Today we’d like to introduce you to Beverly Marshall.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Beverly. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am an artist. I was around 9 years old and my older brother and I had always been rivals growing up. We competed in just about everything. We are close in age, just 2 years apart. Growing up, we always tried to outdo each other. He was older, and usually better at things than I was. One day, we were drawing and he was rubbing in how much better he was. Needless to say, that set a spark in me, started a drive. From that moment on, I decided that one day I would be better at drawing than he was.
Within a few months, that day happened, and I found a new passion. I loved to draw with just a simple pencil and a sheet of paper. My Grandmother took notice right away. She kept an endless supply of pencils and paper around for me. Whenever I went to her house, she would encourage me. That was the beginning of my artistic studies, my grandmother’s kitchen table, and a pencil. She was the first one to frame and hang a drawing I had done for her. I was around 11 years old.
I grew up tossed around between New York, Tennessee, and Florida. My family moved from Cookeville TN to Boca Raton, FL when I was 13. I started my first year of high school there, and Mrs. Osborne was my art teacher. She was amazing. She saw the talent that lay within me and had a way of bringing it to the forefront. She used to tell me to ‘Draw what you see, not what you think you see.’ I still hear those words in my head when I draw, even now.
I have never taken my talent too seriously. I dabbled a little with it, here and there, as the years passed by. My kids came along, all 4 of them, and there was no longer any time to do what I loved. Life got in the way. So, after years of raising kids and helping in our family business, things finally slowed down. My kids were nearly grown, and there was time to draw again.
In March of 2012, I once again picked up a pencil, for the first time in over 10 years, and began to draw. I had forgotten how much I loved it. I had forgotten the passion that can drive me to capture, with my pencil, what I see. With lots of encouragement from some great friends and family, I decided to take a whole new path. I decided to take my talent a bit more seriously. I decided to follow my dream to become a professional artist.
I have exhibited a little around the state and won some awards for my art. My first inclusion into an international exhibit came in 2014 when my food coloring and wax painting, “Birds of a Feather”, was chosen along with 36 others out of over 6,000 artists from around the world to be included in the outdoor art exhibit by Embracing Our Differences in Sarasota Florida.
I have also won two honorable mentions from the International Gallery of the Arts for my pencil drawings in 2016. Currently, I am teaching pencil drawing to children and adults at the Peter Powell Roberts Museum in Avon Park Florida.
Has it been a smooth road?
I first started off selling my pencil drawing on eBay and soon expanded into some galleries along the way. Currently, I am taking some time off of exhibiting and competing to teach and inspire others to draw.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with The Marshall Arts Gallery – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
My pencil drawing are my most well-known art form. I have dabbled in some sculpting as well as done some sidewalk art for “The Circle of Speed” in Sebring, the Highlands Art league 50th Anniversary Fine Arts Festival, and a sidewalk chalk piece for Aguero to help celebrate their customer service week last year.
People tell me they are drawn to my pencil work, to the emotions that jump from the paper. I like realism and pencil is my favorite medium.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the diversity of South Florida. I love the people and the culture.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://bevythefirst.wixsite.com/marshallarts
- Phone: 863 253 9894
- Email: bevythefirst@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bevythe1st
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