An Interview with Marcia Spees

A classical watercolorist who didn’t begin painting until the age of 44, Marcia later turned to working with acrylics, oils, and abstracts. Marcia is also a birder who has traveled all over the country to observe avian life, and a gardener whose property has been part of the Orcas Island Garden Tour. Marcia came to Orcas in the early ’70s as a back-to-the-lander, was one of the first women using the Lamaze method in natural childbirth, became a childbirth instructor and an organic gardener, helped start Children’s House, the recycling center, the food co-op, Orcas Center, the library, and has called the island home for over 50 years. “What I realized after I had been here a couple years is you choose a community, not a job. You choose a lifestyle, not a career.”