Just Mary Designs

I am taking an e-course called SheArt by Christy Tomlinson.  In it we learn how to make these cute little girls. It is so fun to start with a completely blank canvas and just start to get MESSY! Making the clothes and doing the shading is a stretch for me....it takes a little more detail and a little more time than what I normally like to do.  But is it great experience! The snowstorm was a little burst of inspiration....mainly because I made the girl too short for the canvas!  So I had to think of something for her to stand on.  I decided to go with a pile of snow....then made some snowflakes coming down. The saying "She Felt Peace In The Midst Of The Storm" was one of the many prompts from the class.  I hadn't even read that one as I was making the painting.  It just jumped out at me when I saw it - and decided it was a perfect fit for my angel in a snowstorm! Funny how things tend to come together even when you don't plan it all the way out!

Sometimes music lifts us up.  Sometimes it haunts us.  Sometimes the elusive melody takes our hearts to a place where the answer is just out of reach...a swirling mystery.  What does this painting evoke for you?

Oh the beautiful fall colors...deep oranges, soft yellows, slight snippets of green, and various hues of brown.  How I love the contrasts and the tones of fall! I did an image transfer of a photo that caught my eye in a magazine and then altered it.  I'm not quite sure where the inspiration for the zipper came in....but it felt right!  Maybe it's symbolic of having to sip up my jacket as the cold temperatures descend upon us. Happy fall!

Sometimes the basic colors of black and white fascinate me.  The symmetry of piano keys can beautiful.  I wanted to meld the perfect alignment of ebony and ivory with chaos and color! This was my first experiment with using photoshop to merge a canvas.  For all of you artsy followers, this was a ton of fun!  The canvas itself was too big to fit on a scanner, so I had to scan it in 4 parts.  Photoshop Elements allows you to bring all four scans into one piece and "stitches" them together perfectly for you!  The technology is simply amazing! I used my new scanner, the Epson Perfection V600 Photo Color Scanner .  I was amazed at the color match - I didn't have to adjust color settings at all - and it was a perfect color match for the actual painting.  VERY impressed with that! I love how you can see the actual texture of the real painting also.  Fun for me.  Hopefully inspiring for you! Anyone interested in the PhotoMerge steps - read on! 1.  Set your scanner settings to at least 350 dpi so you have a good high resolution scan to save. 2.  Scan in as many parts as you need to and save each scan separately. 3. Open photoshop elements editor.  Select File, select new, select Photomerge panorama. 4.  Under the Layout options, choose auto. Then click the browse oval on the right to open the files that you just scanned. 5.  Select the scans you want to merge together.  Click Open. 6.  Check the boxes for Blend Images Together and Vignette Removal.  Click Ok.  Let it do its thing! 7.  Make sure you flatten your images (Found under the Layers Menu bar) and Crop it (Found under the Image Menu Bar). 8.  Save it at whatever size you want!  Voila - a large canvas is now a cohesive single high resolution print!

Very rarely do I get my 12 year old son to set foot into the art studio.  But I found a way!  I got him a football player bobble head and he loved it!  Several times he has wandered in and sat in "his" chair to do a little painting.  The best part about it is the easy conversation that goes along between two people working on artistic projects.  You never know what topic of conversation will be broached.  Some days it is memorable.  Some days it is just the sweet comfort of passing time with a child who is growing up quickly. Now my boyfriend;s daughter is another story.  This little cutie has some major skill for a 6 year old.  She is chomping at the bit to get into the studio with me and paint, draw, color, and create.  And she is good - seriously good!  At her recent school conference her art teacher said she is drawing at the level of a 9 or 10 year old.  It makes me excited to nurture her gift, to spend time with her in the studio.  Little moments like that can lead to a lifetime of artistic love!!!!

Today I got great news.  The man who has been my mentor for many years took a new position a number of years ago.  It changed the scope of how we could work together during that time.  I missed the way we talked and created new paths to follow. He called today to tell me he was returning to his old position.  I am filled with joy!  Sometimes the stars seem to align and you get a wish you didn't even realize you had. I made this dish at a ceramics class this summer.  I tried my best to create symmetry with the decor.  To me, the pattern makes sense.  Makes me feel solid - sure - in line.  I get the same feeling with knowing my mentor is returning.  Things are happening as they should.  The stars are aligning.  There is perfect symmetry!

I took a class this summer and made some great artsy girl friends.  They put together a Blog Hop.  I had never heard of it!  Basically a Blog Hop is a list of people participating who are all writing a blog post on the same day, related to the same topic - and including a list of the other "hoppers"!  Fun! Our post inspiration is called Flying Lessons.  That was actually the name of the class - about learning how to fly high in the art business world.  But for me, it held a dual meaning.  You see, I am a pilot.  I have had my Visual Flight Rating (VFR) license for about 10 years.  I had dabbled with getting my Instrument Flight Rating (IFR) - meaning you can fly in the clouds and marginal weather.  I dabbled with this for all 10 of the years I have been flying.  But I wasn't truly motivated...just didnt have the drive to finish it. Then this summer the flood in the midwest hit.  I had to evacuate my house and my business.  It basically turned my entire world upside down.  Imagine that....packing everything you own and moving it all...in the span of about 3 days.  Everything.  And having the threat of your property being totally destroyed hanging over your head. I craved the feeling of security.  Everything in my life was in turmoil.  And I deeply needed to feel that I still had the freedom and independence to make choices - not be trapped by what the flood dictated.  It was already dictating where I could live, and where I could work.  So what did I do?   As I took the Flying Lessons class for artists, I also took Flying Lessons of a different kind.  I finished my IFR. Now I can pick up at any time and fly pretty much anywhere I want to.  Now I don't have to deal with pesky security measures, or even planning way ahead to book a trip.  I can go anywhere, at pretty much any time.  And that, my friends, is my version of freedom and independence.  And in that, I found a measure of the security that I was craving. The flood has come and gone, and we are once again back home.  Daily we are putting our lives and homes back together.  And I look back at the summer and am proud - proud that in the midst of turmoil I still found the strength to fly! Check out these other great bloggers participating in the blog hop!  You will find beautiful art and lovely inspiration. Amaranthine Violet:  http://magic-gypsy.blogspot.com/ Amy Hillenbrand:  http://amyhillenbrand.blogspot.com Beatriz Peñas B.:  http://beatrizbepe.blogspot.com/ Beth Cougler Blom:   http://sobliss.wordpress.com/ Carmen Patti:  http://carmenpattistudio.com/wordpress/ Carol Bray:  http://theredpaintedcottage.blogspot.com Christina Fajardo:  http://christinafajardo.blogspot.com/ Cindy Jones Lantier:  http://www.lantier.org Connie Rawlins :  http://www.dabblinginlife.blogspot.com/ Dana Brock: http://www.dzynbydana.blogspot.com Deborah Velásquez : http://deborahvelasquez.blogspot.com Elissa Brown:  http://thefreckledarmy.blogspot.com Hillary Courson:  http://www.hillarycourson.com Jacquie Williamson:  http://www.jacquiewilliamson.blogspot.com/ Jane Paynting: http://inkspiredwings.wordpress.com Janet Forrest: http://tatterednworn.wordpress.com/ Jennifer DeVille:  http://jenniferdeville.com/blog/ Jill Lambert :  http://www.jill-lambert.blogspot.com/ Julie Hamilton:  http://spaark.wordpress.com Kanchan Mahon:  http://Kanchan-Mahon.blogspot.com/ Karen Claverie:  http://giddyupletsride.blogspot.com Kari DeSaulnier:  http://karidesi.blogspot.com/ Kathleen Conard : http://newfromoldcreations.blogspot.com/ Kathleen McKinnon:  http://harmonyschoolhouse.com/expressions-blog.html Kathy May:  http://kathymaydesigns.org Kelley Miller:  http://www.kelleymillerartworks.blogspot.com/ Kelly Corso:  http://birdinatreecreations.blogspot.com/ Kelly Hoernig:  http://www.kellyhoernig.blogspot.com/ Kim Hyer:  http://www.apaperaddict.com/ Kris Lanae Binsfeld:  http://cherishdesigns.wordpress.com Lenore Angela:  http://www.lenoreangela.blogspot.com/ Linda Barutha:  http://lindabaruthadesigns.blogspot.com Lisa Michele Products: http://www.lisamicheleproducts.blogspot.com/ Liza Zeni Baker:  http://lizazeni.wordpress.com/ Lynn Richards:  http://alittlebluesky.blogspot.com Lori Leissner:  http://leissnerart.blogspot.com Lori Moon:  http://lorimoonstudio.blogspot.com Mary Cottingham:   http://www.barnbugstudio.blogspot.com/ Mary Sterk:  http://justmarydesigns.com Megan Schmitt:  http://www.schmittenwithwords.blogspot.com/ Melanie Douthit:  www.douthitgallery.blogspot.com Michelle Dwyer:  http://www.magnetisedbylife.com/ Michelle Reynolds:  http://shellsinthebush.blogspot.com/ Rachél Payne (Rae):  http://collectingyourself.wordpress.com/ Rain Hannah:  http://honeyandollie.com/ Rhiannon Connelly:  http://www.starrybluesky.wordpress.com Ruth-Mary Smith:  http://patchworkfamilieshub.blogspot.com Sherry Richert Belul: http://simplycelebrate.net/cherry-blossom-soup Shirley Ann:  http://leonardarenaissancewoman.blogspot.com/ Stacey Chadwick Brown:  http://staceybrownarts.blogspot.com/ Susan M. Walls-Beverly: http://www.susanscharmingtrinkets.blogspot.com Teresa Cash-Czech: http://www.asmilemaker.com/ Tina Carlborg:  http://www.tinachicky.blogspot.com/ Tonya Love:  http://passport2creativity.com/ Ursula Smith:  http://www.EasyScraps.com/blog Zulma Cadena:  http://edustory.wordpress.com/ Mary Cottingham  http://www.barnbugstudio.blogspot.com

 Aaahhh...a morning with an extra hour.  So I head straight to my studio - my sanctuary!  The funny thing about having one hour in the studio is how much you can actually accomplish!  Just like in business, work expands to fill the time allotted for it! So this hour in my studio, what I got done is: 1.  Collaged some words I had cut out from a magazine into an art journal. 2.  Printed out my weekly curriculum for my Soul Restoration 2 class. 3.  Layered the first round of paint onto several pages in my "This is the Life I want to Live" visual journal. 4.  Sketched out an idea for a web page that I would like to design. 5.  Kissed my boyfriend when he wandered in. 6.  Added a layer of acrylic to this painting - love bubble wrap printing!!! 7.  And finally - wrote this blog post! Never let it be said that you can not accomplish a lot in one short hour!!!

I'm so excited!  I took a class this summer about how to turn your art into something that can be sold.  And here is my first print!! Step 1 - bought a fabulous new art quality printer (Epson R1900) Step 2 - bought Epson Luster Paper Step 3 - bought and learned (sort-of) Photoshop Elements Step 4 - scanned a painting I had completed Step 5 - edited it and printed it!! Voila! So why does this excite me?  I guess because it is progress towards a dream that a year ago I didn't even know I had.  That's the funny thing about dreams, isn't it?  They can shift and change and carry you in directions that you can't even imagine.  Someday I would love it if a person loved my art enough to buy a piece of it - a print, a canvas, a calendar....  So the first step in making that happen is getting the art into a format that can become "for sale"! Next step - creating the web-store it can be bought in!  You can bet that I am on it!!

Don't be shy.  If you are going to sing - let us hear you!  If you are going to live - live a life on fire with passion and joy!  I think that if you are going to spend the time and energy doing something - then put your heart into it and do it all the way.  Life is fully of opportunities to do something half way.  Don't.  Live a big life.  Give it your all.  If you are going to sing, then sing at the top of your lungs!!!