The Art of Mary Fedden RA

If you need a break from winter...take a peek at this. Exhilarating!

Why didn't I think of that?

I'm facilitating a creativity workshop this weekend, and the hostess mailed me one of the invitations for her event! She's calling her Valentine birthday gathering a "creativity festivity" - brilliant! This card is a print, but it looks like 3-dimensional fabric letters doesn't it? Love it! Thanks Katie!

GYPO: : Week 1

Well, here is my first painting for GYPO11. Our inspiration was supposed to come from the Gees Bend Quilt series. I'm pretty sure no one will conjure up images of quilts when they look at my piece...hmmmm. 

As a total beginner, I learned a lot about some of the brushes. I still have such basic questions like how much to mix the paint with water, how the different brush tips work, how many layers should you paint? I enjoyed the week, but I have A LOT to learn - no denying it. 

At first I wanted to white wash over this, sand it down and collage on top, but at the end of the sessions, I'm guessing I'll paint over it completely and start again. Also, it seems like some of my classmates are painting smaller pieces but more of them - I'm going to try that this week, so I can experiment a bit more and still feel like I'm "completing" the assignment!

Fun first week! xo

Ice Day

St. Louis is under a severe blizzard watch. So far, what was supposed to happen hasn't happened, but we'll see. The kids are home today though and it has been raining ice all. day. long. It's fascinating.

So we're having a home day. David's camped out in my art room telecommuting (he had a colleague email pictures of himself iceskating down his street), the kids and I have baked bread, cleaned the basement, watched a movie, made some origami (F), read a bit (J) and played some music (K). Then said bread was eaten - first time I've made bread in years. Really good day. 

 This photo is completely untouched/altered. Isn't it cool how the green color comes in? Spring will come, it will. xo

If I had a million dollars...

Holy cow...if you have any kind of paper passion at all...go here right now. xo

Maribeth Clancy: : Paint + Jewelry

Welcome to the studio (and dining room!) of Maribeth Clancy, jewelry designer, painter, photographer, fiber artist, bookmaker, teacher and mentor.

Weekly, she home schools her daughter, teaches art classes to kids, hosts a journaling group for women and creates her own art in this space.

Obviously, this space is full. She has to have a vast assortment of supplies on hand for her art, and her students, who range from beginners to advanced artists.

She calls it chaotic, but I was impressed with how organized it is.

Did I mention that she also teaches adult classes? She teaches painting and bookmaking. She's also designing her second watercolor session for a men's only class.

There's art paper everywhere! 

Spirituality and nature are infused into her work.

This piece was inspired by the documentary, "Who Does She Think She Is?" Maribeth encourages all of her students to watch it.

She loves painting mandalas.

Maribeth participates in about four art shows a year. These are some of her best selling photographs.

Journals are one of her signature items. The inside pages are a combination of art paper, pockets and sometimes inspirational quotes and journaling cues.

Isn't this a great idea? Sometimes Maribeth strings ideas or mantras to her journals to be used as page markers.

She paints these journals with a handmade glue and paint combination (she calls it "goop"). Then she can sprinkle glitter and other embellishments in it while it dries.

And she even paints her jewelry tags.

Maribeth incorporated ink blowing into her home school class curriculum,

...and discovered that it was a wonderful way for her to paint natural images.

Here's another fun technique. Maribeth takes inch cut outs from her paintings and photographs to create inspirational collages.

She is an avid journaler and artist trading card maker.

This ATC is from a journal page. One of her personal goals is to create an ATC a day in 2011.

She and her daughter will be collaborating on designing her website.

And she is partnering with a local retreat and yoga center to teach and create on site.

If you are interested in seeing Maribeth's art or joining her mailing list to learn of upcoming shows and classes, email her at mmghh@charter.net.

Thanks Maribeth!