Marie Taylor
Mandala Art, Poetry Appreciation and More!
Growing up in a small town of 5,000 people in Western Pennsylvania, Marie Taylor’s early
appreciation of art and beauty was found in the stained glass, images and pageantry of her
Roman Catholic faith and the music of her family’s Italian heritage. A love of literature guided her
early education and later expanded to include a passion for art and music.
Marie received her BA and MA in Literature at nearby Youngstown State University. While she
dreamed of having grand adventures and visiting the ancient cultures of the world; however, her
life took a different course to marriage, motherhood and career.
She and her two sons moved to Southern California in 1979, and she began a 35-year career in
advertising, marketing and public relations. She moved to Sacramento in 1999 to enjoy the area’s
more relaxed lifestyle, beautiful countryside and four-season climate.
Initially, she provided pro bono marketing consulting to MatrixArts, a Sacramento-based nonprofit, and later was executive director for a local cultural foundation. This association with area
artists quickly led to taking up the brush herself as a self-taught artist.
A lifelong admirer of oriental ink wash brush work, Marie discovered not only a passion but a
talent for this form of spontaneous ink art. Curiosity prompted her to enter her first art show
and she was surprised to discover her work was saleable. Since then she has shown and sold her
paintings throughout California.
This unexpected success in the art world revived Marie’s interest in making mandalas, an art
form found throughout the world and often used as a method of meditation. She had first
experimented with this intricate geometric art in the 1970’s. The precision, patience and
concentration needed for mandala making was a nice complement to the freeform spontaneity of
ink brush work.
Since June of 2015, she has been teaching Mandala classes at the Hart Senior Center and offers
inexperienced students an easy and enjoyable introduction to art.
In addition, Marie has also directed several craft classes and leads the monthly Poetry
Appreciation Series at Hart. After selecting a common theme such as love or nature, poems from
across the world are read, discussed and enjoyed in a friendly, uncritical atmosphere.
Marie finds it very satisfying to help older adults discover their ‘inner artist’ and gain confidence
as they explore their own unique creativity. She believes that “One of the beauties of aging and perhaps the most poignant - is you must always be ready to leave. This acceptance brings a
special beauty and meaning to every day.”
Join Marie to explore your creative side and find your own joy and beauty in the process.