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MARJORIE L. COLBY California native Marjorie L. Colby attended Bakersfield College prior transferring to a private Southern California College from which she graduated in 1960. She entered the teaching profession that year and met and later married a fellow educator. During her fifteen years of teaching at the primary level, she conducted art workshops for children and adults, taught an accelerated studies for gifted children. During the summer months she organized and taught art programs for summer recreational schools and camps in Texas, Minnesota, and California. A Leave of absence from her full time teaching duties in 1971 enabled Marjorie to enter an intensive study of sculpture and bronze casting. She studied at Pasadena City College, Cal State L. A., Bakersfield College, and with noted Altadena sculptor Ralph Rathbone Preston. In 1974 she was recipient of both the Wiltshire Ebell Club's annual award for sculpture and the Sculpture award of Merit from the Artists of the Southwest, Inc., a Los Angeles based professional artists association. In 1994, Marjorie received the prestigious "Artistic Eminence Award" in "Sculpture" from the Arts Council of Kern. Inc. Marjorie's many and varied interests have influenced the subject matter of her work. -Her years of teaching and travel abroad give her an empathy and sensitivity to the peoples she sculpts - a documentation of the human experience. -A background in zoology, a love of animals, and numerous wilderness trips into the Minnesota -Canadian canoe country inspired her wildlife series. -A continuing study of American history and her personal family's history provide material for her Historical Americana series. -Her current works depict stylized abstractions of the dynamics of life. She casts most of her sculptures in bronze, her preferred medium. Some larger, unique pieces were cast in bonded metals and many small works are in cast pewter. She has a thorough understanding of the “cire perdu” or lost wax method of casting and complete working proficiency in the entire casting and production processes. She worked 3 1/2 years as a sculpture production technician with nationally known wildlife artist Wm. Davis. In Visalia, she trained art foundry personnel in wax and metal chasing techniques. She conducts sculpture workshops. She makes molds for herself and others, casts much of her own work, and often completes the necessary welding, chasing, and patinization of each of her bronzes. In addition to her bronze sculpture, Marjorie also designs and creates jewelry cast in gold and silver and set with precious stones. Being a lapidary, she often cuts and polishes her own stones for these works. She is also an avid miniaturist, creating miniature bronze sculpture and art works collected by the miniature enthusiasts. Over the years, Marjorie has been actively involved with the arts community of Kern. She helped found the Southern Sierra Sculpture Society, the Bakersfield Art Museum’s Artists Guild, and the Tehachapi Arts Foundation, Inc. Other organizations she supports and has participated in are: Tehachapi Summit Arts League, the Artists of the Southwest, Inc., Artists Equity, Inc., Bakersfield Art Foundation, Arts Council of Kern, International Sculpture Center, Tehachapi Valley Arts Association, Inc., Bear Valley Springs Cultural Arts Association, Tehachapi Mountain Miniatures, National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts, International Guild of Miniature Artisans, Ltd., and the Photographic Society of America. Her award winning work has been exhibited throughout Southern California and is represented in galleries and private collections throughout he USA and abroad.