Artistic Endeavors Archives | Page 34 of 55

Artistic Endeavors

is there room for you?

“One tree is like another tree, but not too much. One tulip is like the next, but not altogether. More or less like people – a general outline, then stunning individual strokes…” – Mary Oliver I read this in a book of essays by Mary Oliver last evening and immediately had to put the book down and write my own response and thoughts before they were forgotten. Yes, Mary! This is the eloquent answer to a question that is posed to me so often by people who feel crowded out in a crowded online space. The internet and more specifically blogs and social media offer an amazing place to share your work and to see the work of others. The tradeoff is we’re also more acutely aware of what everyone else is doing. So much so, that it leaves us feeling like we’re trying to push our way onto a

June 19, 2019 47 Comments

Artistic Endeavors

be a moving target

Inspiration can be a beautiful thing. It’s a spark that catches and can carry you through enormous projects. It can drive you, fill you, and lead you into the places of dreams. But, it can also be fickle, inconstant, and shy. It can disappoint, be elusive, and untimely. We can sit around a long time waiting for the inspiration to do something. I’ll work on my house when I’m inspired. I’ll paint when I feel that pull. I’ll start writing when inspiration finally makes an appearance. Working in that manner typically results in projects never being done, pastimes never being pursued, and goals never being met. We are at inspiration’s mercy and are no longer the captain of our own ship. And that’s just no way to be. I have learned, out of accident more than intention, that whether you do something or don’t do something needs to be driven

May 23, 2019 49 Comments

Art

#indexcardartproject completed & what’s next…

Well, I finally finished the #indexcardartproject! It’s about a month late, but that’s okay. It really didn’t need to be completed in a set time and I found I didn’t want to rush through it. I was enjoying these little studies and I didn’t want to miss the lessons along the way, simply because I was hurrying. One reason it’s taken me so long is that I’ve already been using these studies as inspiration for larger paintings, which was the whole idea in the first place. I really enjoyed the freedom I felt from painting on a “disposable” surface. I was looser with my brushstrokes and more experimental with my colors. I learned a lot about composition, value, and the magic of impressionist-style painting. Seemingly random strokes look like a scene when you take a step back. For the last one, I did a study of a James Kroner painting.

May 14, 2019 35 Comments

All Things Home

linen shades & art sale

First off, the winner of the Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint birthday giveaway is Traci (butterflyoct)! Congrats! Almost a year ago, I made some linen shades to filter light in my studio. And that project turned into having the shades reproduced and sold on Decor Steals. Well, they are back today! I hung one in my kitchen to show what they look like… They are made out of a pretty, off-white, linen-ish fabric that offers some privacy and filters light without blocking it out entirely. They are made to hang on a tension rod, so they are easy to put up (and take down.) And the ties can be styled in a variety of ways. Here is a video showing some options… I am asked about those shades almost every time I show them, I’m happy Decor Steals brought back this ready-made option. You can click HERE to purchase them. Also, I

May 2, 2019 19 Comments

All Things Home

designing fabric & papers for spoonflower

A few weeks ago, I shared that my second quilting fabric collection with FreeSpirit Fabrics wasn’t going to be produced. (You can find that post HERE.) Thanks for all of your encouragement on that, by the way! The brief feeling of failure that comes with any news like that quickly shifted into excitement. This means I can take my designs and what I’ve learned and translate them into the world of home decor fabrics and papers. I am in the very beginning stages of reworking my existing designs and putting some plans together for new collections and colorways. Once the designs are ready, they will be for sale on Spoonflower. One of the challenges with designing fabrics (or anything, really), is finding a way to communicate the ideas and concepts that live in your head with other people. That sounds like a no brainer, but it’s more challenging than you

April 25, 2019 23 Comments

All Things Home

the toledo drafting stool & equipto cart

There are two things that have been on my shopping list for a while – an antique adjustable drafting stool and a rolling cart, both for my studio. I’ve been trolling craigslist and looking at local antique and consignment shops and haven’t found anything that was just right. Well, I hit the jackpot at Junk Bonanza and found both! A rolling cart (green, no less) by Equipto and an antique Toledo drafting stool. One of the reasons it took me so long to locate these items is that I was being very picky. The cart had to be the right size, the right configuration, the right color, and it had to roll well. The chair had to be comfortable, sturdy, and all of the parts had to work properly. Let’s start with the antique Toledo drafting stool/chair. It was my most expensive purchase at $129. I paused for a moment

April 22, 2019 26 Comments

Art

index card art project update

Through the month of March, I’ve been working on the #indexcardartproject with two of my Instagram friends – @mishwooderson and @openfieldmercantile . It’s been such a great exercise for me in a lot of ways and I thought I would share my thoughts and takeaways so far. First off, if you want to get into art in any capacity, a project like this is a great way to do it. It’s a commitment to consistency, not to creating anything great or frame-worthy. It’s about learning through putting pencil-to-paper so to speak. And, with just 17 cards done, I have already learned a lot. Here are five of the areas where I feel like I’ve grown the most. one | shapes I’m learning to focus on the larger shapes of a subject. I seem to be able to do this with certain things, but I get bogged down with the details

March 20, 2019 50 Comments

Art

#indexcardartproject

My whole oil painting journey started with a challenge. Michelle Wooderson, a watercolor artist I took a class from through Jeanne Oliver’s artist network, started the #100meadowsproject as a way to dive into oil painting. I really wanted to learn and I figured the best way was to put paint to canvas, so I joined her. Another Instagram friend, Page Ellis, took on the challenge as well and the three of us encouraged each other and shared our research, trials, and victories. I sent them so many pictures of bad paintings and they always found something nice to say! Anyway, I learned a lot during that project… everything from the discipline of creating daily to how to handle the paint better. I followed it with the #100oilstills challenge I set for myself. And I learned even more from my mistakes and successes, as well as from online classes and art books. Lately,

February 27, 2019 37 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.

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