Painted Stones by Marianne Vick

Marianne Vick is a self- taught artist who currently lives in Northport and Princeton, IL. She has a profound love for nature which is evident in her wildlife art. She started to paint on beach stones in 1972 with detailed paintings of birds and animals. She is able to see things in three dimension and tries to paint them in a way so owls, dogs, cats, birds bodies fit perfectly on an irregular surface of a rock.

With her brush strokes she brings life to these creatures who appear so real that one would expect that they'll stand up and start to walk at any moment. She can spend up to 20 hours to paint a rock paying attention to color, texture and details. 

"For the past ten years the focus of her painting has shifted from representational wildlife paintings to allegorical pictorials, featuring birds and their various characteristics as stand-ins for our unique human conditions."