Marla D. Thompson aka Fiercebird at
fiercebirdstudio is an oil mixed-media and original design barn quilt artist currently residing in Fancy Gap, Virginia.
She was born and raised in North Carolina; graduated from Appalachian State University in 1985 with a degree in Art Marketing and Production. A year after graduation she moved to Los Angeles, California, living there for 31 years, but not at all as an artist. In 2017 she left her corporate profession to discover the creativity hidden inside her. She spent 2018 driving across California, Oregon, and Washington taking thousands of photographs, walking hundreds of trails, hiking mountains, and exploring every river she found. In 2019 she set out on a journey driving across the U.S.A. She is still on that journey discovering her artistic voice in Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and now Virginia. She began to earnestly paint and draw in 2020 and launched www.fiercebirdstudio.com in 2023. She does not limit herself to subject or medium even though her professors at ASU said she must. She is not a rule follower preferring instead to blow down boundaries.
Her oil mixed-media pieces have their own unscripted journey as she begins with inks and spray paints. The art piece tells her what is next; collage, script, mark-making, more inks, more spray paint, acrylic, and the final layer is oil, building the vision texture by texture, layer upon layer. Her barn quilts wed traditional with original design. When you look at Marla's art, she hopes you will find your own treasures, discovering fresh nuances each time you gaze, and she trusts those explorations release you to discover the hidden beauties of your own journey, your own story.
