Two Artists Offering Original Takes on Their Work

Finding one’s voice as an artist is an important key to success. Artists Louise Marler and Ray Ford have both created their own signature style…allowing their art stand to out from the crowd.

Louise Marler will be showing her camERAs and KeyWord series. The latter series was developed out of her love of typewriters. She gained much acclaim from her “TypOwriters” photographic pop art series. Her KeyWords series was a natural extension and a further homage paid to the art of language, her unique version of typewriter poetry.

As an artist/photographer, she finds inspiration all around her. She takes a classic view on today’s jargon and builds a bridge that connects generations through her art. She has a background in graphics and is also a printer, which further influences her dedication to words and language.

Her other series…camERAs celebrates a long gone tradition used in film photography. By bringing back the light box in her CamERAs series, which was originally used to view negatives, she once again brings new life to an antiquated tool.

Her art unites many types of media. The reversed engineered concept is akin to looking at the photo negatives prior to the arrival of digital photography. Her series KeyWords demonstrates the true power of words. When asked how often she creates art, Marler replies, “All the time, there is something being created either in my imagination, on paper, computer, on my work table or wall.”

The artist cited Peter Max as an early influence. Today, James Turrell has taken her favorite artist spot. She said she was drawn to his interactive use of light, and organic nature of his installations. Visit LA Marler’s website to find out more about the artist and her work. http://www.lamarler.com

“No two pieces are the same” stated artist Ray Ford…about his wood sculptures. He diligently crafts each piece without worrying about the time it takes. “I love doing it,” said the self-taught artist. At 89 (turning 90 in August), Ford creates just about every day. His activities include turning, carving, bleaching and burning the wood, depending on the design, resulting in an exquisite work of art.

About the same time the Model T Car was all the rage, the artist (as a young boy) began to carve wood...toys such as slingshots, and stilts. He soon found he was really good at it. In his twenties, Ford participated in the CA Carver’s Guild Fairs where he would sell his wood sculptures. Here he met fellow artists and exchanged knowledge and learned new techniques. He picked up a lot of the wood at these shows. During the time that he was creating one of his popular items…his hand carved stylized birds, he bought a tremendous amount of wood. Other wood came from local tree-trimmers that he became friendly with in his neighborhood. “I also bought wood at the mill, said Ford. Some of it was partially dry and some was wet…I bought it by the pound.”

He also made jewelry, pins, wooden boot earrings and leather works such as wallets and belts. Painting became a part of his life as well. “Most of it was realistic looking such as a painting horses and scenery. Somewhere around that time modern art became more popular and it changed everything,” recalled Ford. “At the time I thought the abstract art was awful, but now I have learned to appreciate it.”

Ford continues to create striking sculptures…never worrying about how long it takes. He says he loves creating and will continue to do so. “I do have my limitations…how long I can stand…and my wrists sometimes get sore.” Find out more about Ray Ford on his website at http://hrayford.com/

On Saturday, June 24th, 2017, take a fresh look at some very original art by Louise Marler and Ray Ford. The special event runs from 1:00p.m. to 5:00p.m. at LA Marler Gallery, 3000 Airport Avenue, Studio B Santa Monica, CA 90405.