A native of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, I began painting lessons as a shy yet spirited child studying in Provincetown, Ma. with Henry Hensche as well as with visiting impressionist painters to his school. I received formal training at The Art Institute of Boston; L’Ecole Nationale Superieure Des Beaux Arts in Paris, France; and Boston University. Some teachers with whom I studied that influenced the development of my work in color and light were Lois Griffel at The Cape Cod School of Art, Wolf Kahn at the Santa Fe Institute of Fine Arts, Janet Fish in NYC, and Jason Berger at Art Institute of Boston.

My current focus in my work is in a more abstract approach to the landscape. I’ve always leaned toward the abstract and I've often gone back and forth working on a more representational painting while at the same time working on a more abstract composition. My jumping off point, for it did at first feel like a big leap for me, appeared after downsizing a huge property in Western Mass, and moving closer to Boston. It was an enormous shedding of what was outdated in our lives (me and my husband, Ed’s) and no longer served us as people, as a couple and as creatives (Ed is a professional pianist). It was a huge letting go that resulted in a relief I never expected… and also new found freedom. “Out with the old, in with the new” vibrant and alive feeling! Once resettled and back in the studio (I have a studio in my new home in Norfolk, MA), what changed for me is although I continue to respond to nature - woods, trees, canyons, sunset/rise, water, etc., - the greater part of my inspiration is coming from within me rather than only with what I am seeing outside of myself. My sight is sparked with a view or a tree or a color in the mountains, and then from within comes this enormous "pee my pants have to get it on the canvas" feeling that I have to get that initial emotion down as fast as I can - and in intense color. I’m loving this very much and I have no idea where it will bring me or how this work will develop in time, but I do know that it is a more honest view of my inner relationship to the world at large. The natural beauty of our world has always been my inspiration and it is beauty that I want to share through my passionate work with color.

Marcia Wise: Nature and Inspiration from within