Artist Spotlight: Marsha Robinson

February 8, 2018

“The black ink is the blood of my work. It gives my pieces life. They become so alive…you could almost hear a heart beat.” –Marsha Robinson

We are beyond thrilled to finally have Marsha Robinson‘s beautiful and intricate botanical abstracts as a part of our Red Cap collection. Marsha lives and works in Denver, Colorado, where she has created an art portfolio that spans beyond the page into tactile forms, such as wall hangings, textiles, apparel and glassware. Her work is reminiscent of an other-wordly, botanical art-deco era, and it makes us think that Frank Lloyd Wright would most definitely be taken with it.

We thought we would show off a bit more of her work, as well as some wonderful written profiles she has had recently, as a little twist on our usual Artist Spotlight interview. Check out the cover of this month’s Cherry Creek Lifestyle Magazine (below), plus a few quotes from fabulous sources that tell a bit more about Marsha’s art story. Enjoy! We love you, Marsha!

“When Strange Dirt’s Marsha Robinson discovered a box of gouache paints her mom had kept under a bed, the Denver artist had no idea it would be the key to her creative destiny. Robinson was interested in art throughout high school but knew art school was out of the question because it was too expensive. Instead, she opted to dive into administrative work but something kept telling her it wasn’t the road she was meant to take. ‘I was moving away from home with my first love and my mom gifted me the box of paints. I was surprised she had kept it but there was a reason for it and I’m so grateful she did. I had an itch to pick up the paintbrush and see where my hands wanted to take me. So I opened up that box and the rest is history,’ Robinson said. Using gouache, an opaque water color, would lead her up to using ink, her main medium today. Even after dabbling in art shows at local venues and selling pieces, Robinson felt her work still needed a stronger focus. Frustrated with working in the food industry, she took the leap and decided to pursue art full-time.” – 303 Magazine

“The finely inked botanical drawings and textiles of Denver artist Marsha Robinson, aka Strange Dirt, seem suspended in a time warp, inspired by science and symmetry and maybe a touch of William Morris, yet they belong to no real period of art history. Distinctly personal, Robinson’s works are clearly the product of a decorative inner vision, beautiful and elegantly contemporary.” – Susan Froyd, Westword

“The botanical world fascinated me–I think of it as the ultimate example of true, natural beauty.” -Marsha, via Cherry Creek Lifestyle Magazine

“When I moved to Denver I tried to live in collective houses and met a lot of people who were anarchists. I saw a lot of patches on hats, denim jackets and backpacks and they all meant something very important to the people carrying them, and they were so dirty and so loved. I wanted [these] patches to have a life and last longer than a year. I wanted my work on garments but I didn’t want to find a t-shirt I created in a thrift store because of fashion trends changing with seasons. I want for people to hold on to the patches as long as they could.” -Marsha Robinson, via 303 Magazine