"There Is No Man In The Moon"
8 x 10
Mixed Media on Hardboard
Let's start out the New Year with a Blog giveaway. What do you say?
I'm offering this piece that I just completed. I've had the background for such a long time; it was a demo for one of my art classes. It was done with watercolor and cheesecloth. Since I'm on a mission to recycle some canvases, here, I thought why not work on the background and this is what I came up with. The image is one that I drew and painted, added some collage, transfers, etc.
Along with this piece, I will offer some personal collages images and ephemera for the winner.
All you have to do is comment, here, and the deadline is: Tuesday, January 11 and I will announce the winner on Wednesday, January 12.
If you are unable to comment, here, just email me and I will add your name.
Thank you all for your support and friendships throughout this year of 2010. I so look forward to sharing more art and life with you in 2011.
May you and yours have a safe, happy, and healthy New Year!
Love much! -Marilyn xxoo
This is a 9 x 12 re-worked canvas. The inspiration, for this, not only came from my love of recycling some old canvases of mine, but recently I received my Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Somerset Studio magazine and in it was an article by Shelly M. Broughton.The title of her article, "I Would Rather Have Snow", instantly caught my eye as it's rare when I find someone who enjoys the snow as much as I do. Her words describing her love of Fall and the Winter months really struck a cord for me. I swear I've thought those very same thoughts and have said those same words a million times over.
Shelly's article also addressed re-working canvases and I, again, thought WOW! This is what I've been doing the past month or two. Shelly's approach is with using tissue paper over oils or acrylics, then begin reworking the piece with paints, etc. If you have this issue of Somerset Studio, the article is on page 60 and you'll see Shelly's influence in this re-work of mine.
I call it "Learn to Pause" because this is exactly what Shelly's article did for me. Between the title of her article and then reading how she re-works a piece, it really gave me time to pause. I loved how Shelly wasn't afraid to splatter white paint over the whole canvas to symbolize the snowflakes coming down. I added my own touches with having to capture the blue/gray background as that is what our sky looked like yesterday, the painted figure, some collage, stamping, charcoal, etc.
We did get our snow, today; and I think it's beautiful! It has added a cleansing to the day except the winds are fierce and I'm waiting for them to calm down, a bit, so I can go for my walk with my camera :)
Hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend and I wish you a safe, happy and joyous week ahead, and some time to "learn to pause". :)
Love much - Marilyn xxoo
I hope everyone had a magical holiday and enjoyed the traditions of how you celebrate. Or; began some new traditions that you can look forward to.
It was a fine Christmas for me and my family; what a difference having Sophia in our lives. When my heart thought it couldn't hold any more, she came along and well - my heart is pretty full. :)
I think our hearts have little secret pockets in them for when we need more room to love :)
This photo is a picture of another mixed-media angel piece I did. It's on an 8 x 10 canvas and I call her the Angel of Friendship.
I will be spending some time catching up with your Blogs, this week, and also working on some more "recycled" art. I'm hooked on reworking some old canvases that I have here; it's really got me goin'! Gesso and tissue paper - get ready! :)
Looks like we're in for our first significant snow storm beginning this afternoon into tomorrow so I'll have some time to work on art!
Have a safe and happy week ahead everyone!
Love much - Marilyn xxoo
I was inspired by a couple of things, this week, that led me to create in my journal last night.
One was a telephone conversation I had with a dear friend, recently, as well as a holiday card I received in the mail yesterday. How in the world, you might ask, would these two things inspire me?
The telephone conversation, with my friend, really made me think about the gift of friendship. And; it is a gift because we can choose our friends and they choose us! This could be from the "instant connection" we might make with someone and then nurture the friendship as we go. It's like planting a seed, nurturing it and it blossoms into something really beautiful!
The holiday card I received, yesterday, was a non-traditional type but it had these really beautiful "connecting" seashells on the front and I instantly had to photocopy the card and use in this journal page to signify the connections that we can make with someone.
I started sketching in my journal knowing I wanted to represent friendships - true friendships. The seashells symbolize the connection and also some of the ingredients that I feel go into a true relationship. They are:
The actual connection, trust, and then respect.
What followed was this quote: (which I journaled around the heads so the writing connects)
"Be true to yourself and you will always have a true friend behind you"....Marilyn Rock
I wish you all the gift of true friendships; it's something to be treasured.
I really don't know where I would be without my friends, not only the special relationships I have, here, but also my Blogger friends who I find to be warm, caring, generous and so very inspiring.
At this writing I want to wish you all a blessed, peaceful and joyous holiday season. Enjoy the traditions with your loved ones, both family and friends and may the new year keep you healthy and at peace.
Thank you all for offering me the gift of your friendship!
I'll be back after Christmas! Love much! -Marilyn
I had such fun with the first angel, I had to begin working on another.
The little bottle you see at the bottom is one I picked up at a flea market, so long ago, and I wanted so much to use it in a piece and this seemed right. I put some very tiny beads in the bottle, too, but I don't think you can see them.
Hope everyone is staying warm! We're getting a very early snap of extremely cold weather, here, that we normally experience in January. This cold snap has even hit the deep South!
Warm thoughts for all of you!
Much love - Marilyn xxoo
This piece (11" x 14") canvas, is actually a "redo" of an old mixed-media piece I've had, here, that I never was quite happy with.
I liked the background but never was happy with the painted figure so I wiped "her" out with gesso and started over using one of my more recent sketches. I photocopied the sketch, enlarged it and collaged it in this piece and painted over it. I'm much happier with this now.
There's something neat about recycling older pieces that we might have lying around. You know - taking another look to see how we can redo it to our liking. Gesso never seems to fail me :)
I'm wishing you all a safe and happy weekend ahead. Winter is kicking in, here, it's been very cold and windy and it appears we will be getting some snow Sunday into Monday. Funny; I really don't mind the winters although it's a long season. But, I still take my daily walks outside and find it refreshing as long as I'm bundled up. I just don't like the ice and I still recall that terrible ice storm we got a couple of years ago - not fun for anyone.
Let's hope for a "kind" winter this year :).
Much love - Marilyn xxoo
