MarLene struss

A joyful focused state

Getting Jazzy with Abstract Artist Marlene Struss

The titles to painter Marlene Struss’s colorful abstract images offer big clues to some of her work/thought process . There’s “Hot Jazz Jam,” a mixed, swirling palette of eye-popping complementary reds and greens; “Away We Go,” a calm blue amoeba-like swirl that has appeared in the sets of several television programs; and “A Gathering of Friends,” which evokes a walk through the springtime green hills of Santa Barbara .

Struss is inspired by jazz while she works, often painting at night, but also cites classical, Indian, African, Japanese and other “wordless music” that allows her imagination to respond to the sounds as integral to her process . The UCSB graduate, who studied with Irma Cavat, Howard Warshaw, and Larry Rivers, describes her layered acrylic style as “biomorphic abstract expressionism with an Asian influence” and likens her playful painting process to the “game of life where the

future is unpredictable while the past never completely disappears .”

“I first choose four to five colors and throw down a first layer of paint,” says Strauss . “I just need to start . After that all my cues come from the painting itself . I blow, dab, scratch, wipe, and then the magic happens . It’s not a planned process; it’s improvised, like jazz .”

Whether it’s the bold, eyepopping yellows of “Woke Near the Ocean” or images that evoke a microscopic view, Struss’s work is guaranteed to make you, smile, contemplate and maybe even think a bit deeper about your own unique place in the Universe . —Leslie A. Westbrook

Struss is most excited about her work recently being shown at a new gallery in South Korea, but locally her work can be viewed at 10 West Gallery, 10 West Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, as well as online at www.marlenestruss.com.

PAINTING BY CYNTHIA JAMES “Sea Flower II” 42” x 24” Oil on copper www.cjamesfineart.com

SCULPTURES BY SUSAN CRONIN “Shhh! Listen!” Available in either plaster or bronze. Dimensions: 3.5”H x 5”W x 7.5”D. www.susanreadcronin.com