 Demeter's Heart XXIXV |
 Metamorphosis LIII, 2002 |
 Metamorphosis LI, 2002 |
 Echo in Time XXIX, 2002 |
 Persephone XXXV, 1999 |
 Echo In Time XXVIII, 2002 |
Artist's Statement
Few artists find it easy to articulate what they do when they paint because they express themselves best in the medium they use and the process is always a bit mysterious because it is so intuitive.
When I paint I think in terms of colors: how colors react to each other, what heat they give off when they meet, how they meet, how one color makes another recede. A speck of color can alter the entire structure of a painting. How I apply a color matters vastly. Smooth or rough, it all depends on the requirement of a particular passage. There is so much going on that all I can do is to remain intensely focused in order to orchestrate all possibilities into a cohesive painting.
My abstract work has evolved from the traditional landscape and still life.
I loved to paint from direct observation with an awareness that in the passing
of time the light shifted, the shadows moved and things looked different
from moment to moment.
Painting and observing have made me understand that the world in which we move is less solid than it seems. It is not anchored. It floats freely. In a way I create it as I go. When I go for a walk I think that I am walking through a familiar landscape. But in fact each sensation, each tree observed, each scent noticed, each perception of warmth or of cold becomes a bit of memory instantly, a vast store from which I recreate my image later.
When I paint I may start with some intuitive washes and marks until my mind is warmed up. Sometimes I begin with ideas prompted by chance events: a thread pattern in the canvas, a brushstroke in the gesso or the outline of a color that feels familiar. Then I respond to the images as they develop. My criterion for authenticity is how engaged I feel in this crucial game. The discipline is to remain intensely aware of the process at all times.
In short my paintings are about construction from bits of visual memory. My work is still about the landscape of a personal kind.
Marie-Louise Rouff
Biography
Education:
Lycee de Jeunes Filles, Luxembourg; Baccalaureat 1949
Middlebury College, Vermont, MA French language 1962
Washington University, Missouri Bachelor of Fine Arts 1974
Monterey Peninsula College, CA, Introduction to Monotype printing 1995
College of Santa Fe, NM Introduction to water based printing techniques 1997
One Person Shows:
1974 Mark Twain Banks, St. Louis, Missouri
1975 Galerie Municipale, Esch, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
1980 Martin Schweig Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
1981 Left Bank Books Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
1986 Martin Schweig Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
1986 Louis D. Beaumont Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
1987 Galerie Municipale, Esch, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
1988 Left Bank Books Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
1990 Missouri Athletic Club, St. Louis, Missouri
1992 Left Bank Books Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
1994 The Phoenix Gallery, Big Sur, California
1995 Monterey College of Law, Monterey, California
1996 Monterey College of Law, Monterey, California
1997 Pacific Grove Art Center, Pacific Grove, California
1997 Left Bank Books Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
1998 Santa Catalina Gallery, Monterey, California
2006 Highlands Gallery, Carmel, California
Group Exhibitions:
1971 University City Library, St. Louis, Missouri
1990 In/Form Invitational Exhibition, St. Louis, Missouri
1990 Art St. Louis Juried Exhibition, St. Louis, Missouri
1991 Herr-Chambliss Gallery, Hot Springs, Arkansas
1991 In/Form Invitational Exhibition, St. Louis, Missouri
1992 Yvonne Rapp Gallery, Louisville, Kentucky
1990 In/Form Invitational Exhibition, St. Louis, Missouri
1995 Janet Turner National Print Competition, Chico, California
1996 Fort Smith Art Center, Fort Smith, Arkansas, Award Winner
1997 Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, California
1998 Locus Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
1998 Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, California
2004 Silicon Valley Open Studios
2005 Silicon Valley Open Studios
2006 Silicon Valley Open Studios
2006 Galerie St. Honoré, Palo Alto, California
Bibliography:
Lambert Herr Antologie Des Arts Au Luxembourg - Edition Borschette, 1992
Gallery representation:
Highlands Sculpture Gallery, Carmel, California
Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, California
Gloria Delson Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California
Locus Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
Paul Adelson Selart, Dallas, Texas
Yvonne Rapp Gallery, Louisville, Kentucky
Selected collections private and public:
State Art Museum, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
University of California Medical Center, Davis, California
Adobe Systems, California
N.E.C Electronics, Santa Clara, California
Marcus and Millichap, Washington, Denver & Houston
Saks Fifth Avenue, New York, New York
Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri
The Measuregraph Company, St. Louis, Missouri
Mrs. Ben Wells, St. Louis, Missouri
Mr.and Mrs.Adam Pinsker, New York, New York
Mrs. Robert Leslie, Big Sur, California
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Pastreich, San Francisco, California
Morton D. May, St.Louis, MO
Joseph Pulitzer III, St. Louis, Mo
Carver and Schicketanz Architects, Carmel California