Annette Morasco Marcus was born and grew up in New Milford, Connecticut. She attended New Milford High School, and holds degrees from Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont, The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts and Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts. She lives and makes art at home in Brookfield, Connecticut with her husband, Jeff and children Samantha, 17 and Noah, 15.
Annette has been teaching Advanced Placement Studio Art, Ceramics and Crafts to high school students at her high school alma mater for six years, and has been an active member of the Connecticut Clay Artists, a Fairfield County, Connecticut based clay art group since 1984. She is also a member of the Connecticut Education Association and the National Council on the Education for Ceramic Arts. Along with her work in clay, Annette also paints, sculpts and works in mosaic out of her studio at home. Her favorite past time outside of the arts is training and riding her five-year old registered paint quarter horse, Mouse, who is the inspiration for much of her imagery.
I have been making works of art for as long as I can remember. No matter what else I was doing, I have always found myself discovering possible new materials which I invariably make into something. It's just the way I've always been. Fabric, clay, paint, paper, tile, wood, wire; it doesn't matter what the material is. I have an energetic, inquisitive, playful approach to all of it. However, most of the artwork that I make is in clay.
I am interested in line, color, texture and pattern, and I am drawn to images with dramatic light and dark. I love plenty of contrast and I am constantly intrigued by the inter-personal and cooperative relationships between people and animals, which very often appear as images in my compositions. Put all of these together and you get works of art that are sensitive and whimsical, but also colorful and energetic.
I am very passionate about everything that I do and I think that it shows in my work. I always tell my students that anything that is worth doing is worth OVER doing! I suppose one could easily see that this shows in my clay and painted pieces and even more, it is how I try to live my life.
