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Art

Art

oil painting | what I’ve learned so far (pt 1)

One of the things that has been so enjoyable about the 100 meadows project, is how it’s pushed me to learn a medium that, quite honestly, intimidated me.  Oil painting seemed so serious, technical, and with strict rules.  It’s for the real artists, not the aspiring ones.  And if you can even get beyond all of those notions and put brush to canvas, how do you clean up the palette, paints, oil mediums, and solvents? I stuck my toe in the oil painting waters when I was back in PA and my “art friend”, Katie, who is a trained artist (and a very talented one), walked me through some of the basics.  When I moved, though, I was nervous about picking it back up again on my own.  I figured it would be one of those things I got excited about for a brief time, but didn’t continue to pursue.

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Art

barn quilt coloring book & art journaling

I have been working on several projects over the past few months and one of them has finally hit the market!  The Barn Quilt Coloring Book is now available. This project was something totally different for me.  First of all, it involved drawing instead of writing!  But it felt like a project that worked nicely with my brand, despite the fact that it wasn’t like anything I’d done before. I never even thought of doing a coloring book!  But, the company who is publishing the Home Design Doodle Book presented this project and we developed the idea together. I first had to do a ton of research on barn quilts and traditional quilt squares.  Since I live in Pennsylvania, a place where barn quilts are pretty commonly seen, I was familiar with them, but I didn’t know the history.  (For those who don’t know what a barn quilt is, it’s a

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Art

the discipline of art

As someone with a degree in Musical Theatre, you would think I’ve known for a long time that art is a discipline.  I really never thought about that as I was signing into the studio for an hour of vocal scales or filling notebooks with the “inner monologue” of the latest part I was playing.  At the time, I just loved every minute of it and figured, since I was studying musical theatre, it made sense that I was doing things musical and theatre-y!  I never really viewed it as work or practice, but then again, I had loved it since I was four. Even though I worked hard and I took practices very seriously, I didn’t really put the connection between art and discipline together until recent years. Discipline can be an “ugh” kind of word, but in this case, it should be an encouragement.  It means that anyone

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Art

box easel & studio happenings

I hope you had a great weekend!  We had beautiful warm and sunny weather that was beckoning us to a family hike, but we really needed rest and had some chores that needed to be done, so we threw open the windows, pressed through our work, and then just chilled.  It’s amazing how much energy a dose of sunshine and some warmth can bring in mid-February! Anyway, I received some questions on my blog and Instagram about the box easel used as a prop in the landscape wardrobe shoot, so I thought I would share. I actually looked at vintage and antique easels, but opted to buy a new one that was made in the traditional French box-easel style.  I ordered the Martin Julian full-sized French box easel from Amazon.  I would like to get a full-sized studio easel soon, but I liked the idea of getting a smaller, portable

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All Things Home

30-day watercolor challenge

Hang in there with me while I experience my own personal renaissance!   I am just having such a wonderful time allowing my creativity to spill into other mediums.  This seems to be what happens to me and I’m going to embrace it fully with a 30-day watercolor challenge.  Music and theatre were always my creative outlet when I was younger, but when I finished college and decided not to pursue a career in performing, I needed a new outlet.  So, I started working on my home and learned how to sew, paint, and refinish furniture, and became obsessed with all things decorating. I picked up decorative painting when we lived in my in-law’s basement, as Jeff finished his undergrad degree, and I didn’t really have a space to decorate.  I picked up cooking and baking when our first townhouse was painted and decorated and I needed something to learn

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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.

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