By Libby Lancaster
Artists Louise Marler and Ray Ford have something in common. They have both been creating art since a young age.
At 89 years old, Ray Ford has done it all. Although he’ll be turning 90 in August, he continues to produce original wooden sculptures. The artist explained that he loves to create new work, each of them different in their own way. Ford raised a family on his art and enjoyed every minute of it. He said that he always has new ideas, but at his age, can only stand for so long, so he now must take regular breaks.
“I love doing it,” Ford said. “It keeps my mind off losing my wife.” His wife passed away in December 2016.
Much of Ford’s artistic success came with his wood sculptures. The act of turning a slab of wood into a delicate sculpture is no easy task. He said that the process takes years; first preparing the wood on the lathe, then storing it for over a year to dry out. “Then I put it back on the lathe, I finish turning it, then burning, carving and decorating comes later, depending on the design,” the artist explained. “I spray six to eight coats of clear lacquer, sanding it after many of the coats. I usually sand it wet to keep the sand paper from clogging up, then I buff it with three different buffing wheels for outside and three different buffing wheels for inside.
Artist Louise Marler aka LA Marler has been creating art all of her life. The artist chooses to work on several series at a time.
“Intensely focusing on a series is necessary to do the deeper work,” Marler said. “However, it gives me a sort of break to do another style or type of work and then go back and forth. I have produced Typewriter Art on-going now for 15 years…this naturally lead to the camERA artwork and KeyWords. The KeyWords are a perfect example of how I am constantly noting new keywords then going back to the studio to arrange the letters. Once a new batch of this art is ready, I print and then paint each.”
The artist mixes, paints, and works on several pieces at each step of the process at a time. Usually ten to twenty pieces are created a phase.
She will be exhibiting works from two of her latest series camERAs, featuring pop images of vintage cameras and her KeyWords, which celebrates her love of the typewriters and its nostalgic keys. KeyWords is LA Marler’s version of typewriter poetry. Needless to say photography plays a big role in her life as well, something that comes through in her mixed media series camERAS
Stop in, Saturday, June 24 from 1-5 p.m. to see Ray Ford’s wood sculptures along with Louise Marler’s mixed media art. LA Marler Gallery is located at the Santa Monica Airport, 3000 Airport Avenue, Studio B Santa Monica, CA 90405.
For more on Ray Ford, go to: hrayford.com. For more on Louise Marler, go to: LAMarler.com.
