Artistic Endeavors Archives | Miss Mustard Seed

Artistic Endeavors

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Move Slow & Make Things Giveaway No. 5

The launch of my new book, Move Slow & Make Things, is less than two weeks away! It’s like the countdown to Christmas. I know what the present is, but I can’t wait to share it with everyone else. This book was a labor of love and one of my favorite projects to date. As I’ve shared before, I am so proud of this book, and I hope you love it, too. If you haven’t already, you can preorder the book HERE. Don’t forget to sign up to receive your preorder bonuses HERE. We’re celebrating the launch of the book with my fifth giveaway. For this one, I partnered with Vanessa of The Onion Skin Journal. I learned about onion skin paper in 2021 when I bought my 1920s, hunter green, Underwood portable typewriter. It was a gift I bought for myself when Feels Like Home was published. A typewriter

August 20, 2026 7 Comments

a slice of life

Stories | the time I was lost in Russia

It’s hard to remember how we functioned before smartphones; before we had a map, a full phone directory, Google Translate, and all the information available by tapping a question into an internet browser in our pocket. Well, this story happened before that time. I was supposed to meet my friend Misha that morning. I don’t remember why we were meeting. It actually wasn’t to find potatoes or other rare summer produce this time. I also don’t recall why I was going alone or why I was okay with navigating a foreign city with only vague directions. To fill in my own memory gaps, I’m guessing I had gotten to the point that I felt at home in Izhevsk, Russia, and riding public transportation to get to a destination was a normal, everyday part of life. Hopping on a bus to meet a friend didn’t sound like a harrowing adventure. It

August 18, 2026 7 Comments

Art

New Prints & FrameTV Art

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who shopped my original art sale yesterday. All of the original paintings are sold out! There are still some hand-painted color charts available, as well as blank color charts for those who want to make their own. You can find those HERE. All of the paintings sold in yesterday’s art sale are now available as prints from 5 x 7″ to 16 x 20″. You can shop the newly released fine art print collection HERE. Included in the print collection are a few of my favorite recent commissioned pet portraits. If I really love a painting, I ask the owner if I can offer prints. And there are also new FrameTV digital art images for the pieces that work in the horizontal wide-frame format. You can find new FrameTV art HERE.

August 14, 2026 4 Comments

Stories

Stories | the unreasonable quest for potatoes

I’m assuming most of my readers have easy access to a local grocery store, and if it’s like mine, you can pretty much buy anything you want there year-round. You might have to hit a few places to find a specific, rare ingredient, but you can probably find almost everything on your list. When shopping for groceries in Izhevsk, Russia, in 1995, you didn’t make a shopping list. You set out, saw what was available, and then decided what you wanted. Making a list was an exercise in futility. This was especially true of produce. You could only buy what was in season. Oranges weren’t imported from tropical climates or grown in greenhouses. Fresh tomatoes were not available year-round. As a 17-year-old American who had only known the abundance, variety, and stocked shelves of Western grocery stores, I didn’t know this. I learned quickly and did all of my

August 11, 2026 6 Comments

Art

Original Art Sale Preview | August 13, 2026

The next original art sale is Thursday, August 13, 2026, at 1:00 pm Eastern (New York) or noon for presale subscribers. If you subscribe HERE, you can shop the sale at noon before it opens to everyone else. (This isn’t a blog subscription. You will only receive emails with presale information for this and future original art sales. And it’s free!) In this original art sale, I have pieces ranging from hand-painted color charts on antique linen for $75 to a 16 x 20 floral still life for $850. This collection includes still life paintings featuring peaches, clementines, blackberries, strawberries, pears, blueberries, viburnum, and hydrangeas. There are landscapes from Maryland and England. There are a few dog portraits available, and a pair of baby shoes I couldn’t resist painting again. As usual, this post provides a preview of all available works, including sizes, substrates, and prices, so you can consider

August 10, 2026 4 Comments

a slice of life

Stories | grocery shopping, cooking, and eating in Russia

I need to preface this post by saying that I have always been a picky eater. I wasn’t a picky eater in that I wouldn’t try new things or that I didn’t like vegetables. I actually loved a lot of vegetables that most kids won’t touch. I could eat an entire artichoke by myself at eight. But I’m picky about texture, and I’m not a big fan of meat. (If you’ve followed my blog for several years, you may recall I used to be vegetarian.) I don’t like mushrooms because they are spongy or rubbery. I don’t like the mealy feel of fresh tomatoes and watermelon. Fruit that I usually love, like apples, pears, peaches, grapes, and cherries, is a no-go if the texture is wrong. Apparently, this is how I was born. I used to reject baby food until my mom found a rubber-coated spoon I would eat

August 5, 2026 19 Comments

Stories

Stories | Our Apartment in Izhevsk, Russia

All of our fellow travelers from the US and Canada stayed with Russian families for our summer in Izhevsk. Since I was under 18 and my dad had his own apartment, I would be staying with him. My dad rented this apartment for a few years, so he had his own place to stay when he was working in Izhevsk. You might think it was outfitted with American luxuries and amenities, but it was bare-bones and typical of a working-class Russian apartment. It might’ve even been a step below the apartments of most of our Russian friends since my dad was always happy to make do. Now that I think about it, I don’t ever recall my dad splurging on material possessions. He’s never had a fancy car, designer clothes, a tricked-out man cave, or even a really nice TV. His guitars are probably the only place he’s ever really

July 28, 2026 14 Comments

Writing a Book

Move Slow & Make Things | Giveaway No. 4

The launch of my new book, Move Slow & Make Things, is just a few weeks away! September 1 feels like it’s far on the horizon, but it really is right around the corner. I’m excited to share our next giveaway to celebrate the book’s launch, showcase some of its themes, and highlight another artisan who shares her creative gifts with the world. If you haven’t already, you can preorder the book HERE. Don’t forget to sign up to receive your preorder bonuses HERE. When I was thinking about small businesses I wanted to partner with for the book giveaways, Maryfrances Carter was at the top of my mind. I’ve enjoyed watching her work and creative evolution for years. She is an artist and ceramist whose love for blue and white first drew me to her. What has kept me intrigued is how she continues to find inspiration from a wide

July 22, 2026 4 Comments

I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

next art sale

August 13th, 2026 at 1pm EST

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