Marla Sparkkle Skibbins

A life well-lived is one in which we fling ourselves out into the world, going from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm for this endeavor we call life. My art follows that path and often the things that I think of initially as failures turn out to be the best part of the work.

 

I am a self-trained artist. I like to say, “I try stuff and hopefully I don’t burn down the house or blow something up and I will for sure learn something.” My voice keeps changing and my mediums have morphed and morphed again. I just keep trying things to see what happens and the learning from my failures continues.

 

Often I meet people who come into my studio space at Wood N Arts in Gualala and I ask them what their medium is. They usually offer demurely, “Oh, I am not an artist” or “Oh, I am not creative.” If I ask again many people will say … “Well I love photography” or “I used to do (fill in the blank) but I stopped because (fill in the blank).” I do my best to encourage everyone who says something like that to pick it back up. I think they stop because they may not have “failure resilience.” That is, willingness to keep trying, even if what you do sucks or does not meet your expectations. Just keep trying, and eventually, if you can keep that mean voice in your head quiet, you will start to love or at least like what you create. 

 

I continue to work with consciousness and express my wishes for love and light in the world to be expressed through metal and glass. I would love to see you and discuss what your medium is and how you will pick it up and allow it to work on you as you work on it. 

 

See you at my little piece of heaven, my home at The Sea Ranch!