In her home studio, the artist shows her collections of papers from handmade to marbled to printed.

Leader photo by Alli Patton

It’s like the art makes itself. It’s just using me.”

Marsha Hollingsworth, Port Townsend-area artist

The small, delicate images line the walls like a roadmap detailing the milestones, the curves, and the forks of a life lived in art.

“Along the Path,” a new exhibit at the Jefferson Museum of Art & History, features the intricate artwork of Port Townsend-based artist Marsha Hollingsworth.

Her work is playful, yet philosophical.

Hollingsworth described loving art from the beginning, thrilled by crafts as a child in school. The paper and the paste filled her with an uncontainable excitement.

Now, a collector of textiles, papers, and stamps, she crafts collages, or embellished drawings that begin as ink drawings. They then call out for paint and colorful papers, she explained.

Her appreciation of color, texture, and pattern are reflected in the images she creates. From handmade to marbled to printed papers, taking pages from books, sheet music, and even patterned envelope liners, all of these bits and pieces — what some may consider scraps — come together to create jewels.

She has an attraction to Asian philosophies, religions, myths, temples, altars, and aesthetics. Inspired by colorful Persian and Indian miniature paintings, her work is full of symmetry, complex decoration and pattern. Her works contain intense color and vivid story telling.

“I love textiles from different cultures and color. Color is just miracle to me. I’m always stopped by color.”

These collages are meticulously detailed and from just a single glance the love of her work is evident. The joy and the liveliness is palpable.

Ask how Hollingsworth does it and she’ll respond with a smile and an “I don’t know.”

The art is an extension of her. She described her playing around with ideas and how her art “just comes together.”

“I really have fun. My heart is really in it,” Hollingsworth said.

“I don’t make art to have a show. It’s like the art makes itself. It’s just using me.”

“Along the Path” showcases her mixed-media drawings in a way that reflects her travels through life learning, honing her skills, and gathering materials.

“I feel like I’ve been on a path in this life,” she said of the exhibit’s title, detailing her journey to this point.

Part of it was spent growing up in Seattle, she recalled, and experiencing the University of Washington’s art department. Subsequently, the artist moved to Chimacum and drove into town regularly, working in an art gallery bookstore, working at The Leader, and evolving her hand bookbinding business.

She described moving away for a short while to Santa Fe and Maui, always painting and creating along the way.

Hollingsworth threw things open to chance in pursuit of her art and wonderful things happened, the artist said.

“So it’s been a path and the museum exhibit is part of that path.”

Now in her early 70s, her path — from working in the darkroom at The Leader to book binding to painting and varnishing detail work for custom homes in the area — has led her here. Art is often a solitary endeavor, sometimes constructing a separate world where creation and imagination reside. But with this exhibit she realized art has gifted her a part in a larger picture.

“I see that I am part of the community. There are all these colored threads that get woven together, so being in the museum right now elevated that for me.”

“I had the revelation the other day that it’s not a dream come true because I never dreamed that something like this would happen ever,” Hollingsworth said of the exhibit.

It was a pleasant surprise, formulated by her friends in the most beautiful way, she said.

“It means a lot,” she said, adding her adoration for the museum and the historical society.

“Over the years, I’ve loved living in this town,” she added.

The nature, the beauty of this area has also greatly informed her artwork.

“Every day you’re just aware of the changes and the sound and the smell and the rhythm of the seasons.”

“I’m just in awe that we get to be alive,” she said, adding how good it feels to be able to share her art and in doing so, share the joy of being alive.

“Along the Path” can be viewed in the Women’s Jail at the Jefferson Museum of Art & History during the museum’s hours of 11 a.m. until 4 p.m., Thursday through Sunday.

The artist may also be contacted at mlh.port@olypen.com.