Marilyn Monroe, 11" x 14" Oil on linen, framed by the artist

Running half off till March 31 (unframed)

Was Marilyn Monroe lucky or was something else in play? Brittany Spears wrote a song about her luck. Norma may indeed have been lucky but she was also diligent and extremely intentional in her pursuit of excellence. I love that she studied with Strasberg. This is a very recent painting, although I tried to capture a style more common to her time.

The iconic Marilyn Monroe has been photographed and painted a million times. It was a challenge to capture what it is that makes her so alluring, in paint. I liked this particular image because it depicts her as strong, yet vulnerable. She was the master of the image she portrayed. This feels more like Norma Jean, than the Hollywood icon.

Lovely painting as she looks bemused and truly lighthearted, as she was also at times, childlike, open-eyed and innocent--which made her appear so warm hearted and accessible to others. She was intelligent, diligent, strategic and the hardest worker when a young rising star. My Dad told us we were named after movie stars. My elder brother is indeed named John Wayne Zimmerman. The day when Marilyn tragically died, my Dad was bereft. He came home from work very upset. I happened to meet him that day at the door, and he immediately raged at me, "She was beautiful, talented, just like you! Don't you ever do that! Don't you ever, ever give up!" I was nine years old. And that fierce projection stayed with me.  -- Marilyn Zimmerwoman

Commission a portrait by Robert Maniscalco