Meet Marjorie Risk | Metal and Mixed Media Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marjorie Risk and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marjorie, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My artistic journey has been an interesting one. I have no formal training or degree in the Arts but 12 years ago was at a turning point in my career in an environmental industry. With 20+ years in the field of water resource management and water efficiency, I left my native Arizona for what appeared to be more opportunity in another state. I had managed a Statewide water conservation program in Arizona and a had national role in water but with the ever changing legislative budgets, my agency and many others were facing program and staff reductions. I left Arizona for the new opportunity only to return and year and a half later. Water remained the precious resource it had always been and although the need for conservation exists to this day, I wasn’t landing the jobs upon my return that my experience might otherwise ensure. I had enjoyed woodworking as a hobby for many years and made keepsake furniture pieces for family and friends. I had a desire to learn how to weld metal and felt that I could create so many interesting things if I could master this skill. With job opportunities not coming to fruition, friends suggested I start selling my work and Same Moon Creations was born. The name is a tribute to my maternal grandmother who told me years ago that “we would always be connected since we looked upon the same moon at night”. In creating art, my goal is to create a connection between my art and the client. This connection could be a shared experience, a love of nature and the environment or any number of other touchstones.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As an Arizona native, I have a love for our natural resources: water, copper, turquoise, the red rocks of Sedona. With years in the water industry, my work may have a water element in shape, color and/or theme. I have become known for interesting textural effects on metal and vibrant colors created using copper patinas. The journey has not always been easy but personal perserverance has led me to continue to create new, mixed media sculptures that have taken my work beyond the conventional metal pieces possible through learning how to weld. I have learned to pursue creation of pieces that are meaningful to me personally that hopefully will form a connection with those seeing my work. Telling the story of the connection with my grandmother who left earthly realms some 20 years ago and looking on the same moon strikes a familiar cord with others that have similar experiences and connections with loved ones. It gives people hope in knowing that love knows no limits of time or space and even death does not break the bond. At the end of the day, no matter what else is going on in the world, we have still have a basic need for connection.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take friends to the various diverse climatic zones in Arizona beyond our local desert environs. We also have a great variation in geologic formations .From the Chirachuas in Southern Arizona, the Granite Dells of the Prescott area to Sedona and the Grand Canyon beyond. Natural beauty is all around us, we just need to stop and look.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Definitely credit goes to my friends and family who have supported my efforts to follow this artistic path wherever it might lead. Thanks are also due to my colleagues in the water industry who knew me through a somewhat regulatory role and through my continuing ties to national water education efforts in coordination with Project WET (Water Education Today). These professional ties have resulted in clients for my artwork but also have provided me with an opportunity to give back through artwork donations in support of programs and the water industry I love.

Website: SameMoonCreations.com
Facebook: Same Moon Creations