Marla Baggetta (b. 1962) American, Pastel on Paper Landscape. Signed bottom left. 

Overall: 27 1/2 X 27 1/2 in. 

Sight: 22 3/4 X 22 3/4 in. 

#3854 . 

Marla Baggetta was born in Buffalo, New York in 1962 and spent much of her early childhood in upstate New York. Her family moved to Ohio for less than a year before moving to Newbury Park, California in 1969. Now in an artistic community, she took private lessons from various local artists early on and was constantly drawing and painting, primarily animals. She graduated high school early and attended classes at Moorpark Junior College, before enrolling at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where she received her BFA with honors in 1983. She worked first as a commercial illustrator for Walt Disney, Nissan Motors, and Houghton Mifflin Publishing. On weekends, however, she would attend pastel drawing sessions held by Vernon Wilson, an Art Center instructor, who worked with her directly to hone her figure drawing skills and eventually got her a position teaching illustration classes there as well. In 1986 Marla married a fellow artist named Mike, a graphic designer and art director who collaborated with her on many commercial assignments.  They lived in the South Bay region of Los Angeles working from their home studio, but when Marla’s son Kevin was born prematurely in 1990 she gave up art for a time to care for him, along with her second child Keith, born in 1992. For their children’s health the family moved to Oregon in 1993, where Marla was inspired to return to pastels by the beautiful scenery of the surrounding rural landscapes. Baggetta has exhibited extensively since then throughout the Pacific Northwest and received numerous awards, including Best in Show from Art in the Pearl in 2001 and the Oregon Pastel Society in 2003. In 2006 she published a book, “Step by Step Pastel,” and teaches private lessons and workshops at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. She is a member of the Pastel Society of America, the International Association of Pastel Societies, and the American Impressionist Society.