Vilia Wood Marshall

Show art work with Muddy River Art Ass.
Work for Pathology Diagnostics Lab at Forsyth Hospital
Librarian at First Baptist Church, W-S

While I was at home with my first two children, I began to paint by taking classes with Dixie Browning at the old Arts Council on Colleseum Dr. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to go back to school at UNC-G to study art. There were so many facets to chose from that it has been my passion ever since. I started with sculpture in the foundry at UNC-G, doing portraits of family and friends in clay then, wax, then metal. My teachers included Herk Van Tongeren, Keith Lambert, and Peter Agostini. A lot of work and materials goes into that process so, when I graduated, I took some classes at Wake with Gary Cook in drawing, that was a whole new world of art for me. I began to enjoy classes at Sawtooth in figure studies, while continuing to do small figure studies in plaster. Eventually, I took a class in printmaking at Sawtooth with a master printmaker named "Buddy" Williams. I was really taken with the color transitions and movement and layering I could get with the inks and rollers. I decided to go back to school at Wake Forest in the MALS program in printmaking with David Faber and drawing with Alix Hitchcock. It was just what I needed to begin to do my own work. When Peter, my music professor came into class and asked "Can you see that music?" I could. I learned about synesthesia. For my thesis, I completed a large triptych of the "Visual Interpretation of Rhapsody In Blue" and exhibited it and the studies leading up to it at the gallery next to the concert hall. Since then, I've gotten my own press and have contiuned to make abstract monoprints based on music ranging from classical to bluegrass. When I lost my singing voice after a tonsilectomy that went bad, I found this was a way to sing again. When my daughter, Valerie, began to take dance lessons with Hazel Meisltrup, I had the opportunity to work with her studio making costumes and scenery for recitals in the spring each year for almost 20 years. The highlight for that run was filling the back of the stage at Reynolds Auditorium with 6 paintings ranging from 5x10 to 8x14 feet of dancers in classical attire and classic poses or leaps. I had another chance to draw dancers at the School of the Arts while they were practicing. So many wonderful experiences while studying, like the trip to Venice just after graduation from Wake. Now I've come full circle and I'm back into sculpture with a coin relief of Earline Heath King and the restoring of a portrait of her that was badly damaged. These projects are just for fun and to honor a woman whom I admired most of my life.

2 years at Western Carolina University majored in Biology.
1 years certificate with Bowman Gray School of Cytology
Graduated from UNC-G 1975 BFA-ART
Wake Forest University MALS major in Printmaking after studying several years at Sawtooth Center

At Reynolds, I remember the great trips with the chorus, Mr. Hall gave us a wonderful experience. I still love going to football games (Wake) after enjoying the winning team we had at Reynolds. Singing in the Key Club Follies and at graduation were also hightlights. Walking home in the cold weather with my two best friends singing "In The Good Old Summertime." Stopping by Bobbits Pharmacy to warm up or get out of the rain. Slumber parties at Constance Johansen's, riding in Hugh's just re-done convertible, walking to choir practice at FBC from Reynolds, and the Y-teen meetings.