Marianne Bechtle
Virginia Beach, VA
I am an award-winning abstract artist from Virginia Beach. I create sensitive, evocative contemporary paintings in acrylic, finished with cold wax.
MessageMarianne has been a lifelong, though sporadic painter, not working seriously until 2020. She started her business, Marianne Bechtle Art, in 2022 and started exhibiting work and attending large regional art shows in 2023. Her work is nonrepresentational abstract and abstract landscapes. She paints using acrylic paint and mixed media, and finishes with cold wax, which creates a beautiful satin finish, resembling encaustic.
AWARDS
2024
Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Boardwalk Art Show. Director's Award. $2000 cash prize for "Gems and Minerals"
ADC Fine Art, Cincinnati, 2024 Radiance Exhibition. Gallery contract for "Temerity."
2023
Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Boardwalk Art Show. Sand Dollar Award for "Whole Shack Shimmy."
Stockley Gardens Spring Arts Festival. Ed Carson Memorial Award for her body of work at the show.
JURIED EXHIBITIONS
2024
Art Comes Alive 2024. "Music of Time" and "Flattery". ADC Fine Art, Cincinnati, OH. November 2024
29th Juried Exhibition. Fine Arts League of Cary. "Gems and Minerals". On site group exhibition. Cary, NC. August 2024
"Radiance" Group Exhibition. "Temerity." ADC Fine Art. Cincinnati, OH. June 2024
NanseMonde-Suffolk Academy 2024 Art Show and Sale. Suffolk, VA. February 2024
"Out of the Box" Group Exhibition. Virginia Beach Arts Center. "Whole Shack Shimmy". Virginia Beach, VA
Statement
I am a Virginia Beach abstract expressionist painter living in a perfect place. The tranquil sky, water, sand, and marsh feed my soul, especially in contrast to the rollicking, good-time vibe of the Oceanfront. This brings me alive in the studio and out. Themes of hush and serenity and action, gestural movement, and a sense of fun are expressed throughout my work. Viewers often remark that the work makes them feel happy.
My paintings are little worlds intuitively constructed with acrylic paint of varied transparency, inks, charcoal, markers, crayons, graphite, oil sticks and many random application and mark-making tools. Trowel-applied smooth, thick acrylics vs. gritty ridges create tension and depth.
© Copyright 2025 Marianne Bechtle Art
Powered by Artwork Archive