Meet Marty on First Friday
by Cate Murway
Marie Frances “just call me Marty” Shively is endowed with the wonderful characteristics of unrelenting multi-talents and versatility. She has proven that she can do so many things so very well.
Marty’s first “Solo Art Show” will be held at Calm Waters Coffee Roasters located at 242 Mill Street in historic Bristol on the Delaware from August 2nd through August 28th.
Meet Marty at the opening reception on First Friday, August 5th and come hungry….or you will be.
All of her original oil paintings are of FOOD!
Her passionate, no compromises framed and wired for hanging artwork is all marked for sale. The displayed works of art are for sale any day of the week.
“I am so thankful for Andrew and Jodi Dittman who encourage artists to show their works.”
Displaying talent constantly breathes life into the community.
The proprietors of Calm Waters promote artistic interests and education as well as provide their freshly brewed-to-perfection java jolt concoctions while strengthening community bonds in their storefront.
“I am so excited about the showing and they are so welcoming!”
Their First Friday musicians and artists “Meet & Greet” sessions have proven to be most successful.
It should be made a rule that every small town, before it can be accurately labeled 'quaint', must have a small, quirky, artistic coffee shop. Calm Waters is very appreciated for having accomplished that goal!
Marty’s parents, Theodore William “Bill” and Irene were pharmacists, graduates of Temple University.
“There’s a fair amount of artists on my mom’s side, musicians and many cousins who paint. My dad was never formally trained but he has made some very creative pastel sketches.”
Her late parents were from Jermyn, a borough in Lackawanna County, PA and the Pocono regions. They raised their three children in the Harrisburg area, Marty; Dr. Ted, a physician who resides in Detroit, MI; and TX resident Liz, who is a Physical Therapist and “very artistic in wood carving”.
Marty graduated from Immaculata University in Malvern with a degree in Music Therapy in 1979, the 1st graduate in the new program. [In 1979, Immaculata College was approved to award music therapy degrees and the graduate program was accredited in 1980.]
She put her degree to supreme tests, finding fulfillment not only in creating melodies, but also in using music to help people with disabilities. Before retiring and dedicating herself to her art, she worked in the Mental Health fields providing recreation/music therapy to the patients in the Philadelphia and Eastern State Hospitals.
Marty did participate in some swimming while in school but music had always occupied a large part of her life. Trumpet and baritone horn lessons kept her involved while in grade school and she continued to perform in her HS band and their play productions. Marty had the opportunity as a member of the brass group in college to perform in Rome at the Vatican Basilica. She also played for ‘The Mighty Macs’, the Immaculata University’s women’s basketball team at the half-time show during their Madison Square Garden game. She later belonged to a NJ Drum & Bugle Corps, a musical marching band.
While Marty was still working in the MH fields, she started taking a Drawing Basics class at BCCC, to continue the development of her drawing skills. “I just kept taking classes.” An Anatomy Composition course enticed her next. “It was a passion, never a chore. BCCC has a wonderful core curriculum!”
She actually likes painting food, so she was well prepared for this first solo show at Calm Waters.
The Artists of Bristol [AOB] membership chair/ Past President dedicates most of her time working with oil paints, her favorite medium, in her Bristol home. She converted her former dark room into a studio. The AOB promotes and provides exposure for Artists to enhance the legacy of arts, culture and education in the local community. They meet on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 7:00PM in the Silver Lake Nature Center, 1306 Bath Road, Bristol, PA.
Marty holds art/ nature themed camp classes at Silver Lake Nature Center. Her class recently worked making origami, paper folded, bees and beehives. The Center is an environmental education center and a peaceful retreat! “Silver Lake has great counselors and really good staff!”
She also chairs the students’ March Art Shows at the Margaret R. Grundy Memorial Library for Youth Art Month. The Artists of Bristol and young artists of all ages proudly display their finished works to countless spectators.
Marty’s portfolio includes three- dimensional woodworking [wood offers a fascination, beauty, and complexity in the grain], sketched compositions, water color images and realistic encaustic wax paintings.
Her latest creation for the Centre for the Arts "Under the Sea" exhibit is an abstract underwater ship wreck. The opening reception is Thursday, August 11th in the Arts Room at 308 Mill Street.
The exhibition and sale will run until the end of August.
So what is your best creation? “The next painting I do will be the best!”
Marty is currently preparing a wood sculpture for the BCCC "Let Us Entertain You, Let Us Make You Smile!" exhibition focusing on work related to the Performing Arts: Music, Dance, Theater, etc. This show will be held in The Gallery at Lower Bucks Campus, 1304 Veterans Highway, Bristol, PA from September 12 through December 8th. The opening reception is scheduled for Friday, September 16th from 6:00PM to 8:00PM.
Marty usually works on carving blocks of mahogany, balsa or pine wood. “I go for the grain. The box elder tree has a gorgeous wood and has red in it.” She begins her work with a clay model and explained that the finished piece emerges from the wood while she is taking it out. She uses a high performance Dremel electric rotary tool drill to create her pieces.
Her oil paintings, including cake, donuts, ice cream and iced coffee pieces are completed for her show at Calm Waters Coffee Roasters. This ingenious strategist has promised diet conscious art selections so any audience can indulge themselves without a single calorie.
P.S. Her favorite food is pizza!
Stop in. Savor the delicious coffee. Java/ joe/cuppa addicts/ coffee connoisseurs will truly appreciate an exclusive, optimal, 'just right roast' that is second to none.
Enjoy the music entertainment provided by local performers while you peruse the original artworks.
It’s a nice night out in a casual and fun atmosphere.
The chance to meet Marty and to be able to speak with her about her works on display is a great and unique opportunity for everyone. She is looking forward for her time to chat at the “Meet & Greet” Friday, August 5th from 7:00-9:00PM.
Through the work of artistic creative processes, through the work of someone's Art, we may come to understand each other, even if only just a wee bit more.
We are a community bound together by the sharing of our Art.
Calm Waters Coffee Roasters
242 Mill Street
Bristol, PA 19007
215.781.6286
Recommend a "Spotlight". E-mail vjmrun@yahoo.com
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