Just Mary Designs

  Have you ever noticed how life imitates art?  Or maybe it's the other way around.  I don't know. But what I do know is I always have several art projects cooking at the same time...and I am always working on several areas of my life at the same time too. I dip my paintbrush into the swirling colors and let it run onto a snappy white canvas.  While that is drying I collage a few things onto another canvas in progress.  Next I add a few things of ephemera to my art journal. Outside of my studio I work a while on getting my house back into order after our recent move.  Then I take a walk (with a few minutes of jogging!) to get some exercise and try to keep my weight manageable.  Time for some reading about the latest and greatest business technique so I can keep my company growing. Wether its art, relationships, business, family, weight loss, taking care of your home, learning a new skill, or even just injecting more fun into your life  - we all seem to be constantly working on something.  Building something.  Growing something.  Or maybe just fixing something.  A never-ending quest to become just a little bit better.  Growing into our best selves.   The cool thing about it is that we can choose to grow any time we want to.  And that we have this wonderful ability to focus on and grow in multiple areas at the same time.  So I guess just like my art, my life is always a work in progress! What are you working on?

I think this is true!  I'm working on an idea for a "Line".  Something that personifies me.  Something about being bold, living life on fire, and forging ahead in new directions.  Living a big life.  Because that is MY style.  What's yours?

Recently I watched a video tutorial about drawing Mermaid Girls.   I have never done much drawing, but have been intrigued with the idea of learning how to draw faces and bodies.  This was my first try! I feel as if I have been swimming in some new waters in several ways lately...drawing new things, launching a new blog site, and exploring my creative side in a Brave Girls Soul Restoration 2 class.  I am normally someone who thrives in a changing environment...and I am excited about these new things.  I really am. At the same time, I have some fear around them.  Because with new things and change always comes an awareness.  And once you are aware of something, you can not become UN-aware.  Awareness means you must heed the little whispers in the back of your mind urging you to seek out change and move in new directions.  And often new directions means you leave something or someone behind. I am not exactly sure what the new direction is that my art is taking me...but I am sure that I am swimming towards it daily and putting my faith in the belief that where-ever I end up - it will be exactly where I am supposed to be!

When I was at Canyon Ranch in Tuscon last month, one of hte activities I signed up for was a "Hike & Paint".  We hiked up into the mountain area and found this beautiful oasis.  If you have ever been to Tuscon, you know that there is not a lot of green area like this to be found.  We set up camp, sketched out the design, and began to paint the oasis around us!

            

I have never painted a landscape before, and had just been introduced to watercolor the day before.  I loved the experience, but I didn't like painting so much detail.  I like to work a little messier - a little more chaotic.  I really like knowing that the finished product will evolve to be its own piece of beauty - not mimicing something else.  But here we go - my first stab at it!!!

Right now an oasis sounds ideal.  We just moved back home after four months of being displaced due to the Missouri River flood.  Moving is an ordeal - physically and mentally.  I am so grateful to be home, but sometimes overwhelmed by the sheer mass of things that must be done.  But we are getting there.  And soon, very soon, my home will BE the oasis I need!

I have heard it said why not style yourself as if you were paintng a canvas?  Art is all around us... and our community has a fundrasier each year called Fashion as Art.  I was asked to help color some of the decorations for the event, soI passed a relaxing Sunday morning cooring, painting, and having some fun!

 

               First, I colored with my Aquarelle water              

                soluble crayons (left).  These crayons are so

               cool!   You just add a little water to what you

              have colored (right)  and voila!  It looks like you

              spent a long time painting!                                 

 

              I did a bunch of them, then finished off 

              some of the details with glittler stickles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are gonna get dressed, might as 

well dress with a little flair!!! 

For the last 5 weeks I have been taking an e-course by Kelly Rae Roberts about how to run a creative business.  I have felt excitement, overwhelm, confidence, insecurity, techincally stupid, and artistically inspired.

I learned more about blogging, how to set up a creative website, the nuts and bolts of an etsy store, and how to connect it all to social marketing like my facebook page and my twitter account.

And check that out - I learned how to insert links into my blog!  ha ha ha

I have no idea where that knowledge will take me.... but I feel like I have grown for having taken this course.   And I'm grateful that there is a fantastic artist community out there who support the baby steps of growth for new artists like me!!

You would paint too if it de-stressed you!  Ba ba ba ba bah!!!

 

 

This is a new one I am working on....its slowly starting to take shape.  I have no firm idea yet of where I am going with it... but I am enjoying the process and seeing where it takes me!

 

Normally I am very planned - very structured.  But in the art studio I can float and just go where the mood takes me.   No rules.  No right way.  Just enjoyment.  No wonder I find it therapeutic!

 

So thank you art studio!  You make every day feel like a birthday!!!!

Sometimes learning what is NOT your style is just as important as learning what IS your style.  Here is what I have learned to be true this week:

 

1.  Sketching out a rough draft ahead of time is NOT my style.  

 

2.  Small, painstaking detail work is NOT my style.

 

3.  Highly repetitive work is NOT my style.

 

4.  I like to work intuitively - that IS my style.

 

5.  I like it messy and unplanned - that IS my style.

 

6.  I need for art to happen quickly and come together in an explosion of color - that IS MOST DEFINITELY my style!!

 

What's your style?

 

Today I took a Watercolor Basics class at Canyon Ranch in Tuscon, AZ.  I have never used this medium before and was really curious to try it out!  I loved the pretty colors and how the water makes them flow into one another.

This was our tray of suppplies - and I gotta say I was drawn in from the minute that I saw them!  After learning about how to use wet and dry washes, glazes, and watercolor papers we got to jump right in.  The class was allowed to choose images from a big stash to use as a model.  Everyone else in the class started painting landscapes, sunsets and oceans.  I painted lips.  What can I say?  I must have been ready for a kiss!

We have all heard the phrase "Life is a journey".  But some days I wonder just where is it that this journey leads?  When I put one foot in front of the other, what exactly am I stepping toward?

I definitely don't have all of the answers.  But here are some things I have learned to be true on MY journey.  I want to step forward towards something more beautiful.  I want stepping forward to equal leaving behind painful things from the past.  I want to step forward within relationships, as a parent, and as a business woman.  I want moving forward to be something that does slightly scare me, but at the same time draws me forth with the possibilities that an unknown future holds.  And finally, I always want to be stepping forward in an atmosphere of growth, while being at peace with the place I am currently standing.

When I see this beach, I see it as powerful and peaceful in the same breath.  I want to walk down the beach towards the furthest point and explore what I can't see ahead yet.  I hope it evokes the same in you.  I hope it makes you want to Step Forward towards whatever is beckoning you...