About
Hello, I'm Marion. How do you do!
Where are you from?
Originally, London - I'm also from a mixed heritage background. My mother was English and my father Chinese. I've been using Chinese paintbrushes to paint gesturally, I think, to connect with this side of my culture. Dad came to the UK in 1962 he was quite an adventurer and also entrepreneurial. Mum was the creative one she made clothes and was very artistic.
During lockdown, a relative got in touch through social media (it was genuine!)...I have a long-lost auntie: Daphne Cheung and a whole family in Canada, San Francisco and Hong Kong. My brother and sister live in Queensland and Melbourne, Australia.
I'm in Wales now and I love it. It's lush and green as it rains a lot. I married Rhys Webber 20 years ago - we have an amazing family and we belong to a large community of artist/musician friends.
Why do you do what you do?
I've been painting and being creative all my life! I love painting with any and every paint available. I love the texture and the feeling of it on paper, canvas and textiles. Painting's like an itch that needs to be scratched. If I don't paint or make anything, I just don't feel right.
I also work with Rhys on photography shoots. He does all the technical stuff and I make everything look pretty/ugly/weird.
Being creative has helped me out of some really difficult times - that's why I'm passionate about sharing skills and the creative process with as many people as I can.
What's the best thing about being an artist?
Every day is different! It's a challenge being a freelancer, sometimes scary but I wouldn't have it any other way. It's the best feeling when I've painted something that 'speaks to someone else' and they just have to own it! It's amazing when someone says that I've helped them access another side of themselves that they didn't know was there, or that it was buried long ago. Recently, someone said that I'd helped him reconnect with his 7-year-old son whom he hadn't seen for months. "You've given me the ideas and skills to do some painting with my boy. We've grown apart and this will help us to get back to where we were."
When I hear things like this, it makes me so happy and grateful to be able to do this work as an artist.
What's new!
I'll be at The Place this month with artist Rufus Mufasa. We've been awarded a 'Creative Curation' residency and we can't wait!
I will also be leading some expressive painting workshops in April (20th and 21st) at Art School Wales.
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