Monday, June 25, 2018

New Painting: A Visitation to Middle Earth

A new oil painting has just been released sitting in my studio. "Strange seduction", said she, while the painting stares back at her. Certainly, there is a story in that composition somewhere. Characters come off the canvas, while others recede.
A young girl, an old woman, Pan himself, a pig, and an extraterrestrial co-exist on this oil painting on canvas. Bold blues play the background role while bright green yells out for attention. The extraterrestrial begs for a conversation. He insists on being lifted off the canvas to realize real life on this planet right in my living room. He wants to chat and have tea. He comes as a friend, he tells me.

Painting Process

The painting began years ago. It's been traveling with me to my various locations and addresses. It was a painting that never quite made the grade. So, finally, I decided to just paint over it and begin anew. But, some of the areas are left. I lovingly blended those colors. I couldn't get myself to paint over those spots. I painted Ultramarine blue and Prussian blue over the places I wanted to hide.
The whole painting was intuitively painted over a slow two month period. Lots of time sitting, staring, and contemplating was spent while trying to figure out what to do with the dark blue space I had created. Slowly, colors called, paint danced across the canvas. A new oil painting revealed itself. The final abstract painting is a little strange, I admit. It's a mix of abstract with surrealism.
The strokes are all made with a palette knife. I adore not having to clean brushes after having fun with paint. Just wipe off the paint and voila, done until next time.

Begin the Conversation

What do you think? I'd love to hear your reaction. Please comment below. Feel free to share this post with your friends and art lovers.

Until Next Week


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About the Author, Artist Mary Rae Rush

Mary Rae lives in Camp Verde, Arizona with her loyal assistant, Sir Kitty. Visit her websites for more information.

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Monday, May 28, 2018

The Tale of the House on the Hill & My Whispering Pines Oil Painting

Whispering Pines is an oil painting that measures 12 x 24 inches. I wanted to paint a loose abstract painting with my palette knife, having fun with color and paint moving across the board. The house on the hill had another idea. It required me to draw in perspective. Uh oh. Both my drawing and perspective skills had gotten little use over the years. I watched Youtube videos to learn these skills before returning to the painting.

In process photo Whispering Pines 12 x 24 inches Oil on MDF
In process photo
Whispering Pines
12 x 24 inches
Oil on MDF

The view out my living room window in Camp Verde, Arizona is captivating. All my window views are spectacular. They offer me a 360-degree mountain view. It's an artist's paradise.
I have painted many scenes from those window views while living here since January 2017. The featured painting is one of them.

While painting the house, I wondered about its inhabitants. Who were they? What did they do? Did they know I was making a painting of their home?
Whispering Pines Oil Painting 12 x 24 inches
Whispering Pines Oil Painting
12 x 24 inches
My answer to who lived in that house came last month while walking past it one day. I've walked past their home many times, but nothing. Then one day it happened! On that day, a man whizzed out of the driveway, passing me on his bike. I noticed a rolled up paper on the back of it. He kept bicycling which gave me no time to say, "excuse me, who are you?"
As luck would have it, on my return walk, he was coming from the opposite direction, slow enough where I could get his attention. The rolled up paper was my conversation starter. He was an ex-mayor of Camp Verde. The document was a legal document having to do with ensuring Camp Verde's water rights.
I whipped out my phone to show him a photo of the painting of his home I had done. He was impressed. He told me that he loved it. He asked if I could send him a link that he could show his wife. I did, explaining that I would be glad to show it to them in person someday, and that was that. I haven't seen or heard from him since. But, it was fun to meet and chat with the owner of the house on the hill I see every day and now have captured in paint.
This painting was a joy to paint. I did have fun with color, abstraction, and moving the paint-loaded palette knife across the board with pleasure.  It asked more of me as a painter. I've got my work cut out ahead of me to hone the craft of drawing and perspective. It's a challenge I welcome. I know my painting will be better for it.
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Monday, May 21, 2018

Four Oil Paintings 12 x 24

Four Oil Paintings Completed 12 x 24

O
il paintings drying

Needing painting boards one day, I walked into Home Depot in Cottonwood, Arizona. Perusing the wood section, I walked past 1/2 inch, 1/4, inch, and 1/8 inch sheets of oak and birch, which I have loved using in the past. I might be getting lazy since I looked at them, thought about the frame I would need to build around them for strength, and kept walking.

Oil paintings drying
I landed in front of MDF. Hmmm... ??? I've used MDF before. I kind of liked the smooth surface. I decided I would buy that. It wouldn't need to be built into a painting panel. I figured I would buy decorative frames after I finished the paintings. I bought a sheet and had them cut it into 12 x 24 inch sized surfaces to paint on. I've discovered over the years that I like this size, as it's well suited for landscape paintings.

Since switching from acrylics to oils, I researched how to prepare the boards for painting with oil. The easiest method I ran across was to paint a thin layer of oil paint and let it dry. Easy enough.

I enjoy the freedom of painting with a palette knife. So, I that's what I used with each of these abstract oil paintings. They are freestyle paintings, each one is unique.

Which one do you like best?



Emerald City, 12 x 24 inches, Oil on MDF.


Desert Landscape, 12 x 24 inches, Oil on MDF


Fire Mountain, 12 x 24 inches, Oil on MDF


Emergence, 12 x 24 inches
Oil on MDF


Until Next Time

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Thoughts? Which Painting Do You Like Best?

Please comment below. I love hearing from you!


About the Author, Artist Mary Rae Rush

Mary Rae Rush (Mary Gravelle)
Mary Rae lives in Camp Verde, Arizona with her loyal assistant, Sir Kitty. Visit her websites for more information.

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To follow my work, catch me on social media:



Monday, May 14, 2018

Behind the Scenes Since My Disappearance in August

Where Have I Been as an Artist Since I Last Posted?

Artist Mary Rae Rush (Mary Gravelle)
It's a been awhile since I've written a post here on Blogger. I shifted my focus from writing about my art and art business to blogging only on my art website. Now, I'm thinking it'll be good to post both places. Any thoughts on this subject?

So, where have I been since posting last August? I committed to completing my book on my creative process. I created an online course to match the book. And, I've been painting. My progress seems slow, but now that I read this, I've come along way. Below are snippets of updates on each of those.


Book

My proposed book cover for the forthcoming book on Kindle: INTENTivity
I'm at the end of that completion cycle finally. The title changed from Ignition to INTENTivity. It's been one of the longest, largest creative projects I've undertaken thus far in my life.

I decided to self-publish after receiving one rejection letter from an agent. In hindsight, I might have been better off sending out 100's of book proposals until I received a YES. But, I didn't, so I've been learning the ropes of self-publishing. There is so much to learn and know. As I work to complete uploading to Kindle on Amazon, I see that I've learned a lot. There is still so much more to learn. Perhaps I'll write another blog post of advice to others who want to write a book. The featured photo is where the book cover stands at this point. You would not believe how many book covers I have designed for this book over the past 7 months!

See links below to follow me on social media for updates.

Online Self-Discovery Course for Creative Confidence

Coming soon, online course for self-discovery and transformation.
The book is a "workshop in a book" that outlines a 6-week program. New material had been added since working with clients on this work. I enlisted the help of beta-testers to read over my book and take the course as they read. Much to my delight and surprise, it went very well!

Although during the process, I hardly had time to come up for air in this time period from September through November. I'm deeply ingratiated to the five beta testers who were still standing at the end of this procedure. It was intense for all of us. They were taking a deep dive into the self-discovery process, Igniting Your Intentions, and giving me feedback on the book and the work at the same time. I was recording video and audio and preparing PDF's of the work, building my online course as I went. All through this, I was daily checking in with my student beta testers helping them out with their process.

What Paintings Have I Been Working on and Completed?

Cross Pollination of the Cosmic Bee.
11 x 19 inches.
Tempera on paper.
I think this will be the subject of a separate blog post. But, I painted nothing in September and October of 2017 while I was heavily focused and working on the book and online course.

Then, because I sincerely have to paint for my sanity, I came back to it with a lighthearted approach in November, following prompts from a Facebook painting group. In January I did two paintings, two paintings were completed in February, and in March I did none. I picked up again in April working on a redo of a painting that didn't work from many years ago. That's where I am right now in my oil painting adventures. I've discovered that I need to take a more balanced approach to my goals.







Until Next Time

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Please comment below with your thoughts after reading my musings. Do you find value in reading it? Your comments and likes inspire me onward...

About the Author, Artist and Writer, Mary Rae Rush

Mary Rae lives in Camp Verde, Arizona with her loyal assistant, Sir Kitty. Visit her websites for more information.

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To follow my work, catch me on social media: