Rural Missouri - July 2023 - 25

by Paul Cecchini |
T
info@ruralmissouri.coop
photo by Zach Smith | zsmith@ruralmissouri.coop
he world record for most prolific painter is held
by Pablo Picasso, with over 13,000 paintings and
designs to his name. Hartville native Jimmie Marler
has produced around 11,500 at this point. And with
Picasso dead for several decades now, Jimmie is working
feverishly to catch up. " I'll beat him, " he says assuredly. " I
can't stand somebody beating me in something. "
Around Wright County, it's hard not to stumble across
Jimmie's artwork, whether in a cafe, church or roadside
mural. That's to say nothing of his work in museums,
countless churches and the White House.
Jimmie is soft-spoken, but never let it be said he doesn't
have a competitive streak. Whether it's photography, art,
piloting or computers, if he isn't
the best at something, he'll keep
working at it until he is.
In high school, Jimmie's counselor
told him he wouldn't make it
in college - an assessment that
didn't sit well with the ambitious
young man. " You tell me I can't do
something, I'll do it, " he says.
And he did just that multiple
times. Whereas most would settle
with one degree, Jimmie earned
five, ranging from art to computer
science. When he received each
one, he let his former counselor in
Kennett know.
A College of the Ozarks career
test told Jimmie he was cut out to
be a teacher. His twin brother, Billie,
was shocked, pointing to Jimmie's
naturally shy disposition.
" Yours says 'teacher?' " Jimmie
recalls him asking incredulously.
" You won't talk! "
But Jimmie gave it a shot teaching middle school
mathematics at Mountain Grove. Intimidated by the large
classes and boisterous students, he swore off teaching,
searching instead for employment in programming or
engineering. After getting no bites, Jimmie received word
that Norwood was looking for a math and art teacher. He
was hesitant, but changed his mind after being assured
Norwood classes were small.
Jimmie's education career lasted for 10 years at Hartville
and 27 at Norwood. For a time, he taught seven
classes simultaneously at Norwood, Drury University and
Southwest Baptist University. Occasionally, he would
teach computers, math or photography in surrounding
towns. Schools that typically allowed their instructors to
teach two classes assigned Jimmie four or five.
This tremendous workload, coupled with his artistic
and photographic endeavors on the side, meant Jimmie
Left: Whether he's using oil, pastels, pencils or charcoal, Hartville
artist Jimmie Marler loves rendering scenes of everyday life from the
world around him. Above: Among the thousands of pieces Jimmie has
created, sold and exhbiited he still holds on to his first oil painting.
would typically run on fewer than four hours of sleep
nightly.
" I'd stay up late drawing, then be working my mind
for the next day, " he says. " Some people would say I was
under stress, but if you love it, it's not a job. "
Jimmie even had the honor of being a candidate for
the NASA Teacher in Space Project in 1985. The winning
educator would become part of a crew that would fly into
space aboard the shuttle Challenger.
Thankfully, Jimmie wasn't chosen, as the Challenger
exploded not long after liftoff in 1986, a devastating event
that shocked the nation.
He recalls watching the tragedy unfold live in his classroom,
and can't help but wonder if events would have
played out differently had he been there. " Maybe I could
have fixed (it), " he muses, " if it was a computer problem or
something. "
What talent Jimmie is ultimately
known for, of course, is his
art. He learned the craft from his
self-taught cousin, Johnny Jackson.
While Johnny was mostly
paralyzed, he could move his neck
and hands, so Jimmie learned by
his bedside as he painted portraits
of governors, senators and
other noteworthy figures.
While Jimmie has done
abstract pieces, he prefers capturing
the essence of real people
in his art, typically from photographs
as opposed to his imagination.
Most of his art is done
while watching TV. The faster the
show moves, the faster he moves.
Jimmie is ambidextrous, so if one
of his hands gets tired, he simply
switches to the other. At this
point in his art career, Jimmie
says he doesn't have to think about what he's putting on
the canvas anymore, which he attributes to God's guiding
hand. He has an affinity for religious drawings and paintings,
having donated them to more than a hundred local
churches and charities.
" It's not me drawing, " he says. " It's like God did it. He
always tells me what color to pick up and where to put it. "
This summer, Jimmie is checking another item off his
bucket list: becoming an international artist.
" Sharon (Jimmie's late wife) and I visited the Louvre, "
Jimmie recalls. " I told her, 'Man, I'd love to have artwork in
here.' "
Beginning in July, the PAKS Gallery in Vienna, Austria,
will feature two of his pieces through the end of 2023. He'll
also be entering the Modern Art Masters in
exhibition at the Carrousel du Louvre in
Paris - yet another feather in the cap of
an artist working to become the best.
Hartville
Jimmie Marler can be reached at
jimmie.marler@yahoo.com.
Cecchini is a freelance writer
from Springfield.
JULY 2023 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP 25
http://www.RURALMISSOURI.COOP

Rural Missouri - July 2023

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Contents
Rural Missouri - July 2023 - Cover1
Rural Missouri - July 2023 - Cover2
Rural Missouri - July 2023 - Contents
Rural Missouri - July 2023 - 4
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Rural Missouri - July 2023 - Cover3
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