Maralyn Wilson

I remember when Toni and I participated at our first outdoor show at the Botanical Gardens, the predecessor to the Magic City Art Connection. Totally different but so much fun. The spaces were on a first come basis, so everyone lined up in their cars at the entrance to the gardens and spent the night! All night you would go from car to car visiting. No one had a tent or fancy walls to hang artwork on, so we would go to the cemetery to get used flower easels on which to display our paintings. We were young and energetic and could do anything!

Creating art reminds me of my childhood, when we would make up plays and do circus performances for the neighborhood. I loved sitting outside with my neighborhood buddies at night watching the fireflies and telling the most fabulous and exciting stories. Our imagination had no boundaries.

When I become immersed in creating a piece, the excitement of the story unfolding before my eyes reminds me of the magic of those firefly nights.

Working in clay brings out memories and feelings that I love to express in my work. I like to tell stories with my art, and the encaustic finish on the clay sculpture adds depth and a feeling of the past. Each of my sculptures has a story that has unfolded for me as I created the piece.