Biography
Marjorie's involvement with art began at an early age: as the worst athlete in the entire school, she knew she'd better find something she could do. Excused to the class room (asthma was a convenient excuse), Marjorie had many hours to practice drawing, and soon became the go-to student when any art project was needed.
This reputation with art carried into college, where Marjorie received a B.A. degree, a Master's Degree, and a Teaching Credential from California State University at Long Beach. That's where she met Bob Trout --- he cut mats for her and 'pugged clay' for her ceramics projects: What could she do but marry him?
Marjorie taught art and English at Bellflower High School until the two little Trouts arrived, then taught fiber arts and life drawing for many years through the North Orange County Community College Adult Education Division. When the Adult Education art classes were declared a "frill" during California's budget cutting, Marjorie began a second involvement as a portrait artist, and over the years has produced well over 1,000 portraits!
The "Soft Graphics", a term Marjorie coined for the blending of soft sculpture and graphics, or drawing, evolved from the large, colorful soft sculpture she was doing to a form where she could control the background (another story). Always involving groups of people, the 'soft graphics' are a medium for social commentary --- satirical, tender, humorous, sometimes political, --- usually expressing an opinion (Marjorie is never short on opinion): I am always delighted when the viewer picks up on the message and responds!
Life takes many twists and creates unexpected opportunities, and Marjorie believes there is much to be learned from each one. Among her 'twists' were the making of five art instruction film strips (before the era of DVD's), four software packages of drawings for the Mac and PC (before CD's held thousands of clip art images), and illustrating a children's book.
Marjorie has been honored with several one-woman exhibits, including:
Challis Gallery in Laguna Beach (now the Ester Wells Collection)
The Rex Wignall Gallery at Chaffey College
Four Oaks Gallery in San Marino
Not lacking in the awards department, Marjorie's studio wall is crowded with ribbons and plaques from many competitions, including:
Many awards from the Orange County Fair, including numerous 1st place awards, the most recent being 2005, as well as two purchase awards.
Best of Show at the 1st Costa Mesa Seniors Competition ($1,500.00 WOW!!!)
Numerous awards at the Annual Hillcrest Festival of Fine Arts
PLEASE ENJOY your visiting of these web pages!!! And visit ME at :
Marjorie Trout at marjorietrout@earthlink.net
or call my phone # : [714] 971.8016