“I am intrigued by the history of where I live, and I like to reveal it back to people in my painting,” says Marie Liu, first Artist in Residence of DEWA from summer 2015 to 2016. After reading and dreaming of the fun of collaboration between artists and parks, she approached DEWA, and together they established the program. Her duties include three concurrent exhibits from Memorial Day to Labor Day and a lecture: “A Legacy of Art in the Upper Delaware Valley” at the Marie Zimmerman House in Dingmans Ferry.
Liu was a landscape painter in Orange County, New York, frustrated because beautiful places were usually private property. Now in Milford, her dreams have come true with the freedom to hike and explore a wealth of state and federal land, perfectly open to the public. Her fascination with waterfalls (“I instantly started painting all the waterfalls I could find.”) led to numerous paintings and “A Guide to Waterfalls along the Upper Delaware River”, a book with photographer Dawn Benko.
A dedicated nature lover, Liu is constantly inspired by the area’s history, seemingly frozen in time and still apparent, thanks to the park’s presence. “When reading the history, you can go to that place described and it will be unchanged. To me that’s what makes it remarkable. The past almost seems to be living alongside the current.”
Says Liu, who once was torn between being a forester or an artist: “When I came to Milford everything came together. There’s something magical about this area and it draws me in all the time. I’m living life to the fullest now ,but it’s not an easy gig. When I get to sit at a waterfall and paint, it’s like wow! This doesn’t get any better.”
Artist website...The land along the Delaware River is rife with artists who portray the river and its environment in all its splendor. Here are more artists who honor this federally-designated “Scenic and Recreational River” and surrounding landscape...
