Marsha Lee Hollingsworth

Marsha Hollingsworth, born in Seattle June 13, 1947, passed away peacefully at home in Port Townsend April 16, 2026. In between her life was filled with color, adventures, a deep appreciation for nature, and boundless creativity. Her childhood home in Seattle was near a wooded areas, an ideal environment to fuel the fantasies of a young girl who pretended to be Sacagawea. Marsha's love of nature was nurtured through her participation in Camp Fire Girls, including summer camp on Vashon Island, where singing, poetry, canoeing, hiking and sailing forged friendships for life.

In her teens, Marsha read Thoreau's Walden and the writings of Emerson and dreamed of a simple lifestyle in nature. Later Marsha moved to the Olympic Peninsula with her then husband Tom Jay, they built a log cabin, grew a big garden, and lived her dream life in nature.

In her younger years Marsha's creativity was expressed through a love of craft projects involving cutting and pasting paper. After graduating from high school, Marsha attended the University of Washington, receiving a BA in art, with an emphasis on drawing and textile design.

Marsha's love of craft activities drew her to bookbinding. Her business, Hand Bookbinding, gained a reputation for skilled bookbinding, book conservation boxes, and book repair.

Though as a young girl Marsha's mom encouraged her to learn Sumi-e painting by watching classes on the new PBS Seattle station KCTS, it was years later Marsha took up watercoloring.

For several years Marsha lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Mesmerized by the lighting and colors of the southwest, and drawn to the colorful art of the Pueblo cultures, Marsha's watercolor art flourished. In Santa Fe Marsha stitched costumes for the Santa Fe Opera and the New Mexico Repertory Theater. When living for a time in Hawaii with her then partner Daryl Gillette she was inspired by the leaf forms and vivid floral colors of Hawaiian plants.

Later Marsha's art was influenced by her love of Asian miniatures and Buddhism. Using beautiful papers from around the world, Marsha combined painting and collage to create works vibrant with color, some whimsical, some transcendent.

Always interested in and reading about art styles and history, with her partner of 20 years, Chester Prudhomme, (who died June 2025), Marsha took trips to visit art museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

To the end of her life, Marsha found joy and delight in observing nature's seasonal cycles. Familiar with the names of plants and birds in the Northwest, she noticed small details and moments in nature. Those observations are reflected in her art. Her practice of Buddhist enabled her to observe life's moments and find an inner peace to the end of her life.

When asked how she would like to be celebrated Marsha said people could plant a tree.

Marsha's art can be viewed at: <https://marshahollingsworth.net/>

>