Marilyn Califf
http://www.marilyncaliffart.com
On the first anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1969) I went downtown in Memphis with my Nikon and several rolls of black and white film. There were demonstrations on every street. I found this group of young men on the corner of Beale Street and Third. As you can see they were doing the "power salute". When I developed the photograph I saw the street sign (One Way) above their heads and I knew this was an iconic moment taken at an historic time. This photograph was awarded a purchase prize in Nashville and is now in the Tennessee State Museum. I went to visit a good friend one day and when I walked into her kitchen she was totally involved in peeling potatoes and really enjoying it. I wish I could get that much joy from doing the same thing. The butterfly photograph was made at the Memphis Zoo one summer when they had an enclosed butterfly exhibit. Since butterflies won't pose for you I sat down on a bench, put in my long lens and waited. In front of me zinnias were growing and soon I was able to get this great photograph as the butterfly began to get nectar from the blossom.
After painting and drawing for 20 years, and receiving a Bachelor of Fine Art from the Memphis College of Art, I began designing quilts and went into the mail order quilt pattern business with advertisements in national magazines. I wrote two books for the beginner quilter and had 150 quilt patterns under copyright. I opened a retail quilt shop, developed a cottage industry of quilters, and collected antique quilts.. After fifteen years in business, I closed my shop and attended the University of Memphis and got my Master of Fine Art in painting. My painting was mainly abstract and expressionistic. The experience with piecing fabrics and designing quilts stayed with me a long time. I found that I enjoyed making abstract collages with fabrics and paper. I have spent the last 5 years concentrating on torn and cut paper collages. The collages you see here are some of those.
