MARLENE BEZICH Marlene is a native Long Islander, who resides and maintains her studio, in the eastern end of the Town Of Brookhaven in Middle Island. At the age of eight years old, when medical advances became available to control her asthmatic condition, she adopted her first dog. A fluffy, cuddly mixed breed named "Cindy”. For 16 years Cindy acted as Marlene’s surrogate mother, running into her parents bedroom to wake them up whenever Marlene had a nighttime attack. Cindy’s unending loyalty endeared dog companionship tot he artist, so there has never been a time in her life when she never had a canine “best friend”. Even though Marlene has basically adopted canines, she has a great compassion for all the animal kingdom. Having been raised in a heavily rural community, she has come to appreciate the outdoors and nature’s wonders. Being able to still witness deer, hawks, geese, and ducks (to name a few) up close in their own natural environment is always a thrill. With the support of her parents and family, Marlene’s artistic education began under the private tutelage of Audrey Swanson Marlow, P.S.A. Mrs. Marlow’s expertise was portraiture, Still life, and Floras. Besides being an accomplished artist, Audrey is an expert naturalist, who instilled in Marlene the knowledge of precision drawing, required for rendering animals, people and nature. Her next instructor was famed portrait artist Rafael DeSoto. Raphael (or Ralph) as we used to call him, was a gifted Religious painter, whose renditions of Jesus were awe inspiring. Marlene absorbed Ralph’s attention to detail and creative uses of various media. It was with this beloved instructor that Marlene’s true colors technique shown forth. Ms Bezich has also benefited from a workshop conducted by Master Pastelist George Thompson. Mr. Thompson opened Marlene’s eyes to the beauty of painting outdoors (Au Plein Air) capturing the quickly changing light patterns on the landscape has become a second love. In May of 1996, Marlene, along with 11 other artists, formed a cooperative art gallery in Bellport NY named “The Bellport Lane Art Gallery”. Besides acting as a continual forum to exhibit her work, it also enabled her to build lasting friendships with her fellow artist-partners. Because of these friendships, Marlene has been able to travel the country to participate in outdoor painting gatherings. Most recently, Marlene has returned to her first love of animal portraiture. She has been continually exhibiting in various national art exhibits devoted to Dog Art. It is in this arena that Marlene’s talents truly shine. Her study of human portraiture has prepared her to render animals precisely and lovingly. Capturing the true personality, the soul of the animal remains Marlene’s ultimate goal. It brings great satisfaction to this artist when her clients take comfort viewing her work. As one of her clients recently exclaimed, “it’s like having my best friend with me always, thank you!”
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