What material(s) do you use in your sculptures?
“I am a multidisciplinary artist. I use terracotta, epoxy clay, cement, mixed media, upcycled and found materials.“

Wanna Race

Littlest Mermaid

First Sighting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


What is your primary forming method?
“Hand-built“

Pandora’s Box

Fischer

One Pound at a Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is your favorite surface treatment?
“Any kind of texture. I often use Wood-carved Indian batik stamps, as one signature style. But I also use textural stamps for fur, scales and skin.”

Eyes ON you!

Sad & Mad

Teeny Texasa Totem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are your favorite Tools?
“Carving tools and palette knives“

Little Dog Laughed

Clementine

Horatio II

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Describe your studio environment.
“I have a two-car detached garage that is my indoor studio, but I also use my covered porch and kitchen breakfast table.“

Please Siri…I Want More!

Vermeer’s Model

George

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How/Where do you market and sell your artwork?
“I am in two art guilds, one in Llano and one in Marble Falls, Texas. I apply to Art Calls and Art Shows. I have Facebook, Instagram and Linked-In social media exposure as well as a FASO website.“

Falling Gladiator

Dr. Pojman, Inventor

Texas Totem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What sparks your creativity? What drives you to create?
“It is God-given and God-driven. I am compelled to create.“

Cat & Fiddle

Wood Nymph

Cheetah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you come to sculpture from a different career? Tell us about your journey to becoming a sculptor.
“I have always painted and crafted, but I did not think 3-dimensionally until I took a class at the Eisabet Ney Sculpture Conservatory in Austin, Texas. The class was “Outdoor Sculpture in Built-up Cement for the Garden.” I love to garden and thought “bird baths, stepping stones, why not?” I left the first class a sculptor!“

Checkmate

Careful What You Wish

Uncommon Egret

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How have you have taken your experience as a well-established maker in the field and passed that knowledge along to other artists?
“I worked with Billie Caselli Clark for two years in the built-up cement method. She asked me to take over teaching her class so she could retire. I taught her method for five years until the City of Austin closed the school. By then it had been renamed “The Austin Sculpture Center.” ”

Corduroy

Ariadne

Texas Totem II

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s the best advice you’ve been given by a fellow maker, mentor, or teacher?
“Billie Caselli Clark said , “You Can Do This!”
5 years later my mentor Stephen Dubov not only reiterated Billie’s words but added “You NEED to do this!” “

Ode to the Oaks

Alligator

Batik

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Website: https://www.marlaripperda.com

https://www.tsos.org/artist/ripperdamarla/

@mkripperda for both Facebook and Instagram

TSOS Member Profile: Marla Ripperda

Bio:

“What is my art about? It’s about raucous joy, quiet beauty and the humor which makes us human.”

Marla Ripperda is a fifth generation Texan with Central Texas roots going back to 1850. She began her professional career with decorative faux painting effects, murals and customized stencils.

In 1995 Marla also began sculpting, and now works in both two and three dimensions.

In 2000 Marla opened a studio beside her Lake Buchanan home.

In June 2019 she joined Daniel Adams Fine Art Gallery co-owning a small gallery in Marble Falls and later moved to Daniel’s larger gallery at Buchanan Dam, Texas until 2021.

She currently exhibits her art at Llano Fine Arts Guild and Gallery, Llano, Texas. She is also showing her art in Marble Falls at the Highland Arts Gallery, the Marble Falls Visitor Center, as well as Adriano’s Italian Restaurant, Tea Thyme Cafe, and 1914 Cowboy Bar. She has outdoor sculptures exhibited in Marble Falls, Georgetown, Round Rock, Bee Caves and Jewett, Texas.

 

 

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