Artist Statement Being born on a Tuesday, I live up to the "Tuesday child" persona (so I have been told) - active, enthusiastic, energetic, courageous, brave, occasionally impatient and fiery, with a big desire to achieve. In my youth, I received awards for my artwork and was invited to attend Carnegie Museum 's Youth Art Studio in Pittsburgh, PA. However, my parents feared I would become a starving artist and strongly discouraged all of my artistic pursuits. I ended up being a restless soul, living and working on both coasts of the USA - which included working at Movieland Wax Museum and hawking jewelry on southern California beaches as well as being cast as an extra in several films back in Pittsburgh. My "big speaking break" came when I was cast as a "mom" in an Urgi-Care commercial whose "child" fell from a sliding board. My big line? "Johnny, Johnny are you O.K.?" I never saw the commercial - it was supposedly airing out of state. Suffice it to say, I am not getting an Oscar any time soon. Eventually I became a successful sport science professor at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
But fate intervened - in the middle of a promising research career investigating the impact of exercise on the aging brain, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. This led to an "ah-ha" moment; no longer under the influence of my parents or academia, I retired from UNC and chose to pursue my "past life" passion - art . So began my artistic re-education process. My art studio's name, Marksline Designs, is an adapted version of my father's retired card business in Homestead, Pennsylvania - it is both a salute and personal statement to him. My signage moniker “Lu” was given to me by my earliest art mentor based on my middle name - easier to use for signing art pieces for sure. Ironically it was also my father's nickname! I continually experiment with many art forms, but my forte is painting and mixed media. While I am drawn to the beauty and serenity of nature and animals, abstract art is the most liberating. My abstract creations often reflect my subconscious thoughts about current world events as well as past personal experiences.