Archive for landscape

« Older Entries

The Handmade Market and Victoria Falls Part 2

Posted in About My Work, art, Festivals and Shows with tags , , , , , on April 28, 2011 by candlesandghosts

We had a great time at the Handmade Market this past weekend-thanks so much to all of you who made it out.

Here are some quick shots of the show

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

Along with a shot of our booth

The space was wonderful for a show like this, and set-up and tear down couldn’t have been any easier.  As always it was a great show, and I want to give a big shout out to all of the lovely Handmaidens who work so tirelessly to put this show on.   Thank you ladies!

***********************************************************************************************************

In other news, Victoria Falls is progressing nicely, and I have reached the point in this painting where I need to decide the final direction it will take.  Basically I have two options, the first is to continue on much like I am now with a more interpretative painting, and the second is to begin adding more substantial details to make the piece more of a translation rather than interpretation.  I think I might just have to go with my gut on this one.

Until next time,

-M

Leave A Comment »

Haircuts can change things (Victoria Falls Part 1).

Posted in About My Work, art, Family with tags , , , , on April 25, 2011 by candlesandghosts

At least that’s what I believe.  I shaved my head yesterday for the umpteenth time- no need for a photo, just imagine me with even less hair than I normally have- I do this about once a month, give or take, but this one was different.  Jeremia got his hair cut for the first time yesterday too, and I thought that if he saw me with mine cut, that it would be an even less traumatic experience for him.

Turns out, what Kristina and I thought was going to be a cavalcade of high drama, he almost couldn’t have cared less about.  I think even Kristina thought she was going to be more upset than she actually was- it is amazing how J can bring a calming perspective to things.

With almost no effort he went from this

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

to this.

Granted, I’m sure it helped that he got it cut at this really cool kids salon, and got to sit in a plane (of all things), while watching “Madagascar” on a small TV in front of him, but even without all of that, I don’t think he would have really cared.

We even got him to give us his version of a smile when all was said and done.

It got me to thinking about the painting I’m working on

I’ve had it sketched out for several days, but have been delaying in starting it.  Not out of any real fear mind you, but more wondering more why I’ve been making such a big deal out of this project.  It is only paint after all.

So, I put down the first layers of base color this morning

As soon as I was finished, Jeremia came in and sat down on my lap; we stared at the painting for a minute, then he was ready to go play.

So that’s that.

-M

Leave A Comment »

Victoria Falls and other new work

Posted in About My Work, art with tags , , , , , on April 21, 2011 by candlesandghosts

I’ve started a new commission and it will be interesting to see if I can pull it off.  Seriously.  I’ve never considered myself to be much of a landscape painter, and yet that is exactly what this commission is- a large oil painting of Victoria Falls in Africa.

Its a beautiful photograph that my client shot, and I think that may be part of what makes the task so daunting.  Because I was not there, I have to try and capture the power and wonder of this place using only the memory of a snapped photograph.  The locals call the mist that rises from the falls, “the smoke that thunders.”  This piece will certainly push me out of my mixed media comfort zone, much like I’m sure people must feel when they are actually there; that slightly uneasy but exhilarating feeling of standing at the edge of something so vast, while being held back by only fear, and grace.  Will I be able to capture that using only paint?

Who knows?  But here we go anyway…

I stretched the canvas earlier today, and now it waits only for the first strokes.

First however, I will sketch the landscape out to be as accurate as possible; I feel like this painting will be more of a translation rather than an interpretation.  As it proceeds, I will try to keep you informed as to how it’s going.

************************************************************************************************************

This is not the only news however, I am continuing to work feverishly on some new pieces in preparation for the Handmade Market this weekend, and several other shows coming up fast.  Here’s a quick shot of some more of my flying birds.

I’ve got an idea of how I’m going to use these, but that will be for a later time.

-M

Leave A Comment »

Storm Clouds and a New Home

Posted in Photography, Randomness, Studio with tags , , , , , , , , , , on August 4, 2009 by candlesandghosts

I really love the loft where I live-did I say I really love it?  Well, I do.  From this height (on the 4th/top floor but up about 6 stories) you can see north almost to the Virginia border which is about 60 miles away.  In the summer, especially in the evenings you have a great box seat to thunderstorms forming and moving east toward the coast, and the lightning displays can really be something.

For example:

This was a few weeks ago when a storm formed north of here; the storm cloud looks like something out of a renaissance painting.

storm-cloud-2

It was catching the evening sun just right

storm-cloud-1

These were taken back last spring

Lightning-1

The lightning really put on a show that night

Lightning-2

Then back in early summer when a storm rolled through-literally.  This was the craziest cloud I had ever seen-it stretched horizon to horizon, and actually “rolled” across the sky.

storm-cloud-3

And finally a beautiful sunset from last fall

sunset-1

When we finally do move, I’m really going to miss this place; but I can hear the mountains calling, and sunset on the Blue Ridge Parkway is something not to be missed.

-M

5 Comments »

Mud Slinging

Posted in Family, Flea Market Finds with tags , , , , , , , , on July 2, 2009 by candlesandghosts

Literally.  Went to the NC mountains this past weekend to visit with family, and ended up down at the river with my niece and nephew.  We couldn’t go swimming because they didn’t have their bathing suits, but it’s not like that kept them from having fun.

mud-1

mud-2

mud-3

river-1

The river is so nice this time of year even if the water is still really cold.

On the way home, I found a nice antique mall with a few necessities I thought I should pick up.

ambrotype-1

-a great ambrotype from the late 1850′s

bone-pin-1

-a nice antique bone brooch (this one will probably end up in my Etsy shop)

rouge-1

-a great old rouge to be transformed into a neckpiece

small-tin-1

-and a nice petite tin which will be transformed as well

All in all, it was a great weekend, but now its back to it, Bele Chere is coming up in a little more than 3 weeks!

-M

3 Comments »

All News is Big News

Posted in About My Work, art, Art Happenings, jewelry with tags , , , , , , , , , , on June 18, 2009 by candlesandghosts

Though some is bigger than others- If you have been to my Etsy Store lately, then you probably already know what the BIG NEWS is, but if not, well just see below.

Sleeping

Yep, my wife and I had our first child-a healthy, hungry baby boy named Jeremia.  He was born on April 2, and has been the cause of many a sleepless night as of late.  However, I wouldn’t trade him in on a mule (as my Mother is prone to saying), meaning I think he’s pretty great.

First-Bottle

He’s already almost doubled his weight in 10 weeks, so I can just imagine what it’s going to be like trying to keep this kid fed during his teenage years.

Flying-Baby

As they say, eat, sleep, poop, that about sums him up at this point, though he will talk your ear off if he gets the chance.

Tarheel-Baby

But this isn’t all that has gone on, the spring shows went very well, and I’m currently getting ready for the next- Bele Chere. It’s a monster of a festival attracting about 350,000 people to the Asheville area of the NC mountains the last weekend in July.  Seriously, it’s a great show, if you can find a way to go, get there.  Good food, good music, good art, need I say more?

Bele-Chere

I’ve also been working on a lot of new paintings- here are two:

Treeline

Treeline 2009  20 x 24 x 1.5

Trot-II

Trot II  2009  22 x 34 x 1.5

Click on either one to see more details about them in my Etsy Store.  I’m also going to be listing -TOMORROW- all of the jewelry that I was posting about before Jeremia arrived.  That includes: Virtue Adrift, The Evening Star, 250 Regrets, and others.  So, be looking out for them- they may go fast!

Lastly, I still haven’t finished the website update, but I’m almost there- busy, busy, busy is my new middle name.  Until next time… -M

Leave A Comment »

« Older Entries
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.