Untitled Toad on Paint Tube

After graduating in Art Education from SUNY Buffalo in 1961, Marilyn taught elementary school art in Liverpool, New York, then spent 2 years in Peru in the Peace Corps with the purpose of developing craft cooperatives among the artisans she worked with. Upon her return, she married Ed Stiles, master craftsman, and they moved to Druid Heights, California . That was 46 years ago. She worked for several years in the Open Studio at U.C. Berkeley and later taught ceramics at St. Domenico High School. The Stiles have two sons: Seth who lives in London with his wife Cat, and Wyeth and his wife Trina, who have two beautiful girls, Siena 6 and Raya 3, currently residing in Bellingham, Washington.

Marilyn’s interest in clay peaked while working in the Peace Corps in Peru where she made her first sculpture, a small hawk. She can’t say why she found the process so exciting, but said like all artists, she loves the material she uses, “…clay is very plastic, everyone that works with it does something different, unique, it’s like a signature.” When asked what inspires her creations she simply replied, “Life, whatever is happening, a sighting, something said, something read, a word play by Ed….” As a child, Marilyn played in a creek behind her uncle’s house. She found a private, magical, secret world full of creatures and insects and became enamored with frogs, a favorite subject in her work. Upon moving to Druid Heights, foxes that graced her deck and ravens that visited every morning, not to mention the lowly slugs that oozed up the glass all became part of her repertoire. “Inspirations come from ‘doing’. You may start with an idea or concept, but it inevitably transforms along the way.”

Marilyn’s signature turquoise-blue glaze is one she has used for many years.
“It’s a white stoneware that I fire to cone 6, mid-range. I mix the glaze then add different colorants: copper, cobalt and iron. The amazing thing is that the process of creation is never boring and opening the kiln is either a surprise or a disappointment. There’s always something new to learn or attempt….I consider myself to be very fortunate.” Quoted from:
http://marilynstiles.com/