Marie Colton Woodard
Photography, Mixed-Media Art, and Eco-Friendly Crafts
About the Artist
Marie Colton Woodard is an Asheville, North Carolina-based artist known for incorporating themes of nature and conservation into her work. Her art often highlights environmental themes related to pollinators and butterflies.
Her upcoming exhibition in April 2026 will feature her original artwork “Aquarius” along with the presentation of her eco-series, titled “Tilting at Landfills,” and focusing on the artful repurposing of plastic to prevent landfill waste.
A Focus on Earth's Pollinators
As a mixed-media artist and abstract nature photographer, Marie’s art is often nature-oriented. A guiding principle in her work is to help protect Earth's pollinators by bringing attention to them. She is a woman of action outside of her studio, as well, having volunteered for Bee City USA for many years.
Her photography, combined with her art, can feel in turns magical and haunting, natural and surreal, highlighting the loss of biodiversity in a unique way that makes viewers stop, enjoy, and think.
Butterflies, beetles, bees, moths, and bats—her ethereal art portrays a juxtaposition of the world we live in and a world we are possibly heading towards with the critical decline of our pollinators, emphasizing their delicate, almost spectral existence. Her pollinator art serves as a timely reminder of the fragility of the planet we live on, the importance of our pollinators, and the significant value of caring for the ecosystem that we share with all living things.
Photographic Evolution
Vadim Bora Gallery & Studio in Charleston, NC, described her 2005 film photography exhibition, “ULTERIOR,” as “a photographic essay inspired by the age-old tension between illusion and reality, truth, surface, and beauty.”
“When I use film,” Marie says, “whatever alterations are made to the image are done by hand after it is developed, not digitally. However, I have also learned to love the freedom of digital photography and its seemingly unlimited possible enhancements. I enjoy the differences between film and digital photography and feel fortunate to have both capabilities.”
Marie prefers her Nikon F3 for film and her Canon EOS 50D for digital photography. Even when she worked exclusively in film, without any computer alterations, people often said her images were very painterly. “That description [paint-like photography] seems to apply even more so with my digital work,” she notes.
On Painting & Crafts
“Painting on just about any surface,” says Marie, “from shoes to jewelry to paper to walls, is highly satisfying to me! Especially if it means re-purposing something... I also truly love the physical act of hand-applying embellishments to paper, fabric, and other available materials.
"Because the world is so full of death and horror, I try again and again to console my heart and pick the flowers that grow in the midst of hell.”
― Herman Hesse, Narcissus and Goldmund
"In a nutshell, I believe that art is magic. Feel free to contact me for any sort of custom order! I am interested in your ideas, and I can turn my photography and prints into postcards, greeting cards, or anything that comes to mind.”
You can view more of Marie’s artwork, request a commission, reach out for collaboration, offer an exhibition space, or simply say hello! by visiting her on social media (@beesneedflowers, Facebook; @mariecp1111, Instagram).
