Fiber art is not as fluid as painting - no happy accidents of color, but I like working with the cloth.  It's an interesting way to approach still life.  I like the feel of the fabric and the wild variety of colors and patterns that are available.  It's interesting to me to take these mismatched prints and make them into patterns that define the shapes in a still life.
Text Box: Text Box: \\\ Marcia, Charles and their daughter, Lisa, are all artists. The Three Gillhams had an exhibition of their art work at the Behringer-Crawford Museum in 2002 and have shown at other venues in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. The Behringer-Crawford show showcased Marcia's handmade/painted and costumed porcelain dolls. She has studied mosaic and quilt making at Baker Hunt and is currently working on fiber still-lifes.

 Marcia Gillham - Home studio
Text Box: Marcia Gillham, born in Ft. Thomas, has been an artist all of her life. After graduation from Highlands High School, she studied art at Jack Storey's Central Academy, then at the Cincinnati Art Academy where she studied with Paul Chidlaw. She met her husband Charles in Chidlaw's class and they raised two children in Ft. Mitchell. During this time Marcia studied enameling at Baker Hunt, and exhibited and won awards for her delicate figurative enamels. She also continued to paint and studied with Don Dennis and Tom Blumlein, among others. She was a member of the Cincinnati Women's Art Club.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

 

I suppose my early interest in painting sill life was awakened by Clare Curry, an artist who had a studio on Third Street in Cincinnati in the 1940's.  She shared the space with Bill Gebhardt, a well known portrait painter and teacher.

 

 

Something that I like about still life is taking a collection of objects and making them into a unified pattern.  I can do what I want with the shapes, and take liberties with the color.  Or sometimes I drop color onto the paper and see where it takes me in creating a still life.