I have been painting my hometown of Covelo, CA and the surrounding area for most of my life… painting rivers, roads, farm animals, wildlife, ranch life and rodeos.
After graduating from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA in 1989, I moved back home and have been painting and drawing professionally here in Mendocino County ever since.
I work mostly in watercolors and acrylics and love layering drawing and painting techniques. My contemporary style layers organic lines, shapes and tones with geometric shapes and symbols.
I begin with graphite, and charcoal and sometimes pastel, and then typically work in layers of paint on paper, canvas and wood panels. Recently I have been including printed material and digital elements into my painting process.
My work is currently on permanent display in the New Howard Memorial Hospital in Willits, CA. I have art showing at the Round Valley Public Library in Covelo, CA. I have shown multiple times at the Willits Center for the Arts. I was represented by Blue Sky Gallery for over 17 years and have shown in solo and group shows at Highland Art Gallery in Weaverville, CA since 2020. I had a permanent rotating show at the North Fork Cafe in Covelo for over 12 years. Sadly the cafe and the adjoining building (what used to be my town studio where I gave guitar, ukulele and singing lessons for many years ) burned down in 2020.
Over the years I have won many Art Show Awards throughout the State of CA including “Best of Show” at both THE WESTERN HORSE EXPO in Sacramento, CA and the GRAND NATIONAL RODEO in San Francisco, CA. In 2020 and 2022 I won blue Ribbon awards (“Best In Painting”) at the prestigious Annual Juried Shows at Highland Art Gallery in Weaverville CA.
I am also a singer/songwriter/ musician and have been writing songs and recording many albums inspired by my life living here in Covelo, CA. I love playing live music with my band (Original Americana Country Rock.) Currently I have a Trio Band formed with my husband Morten Jensen and good friend Ross O’Brien. We are currently for hire for events, private parties, and neighborhood shin-digs!
(MARJO WILSON MUSIC on Facebook.)
121 Marjo Wilson songs available on SoundClick
https://www.soundclick.com/marjowilson/?content=songs
Tracks from the “not just for children” COTTON DANDEE “FUN PACK
https://soundcloud.com/valentine-express
I hosted an open- mic and set up and ran the sound for 12 years in Covelo. This monthly “Mic Night” became a beloved community event – held at the North Fork Cafe and Lounge. It was family oriented and really filled us all with inspiration and connection month after month, year after year. Many people would write original songs to perform each month. It was like our local music school and then-some! It was a very soulful and meaningful gathering that we all created together. The shows would often last for over 5-6 hours! (2 hours of formal Open Mic…) and then long jams deep into the night with all the local musicians until the cafe owner kicked us all out to go home!!
I have a dream of creating a traveling ART & MUSIC SHOW that features my ART on display as well as my Live Music for entertainment. I would love to incorporate a bit of the OPEN MIC idea into the middle of our Live Show. Whatever town we are in – we will feature a few local artists and musicians/ singers.. For all my years of running the open mic- with my art showing on the walls of the North Fork Cafe, and the community turning out enthusiastically to support the performers for the open mics, (all ages and family friendly,) it really took on a life of it’s own. It really taught me the powerful effect of Nurturing Art in a community and how important it is to showcase the aspiring artists and musicians, as well as how important teaching the audience how much their support means to keeping the creative soul of a town alive! We all need each other and we need Art and Music to thrive, and we need to keep it ALIVE!
Art is Life. Music is Life.