Marlene Rose Besso

Marlene Rose Besso is a self-taught artist and photographer, living in Sedona, Arizona. She has been passionate about art ever since she was a young girl. A vivid memory of an outing with her dear aunt always reminds her of her true passion. At 10 years old, she stood motionless, in awe in front of a huge Jackson Pollock canvas, at the Albright Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. Her aunt tried to coax her to continue on throughout the museum to view some "real art," and Marlene respectfully said, "No, this is real art, and I just love it!"

Marlene got serious about her art in 1981 and began painting abstract canvases, greeting cards, t-shirts, fabrics, and anything else she could apply acrylic paint to. She exhibited at art shows, galleries, and sold her cards and clothing items at stores in Southern California. In the early 1990s she focused on the world of photography, taking black & white shots of her trips to Europe. She hand-tinted and framed these special colorized black & white prints. Flowers, architecture, nature, and her beloved pets became her subject matter, and she has a large collection of photographs, color, black & white, and hand-tints now available as art gifts. In 1995 she started creating computer digital art, and she has an array of unique designs.

She visited Sedona on her 60th birthday and fell in love with the glorious landscape. She decided to move to Sedona on 6/4/13 and arrived four months later. Her Arizona license plate numbers were the same date! Her childhood nickname was Mars, and her newest nickname is Mars Sedona, The Heart Lady.