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Oil Painting

Artistic Endeavors

may 12 art sale preview

Despite putting a focus on custom paintings over the past 2-3 weeks, I also accumulated enough paintings to have an art sale before I work on the next round of commissions and the next series.  We’ll be going to the beach for my parent’s 50th (now 51st) anniversary, so I am planning on focusing my next sale specifically around inspiration I pick up from that trip.  Of course, there will be lots of beaches and skies, but I hope to get some pictures of sailboats, lighthouses, and beautiful buildings and street scenes from around Charleston.  I’m really excited about creating a collection around one specific theme.  Aside from the 100 meadows and 100 still lifes, I am sort of all over the place!  I paint whatever inspires me, which could be people, landscapes, still life, a master copy.  I don’t want to box myself in too much, but it’s also

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Artistic Endeavors

Creative play | making a cyanometer

Have you ever heard of a cyanometer?  I hadn’t either until I was doing a random search for vintage color wheels and came across one.  It’s a device that measures the blueness of the sky!  How perfect is that for someone like me who 1.) loves blue, 2.) loves studying color, and 3.) loves painting skies?  Pretty darn perfect. The picture above is the original cyanometer that was invented by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure and Alexander von Humboldt in 1789.  It’s a circle with 53 colored sections ranging from light to dark.  Isn’t it just beautiful?  I feel like it’s a work of art in and of itself. I looked around online to see if I could find any information about making a cyanometer.  What specific blue should be used?  Or what colors should be mixed?  I didn’t find any tutorials that were helpful. (One used paint chips from a hardware

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Art

the atelier | working with a limited palette

Through February and March, I was working on creating and filming and it is now open for preregistration!  The course is The Atelier | Creating with a Limited Palette. Here is what Jeanne Oliver says about the course… And this is the synopsis I wrote for the course… In this class, Marian Parsons, a paint enthusiast and lover of color, will show you how to mix beautiful shades for landscapes, still lifes, and portraits with just four colors. Together, we’ll create color studies, sketches, and finished, frameable works in several paint mediums – oils, water-soluble oils, acrylics, and watercolors/gouache to discover harmony in your work when transitioning from one medium to another (or working in your favorite mediums.) This class is about the discovery and exploration of mediums and limited colors to include in your palette for the purpose of clarifying your aesthetic as an artist. Techniques Taught in this

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Art

Original Art & Used Art Supplies Sale Preview

I spent several hours yesterday on getting all of the original art and used art supplies listed for the sale on Thursday!  It is a big project that I was happy to check off my list.  But, I’m happy to share that I have a nice mix of paintings and supplies that will be included in this sale. A few things…  First of all, I have upgraded my server, so the site won’t be crashing while you’re trying to check out.  I know that was so frustrating for those who were trying to shop the sale last time, but I’ve had many sales on my site and have never had that happen!  We’re are ready for it this time, though.  Second, items do tend to go quickly, so I wanted to share a preview of what’s available in the hopes that shoppers can make a beeline for what they want

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Art

Online Painting Classes

If you haven’t guessed, I almost always have an ambitious list of things I want to accomplish each year.  Some things end up getting kicked down the road simply because I only have so much time and I have to focus on things that are a higher priority.  My little pet projects are the ones that typically get neglected.  One of the pet projects I wanted to finally do this year was to offer online art classes.  This included making new ones, but also putting the free art classes I made last year into a format that was easier to navigate.  I am happy to report that I did it! The first new class available is a master study of Fabritius’ Gold Finch! Here is my version that I did for the class… I absolutely loved working on this painting and filming it for the class.  I review all the

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Art

creative play | sketchbook tour

I’ve shared in the past that I have a hang-up when it comes to sketchbooks.  Several hang-ups, actually.  I always want to be the person who is filling up stacks of sketchbooks, making notes, sketches, and drawings, capturing thoughts and ideas, practicing.  I’ve gotten much better about it over the past couple of years and I actually filled a notebook with a journal and did several paintings and sketches when I went to Europe in the fall of 2019.  I’ve been more consistent with getting my sketchbooks out to draw quick thumbnails before starting a painting, to make notes when I’m reading books or taking an art class, or to doodle. Here are some of sketchbook hang-ups… I feel like there is a bit of magic that happens with certain paintings that is difficult to repeat.  Some paintings just end up being very special.  What if one of those paintings

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Art

January 2021 original art sale preview

I am excited that so many of you are joining me in organizing and/or no-spending in February.  A part of purging for me is selling the original oil paintings that have been stacking up in my studio and I realized I had better sneak this sale in before February starts for those who are joining me!  Poor planning on my part and I had to laugh when I realized I was going to have an art sale while encouraging a no-spend February.  So, the sale will be HERE on Friday, January 29, 2021, at 2:00 pm CST. So you can plan and decide if there are pieces you want to purchase or not, here is a full preview of the original oil paintings that will be for sale along with the prices (ranging from $35-200.) 9 x 12 Goldfinch Study – $200 I did this study to film for an

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All Things Home

black Friday art sale & giveaway

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I’m still taking some time off, but I wanted to share just one Black Friday sale for those who are interested.  If you missed the original art sale I had last week, I have added some of my new paintings to Society6 and they are having a Black Friday sale today!  This includes 50% off wall art! Here are a few of the recent additions for the Black Friday art sale… abstract landscape pair 1/2 and 2/2 abstract seascape no. 5 nice view no. 1 nice view no. 3 …and Nice View no. 5, which is the Blue Nose II Schooner I also added some of my older paintings for the Black Friday art sale, like the Pair of Pears and a couple of the barns. I hope you find something you like if my paintings speak to you and you’re looking to

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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.

next art sale

August 13th, 2026 at 1pm EST

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