Crossing #10 Off the Life List

Intentions are a tricky thing. You have them in your mind, and you completely mean to do something, but you find excuses or other things take priority. Then it becomes so huge, you keep putting it off. Or perhaps that is just me! Maybe it's the impending arrival of another human being to give me the proverbial kick in the rear to put my intentions to action. Without further ado, I have finally crossed #10 off my Life List and have opened an Etsy Shop to sell paintings and drawings! If I sell something, great, but if not, I'm  happy that I actually put myself out there.

You can find my Etsy shop at MarissaHuber! I'm starting by selling my original color study paintings, and will be putting up smaller series in the future.

I tried to get the best photos I can, and I'm sure there will be a learning curve as I progress. At this point though, I'm sick of waiting for unreachable perfection and never getting anywhere.

Cheers to new beginnings!

Marimekko Colors

I spent the majority of my summer working in Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina this year. One of the conversations that sticks in my mind is a friendly disagreement I had with friends over pink and red. They all felt that those colors clashed, while I think they're gorgeous together done right. One sweet Southerner named Charlotte agreed with me. We both exclaimed, "Look at Marimekko!" as the winning evidence (in our opinion). I'd also like to offer up Sarah Jessica Parker's color blocked hot pink pants and carmine blouse for further consideration.

I don't have the hot pink pants yet, but man do I daydream about a pair. I do wear one of my favorite ruffled sweaters which is my favorite shade of poppy-orangish-red. Paired with some hot pink polish, it provided inspiration for color study #47.

Color study #47: Marimekko Colors. My camera is rendering these colors on the cool side, but you can get the point while I save my money for a new one.

I added some ochre to give it a different look, and to stray from my standard bright colors when it comes to painting.

Speaking of which, I better get cracking if I want to meet my goal of 100 color study paintings by December 31, 2011. Let's start with the cracking tomorrow, shall we?

En Route to El Vez

Rainy days can be beautiful because they change the colors of everything. The rain makes the colors different and more saturated. On a walk to meet my friend Robin for her birthday dinner at El Vez, I snapped this picture of a wood fence and paint peeling.

Color study painting #46.

I loved the blue gray of the wood fence.

Sky blue paint peeling was fun to interpret too.

#44 Mike's Oil Paints

As you may know, my husband is a very talented artist.  He just finished an cityscape of Philadelphia that is 48 square feet and took him over 500 hours to finish.  He is pretty amazing and the hardest worker I know.  We went to Mike's studio this weekend to check his paint supply and see what he needed at the art store.  When we were checking out his frequently used paints, I just loved the three paint tubes next to each other. The paints are messy and kind of gross, but gorgeous just the same.  What I love about Mike is that he encourages me to try new things, which is what helped lead me to finally try oil painting.  I don't know about you, but it can be intimidating to try something new when you're surrounded by experts.  When I worked in the art store though, I always told customers that I believed making art or pursuing their passions is for everyone.  If you enjoy doing it, that is what matters.  I'd rather see someone love what they are doing, than someone who is talented but with no passion.  It also helps to get over caring so much about what everyone thinks of you!

It would have been so easy to just steal Mike's paints and use them, right? Ah, but the point is to work on my mixing and use the paints I have.  So I mixed and experimented and was pretty pleased with my results.

Here's a detail.  It reminds me of a sunrise, clouds and flower petals all at once.  I'll admit, this painting is one of my favorites.

Trying new things is empowering! Which reminds me, I really want to make a life list a la the charming Erin Loechner of Design For Mankind by the end of this year and post it. Does anyone want to join me?

Color Study Paintings

I started a color study project in February 2010.  Mike gave me the idea when I mentioned that I wanted to start oil painting but didn't know where to start.  He suggested I start small with color studies to practice mixing color and seeing how things work against each other.  The idea stayed in my head for a few months until the sunlight on a day in February was so pretty that I was compelled to start the project. I must also mention one of my favorite blog friends, Susan Lutjen O'Connor of Sulu-Design.  Her Original Intent Series is always inspiring with the photographs she translates into her beautiful jewelry.

Too many options can be paralyzing, so I set up some loose limitations on myself:

I can use any medium or technique, but can only paint colors that I've seen on that day.

If I am lazy and wait until the next day, too bad!

The format is always vertical and measures 5" x 7" on watercolor or canvas board.

My goal is to finish 100 by December 31, 2011.  Here are paintings #1 - #42.  You can click on the links to see them larger and see the descriptions.  The entire set is on my Flickr account here.

              

                

              

               

                

              

              

              

              

              

              

              

                

          

            

So far I'm really enjoying this project.  It makes me notice my surroundings more, and try to think of different color combinations and palettes that I usually don't gravitate towards.

I plan on ending this at the end of this year, but may do it again from time to time.