NWA artist Effinger creates paintings, magnetic jewelry

BELLA VISTA — Marcy Effinger, a local artist and former art teacher, has been making art all of her life, now focusing primarily on watercolor paintings and magnetic jewelry.

“I always liked to draw as a kid, and when I was in 4-H, they didn’t have an art category, so they made it for me at the fair,” she said.

She grew up in northern Illinois and went to college at College of Lake County and Illinois State University. Her specialty was painting and ceramics. She earned an art education degree and taught art in public schools in Illinois and taught private watercolor classes in Illinois, Wisconsin and Arkansas for more than 40 years. She taught art in grades four through eight and ran workshops for kindergarten through third grade in Illinois.

She also wrote and self-published a couple of art curriculum books for K-3 and 4-8. She illustrated and published three children’s books written by her father: “Stinky the Skunk,” “Mean Mike the School Bully” and “Alice the Pony.” She also illustrated “Ms. Hilda’s Adventures Into the World of Manners” by Hilda Schriver.

Effinger started making magnetic jewelry about 25 years ago after having ankle surgery.

“I thought if I could put something magnetic on my ankle it would help with the pain and stiffness,” she said. “No one was making magnetic jewelry.”

She found some magnetic hematite beads and put them on a fishing line, and it helped her ankle, she said. Then she found some good clasps and more beads and started making ankle bracelets and selling them. People liked them, but they also wanted bracelets and necklaces and earrings, so she started making those, she said. She added pearls, crystals and gemstones to the black hematite.

“Now they’re saying they increase circulation and speed healing. I can’t make medical claims, but (readers) can look it up,” Effinger said.

The variety of jewelry she makes features magnetic clasps and the availability of extenders to make necklaces, bracelets or ankle bracelets longer. She also makes wire and gem rings and fidget rings.

About 15 years ago she started making fused dichroic glass pendants, which are cut glass pieces fired in a kiln at 1,600 degrees, creating an iridescent look. No two are alike, she said.

In her paintings, Effinger sometimes incorporates 3D items. For example, she painted cow faces and put a real piece of rusty barbed wire fence in the foreground under the glass. In another painting, she painted a fish jumping out of the water and put a lure on the piece to make it look more real.

“I love animals, so I paint a lot of animals,” she said. “I love big florals and rusty things, like rusty trucks.”

Effinger has lived in Arkansas for 11 years and in Bella Vista for five years.

She is a member of the Artisan Alliance at Wishing Spring, a nonprofit organization that awards scholarships to art majors and assists elementary art teachers with supplies while providing a platform for local artisans.

Her art may be viewed at the Wishing Spring Gallery at 8862 West McNelly Road.

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Rachel Dickerson) Marcy Effinger, a member of the Artisan Alliance at Wishing Spring, is pictured at the Wishing Spring Gallery with some of her paintings and magnetic jewelry. She is a former art teacher and taught private watercolor classes for more than 40 years.