Commissions...................................

These are pictures of two commission pieces I was asked to do awhile ago.

The one of the soldier and woman was done as a request from a friend of mine. It is of her parents and she wanted something to reflect their relationship. It was a bit sad, to work on this, as the soldier (my friend's father) has now, since, passed and her mother is very ill. My friend gave me pictures to work with of her parents, let me know color preferences, etc. and left the rest to me. Because her mother is gravely ill, I wanted to project the idea that she will soon be meeting her husband once again. That's one of the things about collage that I love and will never give up; the fact that we can tell stories with our art. I finished this piece with beeswax.

The second piece was a happier piece. This was a Valentine's gift for a woman's husband. I had to work with a flyer reflecting the man's band that he is in and the announcement of it. Plus, it had to include the first dollar bill he ever made with his band. Color preferences, again, were given, to me, and the rest was left to my creative thoughts.

I found the contrast in terms of "mood" was interesting. The first piece is a little sad, romantic really, and peaceful at the same time. The second piece definitely reflects much happiness and celebration.

To be honest, I think commissions are challenging. Even though an artist is given certain criteria and personal preferences, it still is left up to the artist to interpret the piece in their own way.

My very first commission was not a positive experience and, frankly, I told myself I'd never do another. :) But; I did and I am SO glad I decided to take another chance at it.

The parties, involved, with these pieces seemed over-joyed with the pieces and really felt they reflected exactly what they asked for. I was happy I could tell my story, on canvas, with their requests and feelings about their loved ones.

I love sharing with all of you and know that you all inspire me to do what I do!!

Thinking of you; wishing you a safe, happy and artful weekend!!!

Much love - Marilyn

Love the every day.................................

This is the most recent spread in my ab journal. I've been playing around with this Delta Antiquing Varnish and it's pretty cool. You can spread it with your fingers over your art and when it dries, it takes on an aged effect. I even tried mixing some of it with Gesso ('cause I just can't leave my Gesso out) :) Oh boy; I'm now talking to my art supplies! :)

Anyway; I used a couple of my favorite Tim Holtz quotes on these pages. The one on the left is: "What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it." The quote on the right: "gotta love the EVERYDAY."

It's so true; enjoying our today is so important. We're in the midst of some tough times and I find myself feeling so anxious if I think or look too far ahead - ya know the unknown. Really concentrating on the day, at hand, helps me remain focused, appreciative, conscious, and loving the everyday.

Love your day, be safe in it and know I am thinking of you all throughout mine.

Much love, Marilyn

And......................the winner is! :)

Pat Spillane! Woohoo!

Congratulations Pat! You have won the ephemera pack from my recent Valentine's Giveaway! My husband drew your name from a basket this morning!

Check out Pat's Blog:
http://pmsdesigns.wordpress.com/

She's a magician with fabric :)

Pat; I'll be in touch to confirm and once I get your mailing address, will mail your pack out to you this week.

Thank you for playing everyone! I will be having another giveaway in the future. These are fun!

I wish you all a safe and happy week ahead.

Love to all...............................Marilyn

Joyous.....................

This is a picture of a recent spread in my altered book journal. My son is, here at my house today, installing a new bathroom floor for us and it is much appreciated. He's doing a terrific job especially since he's very new to the home improvement stuff :)

Watching him in this very adult role made me turn to thoughts of him as a young boy. It's amazing how fast time goes through the eyes of children.

I used some pictures of David, as a young boy, scanned them and decided to include them in this spread. The one on the left is of him when he was just 4 years old. How he loved balloons and they always had to be red :) On the right-hand page you will see a niche I cut out and included part of David's face from a picture of him when he was 8 years old.

This was a fun and meaningful spread to work on.

Just a reminder, the deadline for my recent Blog giveaway is Sunday, Feb. 22 (SEE PREVIOUS POST).

I will be announcing the winner Monday, Feb. 23rd. Good luck everyone!

Hope you're all having a good week and wishing you a safe and happy weekend ahead.

Much love, Marilyn

Valentine's Blog Giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not a real "mushy" Valentine's Day person; I mean I always make my husband a card and we go out to dinner to celebrate the day. We look forward to it.

What I really like about the day is the "feel" of it. It just kind of sets the tone for happy and loving thoughts for loved ones and friends.

More than ever, in these difficult times, we need to try to think of happy thoughts, loving thoughts, tolerance, patience and hope.

I'd like to kick off this Valentine's weekend with another Blog giveaway. How about a really cool ephemera pack?

I've decided to put some fun art stuff together to offer as a giveaway. With love of course :)

This isn't the best picture but included in the pack,to just list a few, are old London Newspaper clippings from the 1800's (great for transfers), old maps, pages from old poetry books, dictionary pages, a very old and sturdy Bingo card (fun to alter), flower petals, some fabric pieces, images AND who ever wins this giveaway will also get two surprise unmounted rubber stamps with the pack.

Are you in? All you have to do is leave a comment, here, saying that you're in. If you are unable to leave a comment on my Blog, just flip me an email at Artbeliever@gmail.com expressing your interest. That's it!

The deadline for submitting your comment is Sunday, February 22, 2009. I will announce the winner on Monday, the 23rd.

With loving thoughts of all of you, I am wishing you a great weekend ahead and a very Happy Valentine's Day!

Love to all..................................Marilyn xxoo

Moving right along.....................

This is my 5th spread for my altered book journal.

I hope you are all having a good start to your week. Our temperatures, here, have been slowly rising and we're on our second day of SUN! Woohoo! We're gettin' there!

Stay tuned as I am going to be offering another giveaway and will be posting it over this coming weekend. :)

Be safe and love to all..............Marilyn

AB Spread #4..............................

I've been a little under the weather the past few days; it kind of knocked me out. I'm still not over it; but found I got a little of my "mojo" back today and decided to turn to my ab for a little creative release.

This is my 4th spread of my altered book journal. It's a combined spread using decorative napkin, acrylic painting, and pastels. I've been experimenting with the new Golden's Open acrylic paints. They have this luscious color called Indian Yellow Hue - I love it. The jury isn't out, yet, on the "Opens". They have more wet time but not sure that is a huge advantage for me.

Have any of you tried the new "Opens"? If so, I'd love to read your feelings on them. Also; any one know of a good, non-toxic fixative for pastels?

Hope you're having a good weekend and getting some art time in for yourself. I'm going to go make myself a cup of tea with honey :)

Much love to all.....................................Marilyn xxoo

AB Spread #3.............................

This is the third spread in my altered book journal. Both pages are transfers but the one on the right; came out very faint and I could hardly see the woman's face. So; I decided to paint over the image using oil pastels.

I don't know if you can fully read the quote on the left page and it's one of my favorites:

"True happiness is not be found outside life. It does not brood above as the sky broods over the earth. It is in life, it is life itself...full life with all its heroic struggles and sublime joys." Jeanne De Vietinghoff

Have a great week ahead everyone! Love - Marilyn

More fun with my altered book :)

I turned to my altered book today continuing my journal. This is my second spread.

This was a transparency transfer that went amuck :) But; I decided to go with it and recover it in my own way using acrylic paints and some soft pastels. Whatever I do, I always seem to end up seeing tree limbs :)

I am finding having this altered book, to turn to, is so enjoyable for me. It's relaxing and there's no pressure with it at all. It's something for me with no rules and no deadlines.

I hope you're all having a good weekend and getting some art time in for yourself.

Love much.............................Marilyn