eagle Center has informative sessions on the Eagle and the Mississippi watershed daily. Come and see close up live Eagles.

Winter has notoriously been my busy time, from September to April. Unfortunately the winters have begun wearing on me more and more over the past few years and my production has slumped somewhat. Although it has slowed down some, I am still painting. My focus this past season had started out being owls and raptors with a few songbirds for a change of pace. This year I have switched things up a little, painting elk and deer, and have moose on my list of to do's. An interesting project I have been playing around with are underwater scenes, all fresh water and have been pleased with the results. I am experimenting with a new technique which creates a very unusual effect. Unfortunately it does not show well on the computer image or prints and must be viewed in person. The good thing is, it makes the originals all that more special! I hope to be able to continue with this experimentation, for the time being I will switch over to doing more landscape. I like mixing up my subject matter, I feel this keeps things fresh and avoids my work getting stagnant, tedious or having to deal with painters block.
I have not shown much in public the past few years. This year I have two shows running from May to September. More details on the shows will be announced in April. Until next time, best wishes.

Marc Moller

Been a rough end to 2012. Discovered a blood clot... everything is ok. Threw out my back shoveling snow and have had a sore neck, lower back and right arm the past few months. I am just now getting back to the easel after very little production.

I have been painting some winter scenes, a bit outside my box! Most of this year has been very overcast, gray and drab. Painting landscape images of winter can come off looking a bit dispondent however, I managed to get out on a few sunny days and the colors can be very intense and wonderful. In one painting, I awoke very early and saw a brilliant sunrise. The refelections of orange/yellow light on the pools of open water on the river were captivating. I also painted a scene of the same river just a few hours later just down stream. The strong morning light seemed to ignite the far trees and golden grasses. I have encouraged myself to work on more of these "colors of winter" landscape scenes. We received about ten inches of snow the past few days which helps to "clean up" the scenery and offer some new images to work with, but I don't expect the snow to last much longer.

The past six weeks, I have spent a lot of my time walking down to the river in hopes of capturing pictures of the river otters or mink that have left tracks in the snow. I have not had any success so far. With spring arriving soon, I expect the water levels will rise and I am not sure how this will effect the critters? Today the snow is too deep to venture out in, so I will hold off for a few days.

I am teaching a pastel class at the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault, MN., Saturday March 23rd, 10-4 pm. Very infomative class which discusses how to get started with pastels, materials, techniques and applications, a demonstration, 14 page pamphlet and time for some hands on project. To sign up or more information, contact: www.paradisecenterforthearts.org (507) 332-7372

I am scheduling classes for 2012 into 2013. These classes are expected to fill up so in case you may be interested, please do not wait to the last minute. Currently, I am offering two different classes, one being an "Introduction to Soft Pastels", intended for beginners and intermediate students. I do explain and demonstrate more advanced techniques. This course covers the various brands of pastel and papers and how effective they may be using different surfaces. As well as a demonstration on different applications and techniques to create certain effects. The other class I offer is "Painting from Photography". I will help to point out what photographs make good references and what traps to avoid when painting from a photograph. I will discusss composition, values and creating wonderful images by training the eye to view references in terms of masses versus detail.

Please contact me if you or your area art center, community ed or art organization is interested in employing my instruction. I currently have classes scheduled in Faribault in April, Owatonna in June and Austin, MN in October. I have tentative plans to be offering classes in Mankato and Grand Rapids, MN for 2013.

I pulled out an old set of inexpensive oil pastels the other day to play around with. This is the second painting, done on Canson Mi-Tientes Touch. I'll be doing more tests when the new oil pastels arrive and also with the soft pastels. The surface is unlike any I have worked on previously. It has a very fine, coarse texture but not as rough as the sanded papers. I think this paper will work marvelously for detailed paintings.

The opening reception November 18th went very well as over 200 attended. I was fortunate to have had an opportunity to visit with most of those who attended. The exhibit will be up through December 23rd at the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault, Minnesota. I have over 25 original works on display as well as prints all or most of which are for sale. There is much to see and enjoy as a second wing offers an exhibit of fiber art and ceramics as well the theatre often has scheduled performances through out the year. I would like to thank all who attended the reception, the volunteers who put out a fantastic buffet, those who helped hang and those working at the center. Most important of all a great thank you to the McNight Foundation and South East Minnesota Arts Council for the grant which made this all possible. Through the grant I was able to produce over 40 pieces of work, offered two solo exhibits and brought my work to Austin and Rochester, Minnesota for small exhibitions or art fairs. Some of this work will also go to exhibit at the Owatonna Art Center in Owatonna, Minnesota in June of 2012.

This summers Rice County Fair turned out a Grand Champion award for Moller's painting "Lagging Behind". Also earning awards was "Mates for Life" which took first place honors at the Steele County Fair and a juried exhibit at the Austin Are Art Center.

South East Minnesota artist, Marcus Moller has been accepted for two solo art exhibits in 2011. Returning to his home town, Plainview, Minnesota, Moller will display several of his most recent art works. It seems fitting that his first show should be at his home town and he expects to have 30 to 40 art works for display. You can view his work from May 20th to June 4th, with a reception from 5:00 to 7:00 pm May 20th.
The second solo exhibit is scheduled for November 18th through December 23rd at the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault, Minnesota. The opening reception will be held Friday, November 18th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. October and November are big productive months and Moller expects to bring in a handful of new works. In all Marcus says he will fill the Gallery with as many as 40+ hangings.
Moller brings his impressionist style with a unique flavor of sharp, contrasting original images which will also be for sale. Purchasers of Moller's prints may bring them to the opening for the artists signature.