Just Mary Designs
I Need An Oasis!!!
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!
Making a Mess....Finding My Style!
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?
Art Supply Junkie
Yes, it's true. I am a self admitted Art Supply Junkie. When I see art supplies my pulse quickens, my heart beat speeds up, and a smile lights up my face. I can spend hours poring over the many different colors, paints, brushes, mediums, mark making items, stamps, papers and more...
Call me crazy, but I think it is the vibrancy of the color that just speaks to my soul. Some people tend to fall into a pattern of using certain colors, but to me the spectrum of colors is like a playground. And I find myself wanting to play more and more often.
And I have to touch them. I want to feel the texture of the brushes in my hands. I need to feel the creamy consistency of the paint on the tips of my fingers. I want to roll the colored pencils from hand to hand and revel in the feel of a soft ribbon or textured paper.
Is it just me? Or is there a little art supply junkie in all of us?
On the Road Again, Window Series Part 4
We have one man in my office - and 6 women. I figured I had better make a Dude-like window. Especially since said dude helped haul all of my art stuff into my temporary home during the flood.
I started out by painting the entire canvas with black gesso and combining it with iridescent blue.
I added some pictures of some cool antique cars. The upper left hand corner was a photo from an art class I attended last fall. I colorized the black and white photo and added the head and tail light streaks to give it the appearance of movement.
The lower two photos I found in an art magazine. I made transparancies of them and glued them to the canvas. I finished the window with a mixture of paint, paper, wallpaper, and perfect pearls dust. Lastly I highlighted around the panes with white sparkly glitter glue to make the window pop just a little.
My boyfriend liked this Window picture the best of the series. I figured that it must be Dude-worthy to get that thumbs up!!
If Nothing Ever Changed, We'd Never Have Butterflies, Window Series Part 3
A Little Flower Power
Today I wanted to get my hand dirty on a project I am working on that has a number of steps to it. I will post more as I complete it, but here are a few snippets!
First, I took a blank canvas and stenciled a flower pattern with gesso. The gesso will act as a resist to color when it is applied.
Secondly, I added some color with my Stabilo water soluble Woody's. I envisioned a fower garden and just randomly colored spots on the canvas.
You can see in this little subsection how the gesso flower pattern shines through.
The artists tools...
Then I took a wet paintbrush and began to blend the water soluble colors together to make a pretty flower palette.
I have an idea of what this will eventually turn into...it will be fun to see if what I start out to create ends up being anything like the finished product!!!