Artistic Endeavors Archives | Page 5 of 54

Artistic Endeavors

Art

September 2, 2025 | original art sale preview

As always, thank you so much to all my new and returning collectors! It is truly an honor that you would hang a piece of my art in your home. Over the past year, I’ve primarily been working on animal portrait commissions, so I enjoyed shifting gears to focus on still life and landscape paintings. I loved creating these pieces and hope you find one that resonates with you. My next original art sale is scheduled for Tuesday, September 2, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern (New York). In this original art sale, I have pieces ranging from 8 x 10 ($225) up to a framed 16 x 20 ($650). This collection includes still life paintings featuring clementines, limelight hydrangeas, peaches, mock orange blossoms, and white irises. I also have a few landscapes based on photos taken around Maryland. As usual, this post provides a preview of all available works, including

August 29, 2025 No Comments

a slice of life

A short trip to MN & upcoming art sale

Jeff is usually the one who takes the boys on trips so they can have some father/son bonding time, but he had recently been on a couple of trips, and it would’ve been a stretch to miss more work. So, as we planned a trip to Minnesota for Calvin to visit his friends, it was clear I would be the one to take him. At first, it felt like a minor inconvenience, something I was doing just for him, but it turned into a treat for me as well. Since Calvin has plans for most of our short trip, I would have time to do whatever I wanted. I decided to turn that time into a mini-creative retreat. I would spend two days collecting inspiration, painting, reading, and resting. I had planned to stay in a hotel, but when I reached out to schedule a meal with my friend, Cheri,

August 27, 2025 25 Comments

Artistic Endeavors

creativity conversations | finding your style

As I was writing in my journal a few days ago, I thought about my handwriting. It started as uniform, traced over block letters made with pale dotted blue lines on exercise sheets. I then reproduced the letters on my own, on printed lines, making sure each hump of an m met the middle line and each mast of an L spanned all three lines. I wrote each letter hundreds of times, copying and practicing the same printed letter that all of my classmates were copying and practicing. There was a sameness as we were all learning, and then, once the dotted examples and three lines were removed, we each found our own hand. I remember working on my handwriting to find my distinct voice. I went through a bubble-over-the-i phase and a double-story-a phase. Sometimes my ts had tails, and other times they didn’t. Sometimes I wrote my cursive

August 20, 2025 23 Comments

Art

oil painting video tutorial | white irises

After working on pet and animal portraits for most of this year, I decided to take a little break and paint some still life and landscapes. First of all, I want the practice. I don’t want to get rusty in those subjects, even though working on one kind of painting informs and often improves another. These are also the most popular subjects for licensing, so I wanted to create some new works to submit and sell in my next original art sale. I’ve been working on rural landscapes, oranges, and now irises. While I’ve been painting, I set up my camera so I could make video tutorials for those who want to paint along. So, here is a video tutorial on painting these white irises… This painting is based on a photo I took while on a walk one morning this spring. One of our neighbors keeps the prettiest

August 13, 2025 5 Comments

Artistic Endeavors

creativity conversations | on longing, finding inspiration, and “good enough”

Years ago, I used to write “Ask Miss Mustard Seed” posts. I would open up the comment section for questions from my blog readers and would then write posts answering those questions. We’d talk about decorating, DIY, furniture refinishing, upholstery, creativity, and running a business. I realized the other day that I miss those posts. I always appreciate curiosity and inquisitiveness, so I want to encourage that more often and write blog posts in response to what you’d like to know. I’m not setting up this Q and A because I have all of the answers. Sometimes, the answer might be, I don’t know. Most often, I will merely make an attempt to answer a question based on my own experience, hoping it might offer some encouragement and inspiration to others. The point of asking questions isn’t always to get a definitive, final, and “right” answer. Most of the time,

August 11, 2025 31 Comments

a slice of life

Washington County Museum of Fine Art

While I spent most of my week of rest at home, I knew getting out would be beneficial. I also knew that it would be good for me and my mom to have a fun day together since our last day together was so sad. We both burst into tears when she came to the door, feeling acutely that Sebastian wasn’t there to greet her, wagging his entire hind end with happiness. But once we hugged it out, we were ready to have a good time together, to gather some inspiration, and enjoy each other’s company. Usually, when we get together, we work. We wear paint-splattered clothes, only stop for a cut apple and some cheese and crackers, and finish the day tired. But this was going to be a proper mother-daughter day out. I selected a few things to do that felt fun – visiting the local art museum,

July 29, 2025 14 Comments

Art

photo tips for pet portraits

I have been drawn to portraits for years, so it was only natural for me to explore portraiture once I started drawing and painting. Painting portraits of living people can be tricky, though. Winston Churchill famously burned a commissioned oil portrait capturing his appearance in his retirement years because he hated it. It was a good likeness, but he was wounded by how the artist viewed and portrayed him, to the point that he threw a high-quality piece of original art by a celebrated artist into a bonfire. I like painting and drawing people, but I’ll likely do it for my own enjoyment and not on commission. Instead, I explored the world of pet portraits about three years ago. I can still capture faces, personality, and expression the way I see it, without wounding someone’s vanity! Now that I have quite a few pet portraits under my belt, I’ve learned

June 17, 2025 6 Comments

All Things Home

what happened to my willow projects

If you were following along last summer, you might remember my obsession with weaving willow cloches and plant supports. (You can find that post HERE.) I went on a deep dive, sourcing willow branches locally and online, watching tutorials and reading articles, searching for inspiration, and then testing out what I learned. It involved setting up a baby pool in my driveway to soak the willow and experimenting with several weaving styles and methods. It was a thorough effort, and almost every plant got some woven addition. Well, I am here to report that the winter months and the weather were not kind to my creations and beginning efforts at weaving. Almost all of the cloches were in various states of disarray when I started cleaning up the patio pots and garden beds this spring. I tried to salvage a few, but they all ended up in yard waste bags

June 16, 2025 9 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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May 20th, 2026 at 1pm EST

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