The Art Seen

February 2011

Mary — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:39:51 +0000

Using the heart that I painted last year, my photograph of the Eiffel Tower, and Photoshop’s layering properties, I created this card. The quote is from Balzac, “Love is the poetry of the senses.”

December

Mary — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:35:31 +0000

I painted a rather simplistic Christmas card, and used Photoshop to enhance it. Inside I wrote, “Share the Wonder.”

November

Mary — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:31:21 +0000

I painted a flower, “Rose of Sharon,” and sent it to a dear friend named Sharon (of course!).

October

Mary — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:17:36 +0000

In October, our children gave us a surprise party to celebrate our 60th birthdays – my husband’s was in July, and mine was in November. This is the thank-you card I created afterwards – depicting the makings of a Cosmopolitan (the featured drink at the party, and one of my favorites!). Rather than trying to paint bottles of vodka, triple sec, and juices, I chose to paint their origins in the form of potatoes and grains, and oranges, cranberries and a lime. On the back of the card, I printed the recipe for Cosmopolitans.

Stained Glass Love

Mary — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:46:10 +0000

I’m a little late with this! This is the Valentine’s Day card that I sent out to a few friends. After painting it, I scanned it into the computer, manipulated a little bit, and printed it on watercolor cards. I did not start out to make such a “dark” card – it just sort of happened. The final image reminded me of stained glass.

At the end of this month, I am attending a watercolor workshop in Naperville, Illinois. I’m a little nervous about it – I’ve never attended a workshop. I hope I am not the only beginner in the class! I’ll write about it when it’s over, and, hopefully, I will have one or two paintings to post as well.

Year of the Tiger

Mary — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:51:13 +0000

Our daughter, Renee, always sends out New Year’s cards. Now that she has a son, he is always prominently featured on the card. The year of his birth was the Year of the Rat – little Ben was pictured in a photo (by me) with a stuffed animal mouse. Ben was dressed in a little kimono – it was very cute. His second year, 2009, was the Year of the Bull. Renee took an amazing picture of Ben running toward the camera, with the Wall Street bull sculpture behind him, looking like the bull was chasing him.

This year, the Year of the Tiger, we tried, unsuccessfully, to get pictures of Ben at the zoo with a tiger in the background. The tigers did not cooperate. They were sleeping and completely oblivious to all the spectators who were waiting for them to awaken. I thought perhaps I could do a watercolor of a tiger that Renee might be able to use. I researched on-line images of tigers, and finally found one that I liked and could possibly copy. This is the resulting image.

I use mostly M. Graham watercolors – I like the fact that they are made with honey, and they can be re-moistened even after a very long time of disuse (which is very good for someone like me!). The colors are amazing. I did this painting on a 5×7 watercolor pad.

Renee was very happy with the results, and she used it, along with one of my photos of Ben, to make this year’s card. I had edited the photograph in Photoshop by taking Ben out of a picture and placing him on a plain blue background. Again using Photoshop, I added the grass around his feet, and some around the tiger to tie them together. This is the image that ended up on her final New Year’s card.

Happy New Year!

He’s a good egg!

Mary — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:56:57 +0000

I have had several months of doing other things, including an art fair where I sold some photographs (yay!), and over two months of illness in our house (we are still coughing!). I hope to concentrate more on working with watercolors again. This is something I did two weeks ago.

A very dear friend of mine has been in the hospital for a very long time, and was recently moved to a nursing home. At one time in his life, he was an illustrator for egg cartons (I was a child at the time, but I believe that is what he did). To honor him (and because we haven’t been able to visit him due to our horrible colds and flu), I did this painting of an egg on a watercolor card. I attached a small mat board to the card (just in case anyone wanted to frame it!). Inside I wrote – “You’re a good egg! I’m sorry you have been feeling so rotten!” He and his family were delighted with the card, as I hoped they would be. Which made me feel good!

Flowers in Blue Vase

Mary — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:12:33 +0000

Do all beginning watercolorists like to paint flowers?

I do – I don’t know why – they aren’t particularly easy to paint, and I never seem to get the final image to be what I see in my mind. But they do seem like the perfect subject to begin with — I guess because they just sit there, looking beautiful and colorful. So I keep trying because, even though they aren’t perfect (and who wants perfect, anyway?), it’s fun and it makes me happy! And that’s the most important thing.

This particular watercolor is an attempt at painting negative space, to produce white flowers. I love the ultramarine blue color – one of my favorites – and I especially love it with the orange-y background, which I made with a combination of gamboge and raw sienna. (I think that’s the combination I used. I don’t actually remember – middle age is hell, and I should write all these things down while I’m doing them!)

I liked my final effort. I scanned the image and printed a greeting card for a (much younger) friend who is pregnant – she loved it! That makes all the effort worthwhile – I love when someone loves what I’ve done!

I really wanted to take another watercolor class this summer, but I will be exhibiting (and, hopefully, selling) my photography in an art fair this September, which means I need to concentrate my efforts (and my finances) on that project before I can do anything else. I’ll be offering prints on canvas, which is new for me. I think that’s due to the frustrated painter in me!

Thanks for stopping by!

Drawing for Tea Time note cards

Mary — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:49:38 +0000

I am having a drawing for a free set of ten “Tea Time” note cards. Details are on my photography blog, The Photo Seen. The note cards consist of two each of five different images, mostly Polaroid images, that have been manipulated to look like paintings (as in “Hydrangea Tea” shown below) or drawings (as in “Sunflower Tea”). ”Tulip Tea” (right) is a digital manipulation, with the tulips having the effect of watercolor painting.

Sadly, the Polaroid film that was used to make four of the five “Tea Time” cards is no longer being manufactured. I do have a little of it left, and am looking forward to finding just the right project for it — and hoping that it will still be usable!

Meanwhile, do have a look at my other blog, The Photo Seen, which will tell you how to win a set of note cards. Thank you!

Dancing Flower

Mary — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:11:47 +0000

This is another watercolor that happened when I was laid up with my broken foot. I painted directly into a little journal that is made of pretty, textured paper. I feel like the flower is in motion and bits of the earth and grass are dancing around with her – and the flower is, decidedly, a “her.”

I have printed the flower on watercolor cards, and it will be available in my Etsy shop.