Creativity weekend with Nita Leland

Fly Away, 11 x 14" mixed media collage

This past weekend I spent three days with Neta Leland, author of many creativity and art technique books from F&W Publishing (http://www.nitaleland.com/) and really wonderful water media artist.

This was her "Creativiy" workshop that included playing with mono prints and collage techniques as well as sketchbook execises about design & creativity.  8 women gathered at the Evendale Cultural Arts Center in Cincinnati to share our ideas and art supplies.  It was fun.  I schlepped half my studio to the workshop. In hindsight I could have taken far less with me but I was happy to have all the choices.  In my experience collage taps the intuition and it helps to have lots of stuff.

It was fun to work with acrylics again.  I had accumulated a lot of collage supplies over the years. The above piece "Fly Away" was the result.

Lovely chaos all over the table. Notice the hot pink area 

that got toned down in the final piece.

I brought some rubber stamps into play

I added the red elements on the lower left to lead you into the piece 

and to balance the stuff on the lower right.

Abstact art is very different from my usual landscapes and pet portraits. Its fun to juice things up every now and again. Of course, getting it all loade back in the car and unloaded back at the studio was a bit of a challenge...

Remember, if you are considering commisioning a pet portrait for Holiday giving you need to let me know asap.  Calendars also make a terrific gift. (Hint-hint!) See ordering links to the right.

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

2015 Calendar is ready!

2015 Calendar is ready for Pre-Order

I spent time this week getting my 2015 Calendar ready for production.  It features images of my paintings so far in 2014.  It's a mix of pet portraits and landscapes in oil and watercolor.  It's always fun to sort through what I have created.  These calendars make a perfect gift for family members who resist going digital. Even in our iPhoe, iPad family we still fall back on the wall calendar when discussing upcoming plans.

Calendar size is 17x11" open, 8.5x11" closed. It features lots of room for writing daily reminders/appointments. This is a limited run so early orders are important! Price ($22) includes Ohio sales tax and shipping. Calendars will ship mid December. 

http://marioncorbinmayer.weebly.com/2015-calendar.html

Carmello poses with his portrait.

I have also updated www.marioncorbinmayer.com to include the calendar ordering form plus information on custom pet portraits.  I know that time spent with technology is part of my art business but I am getting cranky from not painting.

Next weekend I will be spending three days with Nita Leland playing around with color & creativity. I am really looking forward to stretching and using my collage supplies!

Have a safe Halloween and blessed All Souls celebration.

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

Anticipation

Anticipation, 7x5", oil on panel

I am getting ready to create my 2015 calendar.  I am accepting pre-orders now. I anticipate offering it for $20 + tx & Shipping. Email me for more information (info@marioncorbinmayer.com)  Each year I try to create seasonal images and this one seems perfect for December or January.  My neighbor created the perfect snowman last December that was the inspiration for this painting.  The pines were inspired by the small pine grove in front of our house.

First a juicy transparent underpainting

then I start to add the opaque colors

Final adjustmet!

A friend of mine asked "Is he anticipating a hold up?" Ha. Ha. Indeed! Anticipating colder weather. Anticipating snow. Anticipating the blessings of the upcoming holdiay season.

This 7x5 painting is for sale...

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

Carmello

Carmello, 8x8" oil on panel
private commission

Recently I created a pet potrait for a friend of mine. It was meant to be part of the '30 paintings in 30 days" challenge. Go figure, life goes on and I keep painting even when not directly inspired by a challenge. Carmello is a dauschund poodle mix & is love itself. He is my doggie's friend & Bubba don't like anybody!

Carmello simply runs his corner of our subdivision. On the weekends we have "small dog conferences" where those of us with small dogs tend to meet and chat during mid day walks. I will really miss this once winter sets in.

I use my IPad for my photo reference

sketch his face onto the board

transparent underpainting

Opaque colors go over the transparents

I may tweak it a little more, but his spirit is captured.

I do love painting dogs.  Especially fluffy dogs!  If you would like to commission a holiday gift for someone, please contact me (info@marioncorbinmayer.com) for details.

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

Collage summary of the September challenge

I had fun creating this photo collage on www.picmonkey.com - I had to fiddle with it to get everything to fit but I think its a fun summary of my September experiences. I still have paintings to create in order to generate my 2015 Calendar so do plan to keep going in October.

My studio is almost ready for this weekend's art walk.  We haven't opened to the public since last March so you can imagine what the space looked like. Its amazing the junk you can generate in six months or so.  I had to take a break this evening to give my feet a rest. I will be back at it in the morning.

If you live in Cincinnati, please come on down to Essex Studio this weekend, Oct 3 & 4, 6-11 pm. You can find a map & directions on this blog, just look at the headers.  Our next art walk will be the first weekend of Decembe.  Y'all come down!

Thank you for joining me on this journey.

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

30 in 30 Challenge ponderings

5 O'Clock Somewhere, 6x6" Oil on Panel
$100 unframed

As Jimmy Buffet says "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere!  I decided to play with a palette knife on this one.

I have completed between 15 & 20 paintings this month. Pretty good, I'm thinking. I stopped painting because this coming weekend is the Essex Studios Art Walk & I need to frame these paintings to get them ready for the event. Out of time,

It has been fun to keep plugging away, even after I got a bit behind. What matters is showing up to the easel each day.  No matter what my mood might be.

Harvest, 12x36", Oil on Canvas
$345

This one was fun. I started it sevral years ago then resurrected it over the weekend. I had lost the reference material so it was simply playing around with paint. I combined palette knife on the pumpkins with brushwork in the back ground.

Note the purple underpainting!

This was a whole lotta fun.  Hmm, probably there's a lesson there...

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

14 & 15 of 30

Twin Lakes #1, 6x8", oil on panel

Twin Lakes #2, 10x8" oil on panel

!Last Weekend I was blessed to be able to atten a Plein Air painting workshop with Mary Pettis (www.marypettis.com) through the Ciincinnati Art Club. We had wondeful weather! On Saturday we painted in a nearby park.  This bridge was a favorite spot for wedding pictures so there was a parade of beautiful people all afternoon. It was fun to watch them dodge the duck & goose poop!

Painting plein air has a multitude of challenges. This day it was the breeze and dodging stink bugs

My set up, featuring a Coulter easel and a Shade Buddy umbrella

Mr. Stink Bug (cast of thousands...)

In progress.

I do enjoy painting plein air, even if I cannot paint standing up any more. My feet just can't cope with the effects of standing to paint. Greg Storer (www.art-classes-cincinnati.com/greg_storer_bio_teacher.html) once said, "Painting in your studio is like shooting hoops in your driveway. Painting plein air is like being in the game!"  Well last weekend I suited up and threw some paint around!

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

12 & 13 of 30

Best Dogs in the Pacific Northwest!, 6x12". oil on panel

 I am calling this 12 & 13 of 30!

I have fallen a little behind in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challege.  And yet, I am still painting.

Since this painting has two dogs in it  I am taking double credits for it! I will continue to fine tune it. Actually there is another shot of it with some additional work on it that I still have to upload.  Stay tuned.  I do feel blessed to be able to paint so much this month. It is a great feeling to keep going back to the easel. I have enough images to complete paintings for quite a while.  Just gotta hold still & paint them!

source image

Studio Set up with Coulter Easel

Studio set up using Leslie Saeta panel holder

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

11 of 30

Misty Morning, 6x8", Watercolor
11 of 30

WHEW! Caught up once again. Obviously since I am traveling I a unable to attempt complicated images.  The challenge in this one was to keep it high key. I painted lightly on purpose. Really.

We are starting to pack our bags, getting ready to leave in the morning.  I have confirmed that the movers will meet us at the storage unit by 10 am.  We have to be one the road leaving Savannah by 1 to make our 6pm reservation at South City Kitchen, Vinings. Who knows what the weekend rush hour traffic will be like as we make our way around HOTlanta.  It's always a challenge

Change is inevitable. It has been wonderful having our daughter home for the summer.  Now we get to re establish our empty nest. Our kitten will be confused since she is bonded to our daughter but having a pet sitter for the past week will ease her transition.  Wonder what will ease mine?

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

10 of 30

Broken Shell, 6x8" Watercolor
10 of 30

Still playing catch up but have decided not to worry about it. I have already surpassed last September's attempt and feel confident that this year I will rise to the occasion.  Today is our last full day on Tybee Island. Tomorrow will be all about moving our daughter into her SCAD apartment then heading homewards.  Thankfully we have movers scheduled to do the heavy, sweaty stuff.

Jamie had to return one of the shells she found yesterday because it was occupied by a hermit crab.  We had suspected it might be but every time we looked into the bowl the shell was  quiet. Then I put a bit of bread into the bowl and boy howdie! There was a BIG hermit crab in there! It is now floating away on the tide...

I was inspired to paint another shell she found. It was a pretty torn up old shell but I put a glamour on it...

The Sand Gnats (or no-see-ums) have been pretty fierce this year. I have several very itchy bites on my arms & legs from sitting outside painting.  Grateful to NOT be full out plein air painting. I hate to wear bug spray but really should be wearling it. Oh well...

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

9 of 30

Tybee Sunrise, 8x6" Watercolor
9 of 30

I got up early this morning and was out on the beach as the sun came up. A container ship was on the horizon. One of the fascinating aspects of Tybee Island is that we can watch the containerships line up for the Port of Savannah.  Those babies are HUGE!

It was nice to be out on the beach that early. I got tons of terrific cloud reference shots. I love my IPone 5 camera.  Golly, remember film?  When you couldn't just shoot unless you had more film?

I enjoyed taking a loose "wet in wet" approach to this image, again using my rough paper journal. Since I am using pan watercolors it is really challenging to get dark colors but I am enjoying the freedom to just throw color around.  I do miss my oils & look forward to getting back in the studio this Sunday.

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

8 of 30

Chorus Line, 6x6" Watercolor
8 of 30

Yea! I'm caught up on the challenge! This image was from a wonderful boat trip we took last summer called "Little Tybee Unplugged". We spent three hours on a private boat adventure with Sundial Charters. At one point we went by these birds having a gossip on a sand bar.

The weather has been turbulent this evening with lots of thunder & lighting.  So grateful to be snug in our condo instead of out on the road somewhee...

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

7 of 30

Ocean "View", 5x5" Watercolor, 7 of 30

Today I get to paint two paintings because yesteday was all about driving in the rain and checking into our condo.  We are here on Tybee until Friday when we move our daughter into her SCAD apartment for the year.

This week we have an ocean "view" condo, not an ocean front.  It is much quieter. No harleys going down the small street in front of our building. Several cute small dogs next door to help me get over missing my pup.  I am painting on the porch because our condo only has one of those high tables with bar stools.  Who thought it was a good idea to make adults feel like children? It drives me nuts to not have my feet firmly on the ground. Oh well, it's only for a few days. I created an area for my laptop by clearing off a sofa table and bringing a normal chair out of our bedroom.

My work area looks like this:

 I took a break after painting to check out low tide. Since the moon is full the tide is WAY out at the moment. This will all be under water in a few hours...

The ocean is WAY out on the horizon.

PLUS I found some creative expressions on the beach:

True Love Sand Art

Tybee Heart Sand Art

Tonight we are walking to dinner to make our goal of staying OUT of the car for 24 hours.
Life is good!

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can