Born in Gaspe, Quebec, Marcia Harris’ interest in art began at an early age and entered many art contests in her formative years. Harris moved to Alberta, and in 1992, she entered a national art contest for Canada’s 125th Anniversary. Marcia Harris’ art was selected to represent Alberta, and was flown to Ottawa for the special award ceremony, which included meeting the Queen!
In 1999, Harris married her husband Brandon, and together they moved to the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. Shortly afterwards, Harris entered the BFA program at the University of British Columbia at Okanagan, and graduated with distinction while majoring in painting, drawing, photography and screenprint. Currently, Marcia Harris has had numerous Artshows throughout Western Canada, and currently resides in Calgary with her husband Brandon and their son Thai.
I have lots of interests, most of them are creative ones. I have created a line of jewelry calledSuite B, based off of designs that I have drawn or painted, and reproduced using different materials like wood and resin. I love running (which is when I brainstorm for creative ideas…) I have ran half marathons – I feel very inspired on those runs! Basically, I love to paint, draw, photograph, which takes me to the next point…
In 2004, I recieved a BFA from the University of British Columbia, Okanagan., majoring in painting, drawing, photography and screenprint. Currently I have an one-person artshow of paintings in The Peter Robertson Gallery, a commercial gallery in Edmonton. I have had previous artshows at The Kelowna Art Gallery and at The Art Gallery of Calgary. Consistently over the past eight years, I have had paintings in various commercial galleries across Western Canada.
Recently, The Alberta Foundation For The Arts purchased one of my paintings titled Working Late. My subject matter has always been influenced by nature and environmental issues that usually manifest itself in the form of a tree(s).
On Marcia’s first pair of Fluevogs:
I have been Fluevogin’ for over 10 years, but in the last three years, I have really started to collect. I currently own seven pairs. I was super excited when Calgary finally got a Fluevog store, because before I was ordering online or shopping when I went to Vancouver. Now I can be sure about sizes and fitting!
On entering the FluevogCreative contest:
I would say for me, winning this contest was due to my ‘third charm’ working – so to speak. I had entered twice and was determined to keep trying, just cause: I LOVE FLUEVOGS! I can’t stop buying them. My husband thought I was wasting a lot of time on something that probably wouldn’t amount to anything – but now he is eating his words! (I’ll still get him a pair though, he’s addicted too).
On the inspiration behind her winning ad Fluevog Keepsake:
My inspiration for the design just sprang at me after I had already tried out two or three other ideas that just weren’t working. I was getting ready to sell necklaces that I make at Market Collective, a local artist market, and I was trying to think about how to best represent ‘keepsake’. So I thought of certain cherishable items people often wear around their neck such as lockets, religious symbols, and heirlooms. So just like that my design was born, it took a few hours, but the whole process to get the idea was a few weeks.
On what the dreams and future hold for Marcia Harris:
My dream is to keep painting, hopefully becoming more recognized as an artist. I also really love graphic art and illustration, and hope to write and illustrate a children’s book sometime in the near future! Also dreaming of winning more Fluevogs wouldn’t hurt too.
Keep an eye out in Vice, Juxtapoz, and UTNE magazines for Marcia’s winning design in print.
