Marna Schoeman Obituary, Death – We say farewell to Marna Schoeman, who died yesterday, with profound sadness. A friend and artist who brought color, beauty, and goodness into the world and will be much missed. Rest in peace, my friend. The Artist’s Biography: Marna Schoeman earned a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Pretoria in 1986. She currently enjoys creating finely detailed miniature paintings in the traditional Persian style and focuses on subjects that inspire happiness and harmony in the viewer. She is inspired by the immense diversity of life, as well as by humans, plants, and animals.
She attempts to find beauty and life in everyday situations, such as riding the bus or mowing the yard. Marna works mostly in gouache and acrylic on artist board, and her paintings have been acquired by private collectors in the United States and Ireland. Despite growing up in a pretty conservative Afrikaans family, I’ve always been interested by Eastern religion and philosophy. It could have had something to do with the fact that my father was perhaps the only person I knew who bought Hare Krishna pamphlets! As a result, these beautifully illustrated treasures ended up on our bookshelf.
When I was a kid and bored, I’d curl up on my bed with a stack of these books and be enchanted by the very decorative and exotic illustrations of beautiful gentle animals and bizarre blue deities with pink, raised hand palms. These wonderful, vivid images were ingrained on my psyche at a young age, finding their way into my artistic expression and influencing my approach as an adult. Hindu history, mythology, and philosophy continue to interest me, and its visual approach informs my work.
When I was studying art at university, such a highly illustrated and decorative approach was strongly discouraged, and I was strongly discouraged from creating in this manner. I wanted to express myself freely with spontaneous brushstrokes in an expressive, loose, and painterly manner. Failing to do so, I reverted to what came naturally to me immediately after graduating art school: as an artist, one must like what one does; otherwise, there is no use in doing it. The painting conveys delight, and the viewer can identify with it. My goal is to instill excitement and astonishment in the viewer… and, of course, a giggle, as humour is an important component of my work.
My goal in my work is to push the term “illustrative” to new heights. As a result, my work is illustrative to the extreme, highly decorative, with layers upon layers of detail, strong outlines, and vibrant color. I also follow in the footsteps of these Persian masters in terms of subject matter. Their paintings included portraits, animals, botanical images, landscapes, and decorative patterns, and their themes ranged across all genres. All of these characteristics are present in my work, which is set in a modern and also more local environment (including indigenous fauna and flora as well as cultural details). I include high-rise structures, individuals in common situations such as riding a bus or mowing the yard while being chased by tigers, Elvis Presley jamming on his guitar with the Lord Krishna, the elephant goddess Ganesha stranded in rush hour traffic, and possibly even a Blue Toothed Buddha!
I’ve been integrating the two professions since finishing my study as a silversmith and jewelry designer: I design and create beautiful small copper stands on which my paintings are displayed. Detail from the painting is imbedded in resin and set in a silver brooch, pendant, or pair of earrings, which is then attached to the stand, resulting in a little creative installation of painting with accessories: you can now have my painting at home and wear it around your neck!