Tributes to Aries......................................

As promised, here are 4 of the submissions I received from some special friends who created their beautiful artwork in honor of Aries, the barred owl, whose story is in a previous post of mine. Starting from the top, the contributing artists are:

Patti Gramza

Elaine McAllister

Patti (Pattio) Sandham and

Laura McKeag-Krasinski


Thank you, my friends, for creating your beautiful art in Aries honor.

Love, Marilyn

Please note: I don't know what is going on with Blogger, but I was unable to get the artists' Blogs in that would align properly. Sorry. It may have been my lack of Blogger skills, too. :(

With the exception of my friend Elaine who doesn't have a Blog, all artists' Blogs are listed and linked to the left of my Blog. Please check out their beautiful offerings when you can.

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

Kerri Posson!!!!!!! Congrats Kerri; you have won the book of quotes along with the background stamp from my recent blog giveaway (previous post).

Please contact me and I will arrange to get your prize to you!

Check out Kerri's Blog: adventures in art & life: http://kerriposson-artist.blogspot.com/

She is a very talented artist and offers a writing style that I feel is going to offer her a book signing one of these days :)

I will, soon, begin uploading some photos of art pieces that I've received (via email) of the artists honoring Aries the barred owl (previous post). I just love what these artists have done. Thank you all who have responded with your beautiful artwork.

Hope you're all having a good week, are safe and happy!

I'll be back soon.............................Love to all - Marilyn

Blog Giveaway/Challenge in honor of "Aries"........................

This nature show coming up in May (see previous posts) really has inspired me and touched my life in ways that I cannot express.

You will see two pictures here. One is of a stamp and a quote book which I will discuss further down this post. The second picture is of a Barred Owl.I fell in love with a barred owl that is housed at the 5 Rivers EEC Nature Preserve. It was love at first sight! His name is Aries. The painting I did (in previous post) was inspired by Aries and he is the focal point of that painting. Here is a short history of Aries: I am quoting from the brochure that I received at the nature center:

Is Aries a female?
Aries is probably a male owl. To discover if an owl is male or female, an internal examination must be done. However, there are other ways to guess. Females tend to be larger than males. Aries is a small owl, but he is full grown and will not get any bigger. Aries has been heard to hoot during mating season, as a male owl would do. The hoots he makes are in the rhythm of the phrase "Who cooks for you." (which leads me to believe he's a male - hahahaha)

How did Aries get here?
Aries was hit by a car on nearby Route 85 in Slingerlands. Aries' wing was crushed by the car, and had to be surgically removed by a vet. Due to his injury, he is not able to fly and obtain his own food. He also has some damage to his eyes.

How old is Aries?
Aries was found as a very young owl, much smaller than he is now. He was born (hatched, that is) approximately in March of 2002. Aries will remain at Five Rivers for the rest of his life.

Now doesn't this history make you fall in love with Aries? There is only one person, at the center, who handles Aries; she takes him out occasionally from where he stays at the center which is in the visitor's center in a rather large caged area where children and adults can come in and visit him. He doesn't like to be stared at and gets a bit nervous about having his picture taken.

Sorry; this post is so long but it all ties into my Blog giveaway............which is:

All you have to do is leave a comment here that you are interested in the giveaway. The suggested challenge being, you use the picture of this Barred Owl to create an Artist Trading Card (2 1/2 x 3 1/2) in Aries honor; and using a quote, can be your own quote you compose, a poem, a found quote or poem in your art that pertains to Aries only having one wing. Send me a picture of your art piece and I will share on my Blog.

You don't have to create the ATC to add your name to the giveaway. The challenge part is only a suggestion; kind of my way of honoring Aries. He just touched my heart. I'd love to share pictures of what you create with Aries. There would be no deadline on creating your ATC, it's whenever I received a picture, I will post with others that I would accumulate.

The giveaway part is a 5 x 3 1/2 wood-mounted rubber stamp. It is a Tin Can Mail, Inkadinkado Bird Eggs-Plate 12. I actually have two of these and this one is in excellent condition. It's never been used and makes for terrific backgrounds. Accompanying the stamp is a 5 x 10 inch book of Quotes. It's spiral bound and has quotes that are categorized by subject within the book. Again; this is a duplicate, here, and I am often referring to it with my artwork.

If you are unable to leave a comment on my Blog, you can email me and let me know your interest in the giveaway. (Artbeliever@gmail.com)

The deadline for submitting your comment/emails is: Sunday, March 22, 2009.

Monday, March 23, your name will go in a basket, here, and my husband will select a name. He's my "DS" (designated selector) :). I will announce the winner on Tuesday, March 24th.

I do hope you'll play and think about creating an ATC with thoughts of Aries. He'll get to your heart quickly :) Oh; if there are fabric artists, out there, you can create an ATC with fabric, too :)

Any questions, please do not hesitate to email me.

Hope you are all enjoying this weekend; spring is in the air, here, once again. I'm going to go out and enjoy it now.......................................Love and spring thoughts to all of you!

Marilyn

More nature art........................

This is another sneak peak of a nature mixed media painting I am working on this week. I almost have it finished. (16 x 20 canvas)

It's in the drying stage, right now, so I thought I'd take a picture of it and flip it in Photoshop and alter it a bit for my Blog posting today.

Mostly all of the collage elements in this piece are a result of me taking pictures at the nature preserve (previous post)

The beginning of next week, I will be announcing another Blog challenge and I'll give you a hint. It will have something to do with "Mr. or Mrs" owl that you see here :)

As I'm preparing these paintings for the nature show in May, I've decided to recycle some canvas paintings that I've had here that just weren't working for me or anyone else for that matter :) It's not the easiest thing to do as it means sanding down the old painting which takes a lot of time. But, the rewarding thing is that I'm not running out to buy a new canvas. And; the sanding down and scraping of the old painting creates a wonderful textural surface to work on particularly for these nature paintings.

I'm thinking of you all and hoping you're enjoying your day; have a safe and artful weekend ahead!

Much love - Marilyn

"Field of Fantasies".....................................

9 x 12
Gallery canvas
Acrylic/Mixed Media

I am currently involved with a very exciting artistic opportunity and thought I'd share a little bit about it. The project is an art exhibit/festival on May 16, at the 5 Rivers Nature Preserve here in Delmar, NY.

I wasn't going to post pictures of my paintings that I'm working on for this project, but I decided I wanted to share my excitement and use this painting as kind of a "kick off" to start getting the word out about this exciting event that I have the opportunity to be part of. This painting is actually done in more realistic colors but I had such fun using some cool filters and brushes to alter it with some fantasy colors for my Blog.

This event promises to be a fun-filled, whole day of art for sale as well as demonstrations and workshops that will be offered by all of the participating artists. We currently have 6 exhibitors (including me). We have a sculptor, photographer, painters, collage artists. I am going to be working on nature print demonstrations for adults and children. Another artist is going to conduct a floor-cloth workshop, and there might even be some woodworking demos! All the art presented, demonstrations and workshops have to be 5 Rivers inspired/nature theme. What fun right?

I cannot wait and on and off, here, I will share more details as I get them. We are now working on flyers, programs, and advertising opportunities with local newspapers, radio, and television.

Thank you for visiting my Blog and always know I so appreciate your supportive words and your friendships. Without you, I just couldn't do what I do with such enthusiasm and passion. I love sharing art and life with all of you.

Stay tuned; as in near future, I'm going to offer another Blog challenge. :)

Love to all; hope you are having an artful weekend and wish you a safe and happy week ahead.

Spring is in the air here! YES! Love to all - Marilyn xxoo

Another journal spread........................

More fun with my altered book. I recently went for a hike at a local nature preserve, in our area, to take some photos. I'm helping to organize an art exhibit/festival there in May (more details will come soon).

I went by myself and took one of the beautiful nature trails that are offered there. (5 Rivers Environmental Center in Delmar, NY) .

Even though there is still some snow on the ground and a chill in the air, I found myself spellbound by all that I was observing. I saw "my" crows busy feeding and socializing, birds that I've never seen before and the peace that came over me was just overwhelming! I really soaked up the shapes of the bare tree branches, the textures in the tree trunks, the shapes of the rocks and more! And; it cost nothing! Free entertainment, therapy and artistic inspiration!

As soon as I came home, I sat at my art table and decided to work on this spread. I wanted this spread to reflect the feeling I got being by myself with nature. It really got me in touch with my feelings and getting to know a little more about myself. It's funny; we think we know ourselves because we think we should. But; we're so busy, in life, tending to our families, making new friends, that I sometimes think we lose ourselves. Things go on the "back burner". It's really okay but I guess being alone with nature, like this, allowed me to put some of my own thoughts and feelings upfront and personal :)

I wish you all a joyful day, a peaceful one and take some time, for yourself, to get to know yourself more. It's amazing who you will discover!

Much love always! Marilyn

Heiku.......................................

4 x 4 page
Theme: Heiku


A friend of mine is working on a fabric quilt with 4 x 4 pages and the theme is Heiku. She asked me to contribute a 4 x 4 as she will print it out on fabric to add to her quilt project.

I am SO ready, for spring, so I thought I would create this page thinking of spring coming soon (we hope) and childrens' thoughts turning to playing outside and having fun amongst the flowers :)

Hope you're all having a wonderful day!

Much love - Marilyn