Marilyn Amodea was born in New York City and studied fine arts at The City University of New York for her Bachelor of Arts degree and at Pratt Institute for a Master of Fine Arts Degree. She taught  drawing classes, sculpture, painting and commercial art  in a high school  fine arts program. Marilyn and her husband began their own business,  Heritage Art Galleries, ltd. in New York City in 1973.  It provided a showcase for Marilyn's artwork and many of her customers became collectors of her art.  She also accepted commissions which helped her to grow as an artist  . Over the years she has won various awards for her work,  which can be found in many private collections.  For 16 years, she taught adults in her private art school which was affiliated with the gallery.

By 1980,  Heritage had added a manufacturing operation producing point of purchase advertising for large corporations. In 1989 it  was necessary to  relocate to a 50,000 square foot plant  they had built in the beautiful Pocono Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania in the small town of Nesquehoning , near Jim Thorpe , in scenic Carbon County .  Many of the projects were designed by Marilyn and then silkscreen printed in their plant.  As the operation grew, large silkscreen presses were added as well as a full graphic arts department.  Marilyn supervised both departments, and then after her husband became ill in 1993, ran the entire manufacturing business, which by then employed over fifty people.  The business was sold in the year 2000,  freeing Marilyn to  devote herself fulltime to her fine arts and to travel with her husband. 

Having taught art students for so many years, she is familiar with many mediums and enjoys moving freely from one style and medium to another, selecting whatever will best express what she is feeling at the time. She creates oil paintings and watercolors, as well as acrylic paintings,  drawings,  sculptiures and stained glass. She finds it stimulating and satisfying to discover new mixed media techniques and to explore a diversity of subject matter.  

Her innermost being and beliefs unfold in her spiritual surrealistic oil painting style which challenges  people to understand what she is depicting and then to analyze feelings inside themselves as they interpret  the paintings to reflect their own deepest emotions. It is interesting to Marilyn that her work affects observers differently, unveiling parts of themselves as they describe with confidence what the paintings mean.

Art can be many things.  It can be beautiful to behold, decorative and fun, tranquil,  stimulating or disturbing.  Marilyn's goal is to continue to grow as an artist and to keep exploring the world within her and around her.