Marcia Molnar is best known for her work representing her life in Arizona, where she has lived for 30 years. Not limited to any one subject matter, her first paintings were portraits influenced by the Wyeth family and Mary Cassatt. However, in 2000, she began experimenting with other subjects, from as grand as a sunset in Sedona to the simplicity of pears on a shelf, influenced by Ed Mell, George O’Keeffe, and Maynard Dixon.
Marcia says of her art:
“It’s important that my work reflect who I am and what I love. I will always be firmly on the fence between contemporary and traditional realism. It would be nice if I could settle into a box where people knew what to expect from me, and it probably would make things easier for my husband, but what fun would that be? I love the rhythm of paint on a canvas too much to give in to tight realism, and when I simplify things, I miss the beautiful details I find in the world around me.”
Marcia’s father, Jay Schmidt, was an artist and a gallery owner. He started a small gallery in Carmel, CA, The New Masters Gallery, which Bill Hill took over and made into what it is today. Her brothers, Tim Schmidt and Brad Schmidt, are artists, as is her husband, George Molnar.
