Panache Magazine article 6/3/2004
The following article appeared in Panache Magazine, June 3, 2004
The artwork of Marie Louise Tesch

Rapid City - "Moderate Abstraction" is the term Marie Louise Tesch has adopted to describe her painting, although the emerging Black Hills artist admits she is only at the beginning of her artistic journey.

Her first solo exhibit will be on display at the Bay Leaf Café, Spearfish, throughout the month of June. Previous shows have included a bug’s-eye view of fruits and vegetables. Tesch is fascinated with the perfection of nature in producing color and texture. Her many-layered glazing technique brings out a variety of colors.

Most of the new works are done with acrylic paint. This time she has chosen to add gel medium or rice paper for more texture. She is also experimenting with different types of paper and canvas.

The two works illustrated here are part of a series examining the effect of gel medium mixed with the acrylic paint and applied to papers and canvas. She started out with a simple painting of purple alliums with poppy foliage in the foreground (Alliums 1). Next, she focused on one small area and created Alliums 2. In this work she stippled the thickened paint and applied it to paper especially developed for acrylic paint.

With Alliums 3 she takes the organic form into a giant shape (ala Georgia O’Keefe) and concentrates on the individual seed pods.

The exhibit at the Bay Leaf shows the whole process (Alliums from one to four) from beginning to end. There is even more to the story because this prompted another work that concentrates on the poppies in the original work.

Fans of her graphite work will not be disappointed. She has some works in her old style and a new experimental work based on the ideas of Georges Seurat.

In April, Tesch started working with more realistic settings. Did You Hear the Meadowlark is a sight (and sound) dear to any South Dakota native. For this work she used an acrylic base and then refined with oils. The fun of the painting carries over into a search for the meadowlark’s nest .... a small bit of amusement for the spectator.

Tesch admits to experimenting with mediums and styles with abandon. She is a self-taught artists who began painting just before she turned 50 - that was two years ago.

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