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Art

ten days of art | creative play

As I shared in THIS POST, I want to make the most of this season of waiting.  One of the things I want to do is take some art classes that had to be set on the back burner when I needed to focus my attention on packing.  Now, I am able to find some time to learn, read, and practice.  If you know me at all, you know that I am a multi-tasker when it comes to just about everything!  I’m usually not reading one book, but several…listening to an audiobook, reading another, and looking at another picture-heavy book for inspiration.  I don’t just sit and watch TV, but I watch TV and knit or sketch or sew or get on the floor and stretch.  And, when I’m taking an art class, I don’t just take one, but bounce between a few. The class that I’m focusing on the

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Art

15 creative exercises to fill your sketchbook

Last night, I said it out loud.  “I am finally starting to really see myself as an artist.”  I have put the title on my profiles and have reluctantly used it in introductions, but I didn’t really feel it down to my bones.  I don’t know what shifted or what gave me permission to internally embrace it, but it happened recently.  I’ll have to think about it a bit more…about what changed and why.  But the result is that I feel freer and more willing to make a mess and create something I don’t like.  I feel more accepting of what comes out of my hands.  And I feel more excited to draw and paint.  I am hoping to share some of that enthusiasm with you by starting at the simplest, most honest, and forgiving place an artist can start – a sketchbook.  I’m going to share 15 sketchbooks exercises

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Antiques

antique winsor & newton charcoal box

There are some finds that you just know are special.  You know they probably won’t come around again or at least in a very long while.  Such was the case with the antique Winsor & Newton charcoal box and, when it was offered to me, I jumped at it.  And even though I knew it was special simply based on the fluttery feeling it gave me, I quickly discovered that this box was providentially meant to be with me.  Well, maybe that’s overstating it, but there was a pretty cool coincidence at play.  So, for my non-art-supply people, stick with me on this one.  It’s a good story with a great bit of encouragement at the end. So, let’s first talk about this amazing charcoal box… This antique Winsor & Newton charcoal box is meant to be used as a palette.  It’s small and very lightweight and even has a

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Art

3rd completed sketchbook tour

I actually finished my 3rd sketchbook back in August, but I haven’t taken the time to film a little sketchbook tour video.  I like doing those because they hold me accountable, but I’ve also received wonderful feedback from people who have shared how it’s encouraged them.  Keeping a sketchbook really has changed me as an artist.  It’s helped me to loosen up, try more mediums, experiment, and explore in ways I didn’t feel as free to on a panel or on a piece that was supposed to be “finished” and good enough to sell.  I’m falling in love with watercolors, pen & ink, and charcoal.  I think oil will always be my first love with it comes to art mediums, but I’m enjoying the growth in other mediums.  I’m also learning that growth in one medium helps you grow in others.  I’m getting better at interpreting what I see in

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Art

five lessons I learned from filling a sketchbook | video sketchbook tour

I know you’re not all my “art people.”  Some are my art people, some are my home people, some are my furniture people, and some are my everything & anything people.  But, the art posts are not just for my art people.  There is so, so much I’ve learned from art that can translate to so many other areas of life!  So, today, I want to give you a tour of my second completed sketchbook (yep, I’ve filled a second one already) and share what I’ve learned from filling two sketchbooks so far this year. the old Roman gate in Barga, Italy | pencil & watercolor sketchbook lesson no. 1 | practice makes better I’ve been learning this through my whole art journey – practice makes better even in drawing and painting.  It’s easy to recognize that practice is important when it comes to sports and instruments, but we often

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Antiques

marian parsons – hobby historian

“Great thoughts go best with common duties. Whatever, therefore, may be your office, regard it as a fragment in an immeasurable ministry of love.” ― Brooke Foss Westcott I received a new parcel from Julia of Ponder & Purchase.  We initially connected through the antique sketchbooks of G. Herbert Kitchin and, since then, she’s been on the lookout for antique art supplies and other goodies for me.  It works out great for both of us since she is frequently out shopping to supply her Etsy shop (and selling things directly to me saves her the time of listing the items), and most of the antique and vintage art supplies seem to have congregated in the UK.  Maybe Americans just pitched theirs?  Maybe hobby art wasn’t as big in the late 1800s – early 1900s here?  Either way, she has a knack for finding little antique treasures to outfit my studio –

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Artistic Endeavors

my first completed sketchbook

For all of the talk I do about journaling and sketchbooks, can you believe that I have never fully completed a sketchbook?!  Well, not until a few weeks ago.  I have filled plenty of pages in plenty of sketchbooks over the years, but I typically end up abandoning a book, unhappy with many of the completed pages.  It’s interesting because I’m not a perfectionist, but I do take creative work seriously.  When I was in college, studying musical theatre, my music theory teacher once told my parents at a performance, “Marian is very serious.”  And I was.  I vividly remember feeling an irritation with my peers who didn’t practice or work hard during rehearsals or focus during classes and workshops.  I cared about doing things with excellence. So, when I’d go to fill a page in a sketchbook, I would look back at the previous pages and cringe at some. 

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Artistic Endeavors

isle of palms | part three | painting & sketching

Our trip to Isle of Palms in May was primarily about visiting with family and celebrating my parent’s 50th anniversary (51st now since it had to be postponed for a year), but it was also our first vacation in a long time, so I wanted to take intentional time to do things that were restful and restorative.  Being at the beach and gathering shells were a part of that, but so was painting and sketching.  Not only are those endeavors relaxing, but they help me really pay attention, be observant, be present, and appreciate the beauty around me.  So, I made a commitment that I would paint or sketch every day, even if it was just a quick pencil sketch while sitting at the beach.  And I stuck to that, even doing some quick landscape sketches in the car ride. I also wanted to work on watercolor sketches and drawing

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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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