About Marleen Morgans

Marleen Morgans - Artist & Illustrator

Marleen works in a variety of techniques with gouache, watercolour, pen and ink. You can see the influences of her design background in the decorative quality of her painting and in the exaggeration of the linear qualities in her work. Marleen studied at Carlisle, then Hornsey Collage of Art, London, qualifying (ATC) as an art teacher. Her main areas of study were: Fine Art, Textile Design, Surface Pattern, Ceramics and History of Art.

Upon graduating Marleen taught art in the East End, London and freelanced as a designer for Marks and Spencer. She continued her career as a secondary art teacher in various locations in the United Kingdom until retiring. Throughout her career she has continually worked at her own arts practise and exhibited her work.

Marleen is Carys's Mother and they work together on special projects, such as The Whispers From The Woods.

"For as long as I can remember Mum has always had her paints set up somewhere at home. The simplest of pencil cases with a pencil, few tubes of watercolour and a couple of favourite brushes, resulting in the most exquisite and detailed paintings. A lifetime of observing has seen Marleen able to free draw so much without needing references, a skill that only comes from hours of studying, observing and drawing. When faced with an unfamiliar subject, like my little dog Bramble in the Bramble card, the observation skills come back into play and Bramble had to sit on the table to be drawn! I remember growing up we would have bird feeders by the window and Mum would observe and draw, getting to know the characteristics and colours of the visiting birds. There would be flowers picked on walks in jam jars on the shelves ready to be sketched and visits to Tullie House Museum in Carlisle to visit the taxidermy section for close up animal studies. The sketch book, pencil and palette were never far away!"