23 December 2014

Yuletide Portrait Commission

Last minute commissions, print orders, and product sales are always a mix of serendipitous pleasure and frantic schedule maintenance, but I tend to balance both through my great enthusiasm for satisfying new or recurrent clients and contributing my skill to caring, festive people spreading their friendship and fondness for art. It's a wonderful way to engage in the holidays!

Gift-giving with the one of a kind and tailor made work of an artist is deeply supportive to those independent creatives in your community, or throughout your social network (and I personally thank those of you who have been coming to me for your go-to illustration and portraiture services!), but it also allows the gift-giver to initiate a rather unique and intimately valuable connection with their giftees.

Fitting in a new commission from a new client with my existing schedule, I had about a week, and only two days of actual painting, to complete this portrait of a much-loved animal friend for a local family, to commemorate his life, and his love.

I had an absolute uplifting time working on the little guy's smiling face, pictured as requested to capture maximum, accurate character.

Here is a recent example of a private commission portraiture piece in watercolor:

'Sam' Commemorative Portrait, Watercolor, 11x14", 2014.
One of many sample photo reference...
'Sam' Commemorative Portrait, Detail One, 2014.
'Sam' Commemorative Portrait, Detail Two, 2014.

For more samples of commission work, portraiture (animals, people, etc.), and to contact me directly for inquiries or comments, follow here to my website.

And for the brief remaining time before the winter holidays are upon us, I personally wish you all your own peace, rejuvenation, and joy for whatever you may be doing on the seasonal break, and wherever you are.
And because today is the Winter Solstice, cheers! Keep the Fire going.

-Mairin-Taj

13 December 2014

'Abolishing Monsters' - Final Pre-Painting

'Abolishing Monsters' is another of the new portfolio pieces, as identified in the series of War In Love, and it has been sitting patiently, waiting for a digital version of its completed self to be presented to art followers and friends here, there, everywhere.

But, now that I have sorted out a dreadful bed-ridden illness and a ridiculous game of scanning competence with the Office Max folk - now that the final is indeed presentable - I am going to preface my reveal with a little context.

Some of you may be aware, having gleaned information from my various social media, or having seen my modeling portfolio on Behance, that I am a part-time artist's model. I work with individual photographers, illustrators, and various artists who require the reference of the human figure for paintings, their photography work, or studies in anatomy. I also work with institutions and life classes, such as the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, or the local Lancaster figure drawing groups.

While I was posing nude for a senior fine art figure session a few semesters ago, I was studying the familiar posture of an art student. (When you model for a class, you have a lot of thinking and observing time available to you; as an artist myself, I take full advantage of this and let the mental gears grind). As the student was poised between brushes and canvas and me, capturing with professional, near clinical focus, the aspects of figure and color and light from her particular vantage point, I noticed the 'armed' stance she held, seemingly to attention, grasping her utensils as if they were the weaponry with which she fought her inner foe...

Now, this fit puzzle-piece like into place with an earlier idea of mine, regarding the concept of killing one's monsters, or demons, or psychological darkness, mess, and violence. And I had wanted to use the artist's tools as the method of victory over such darkness.

Using myself as the figure, as I often do in my personal work, I armed myself with classic tools of creativity to face the shadows of the psyche.

The 'monster' is not important. It can be anything, or a multifaceted thing, as so many of our inner struggles are. But it had to have a maw of some kind, and a way to wail or gnash upwards it's gory center as it dies into emptiness. It had to reflect a flicker of unpleasantness and monster 'scare' while still demonstrating, in the face of this resilient creator, that it wouldn't be getting up again...

And you may notice, the arm with which the artist wields her brushes, loaded and ready, is the arm with a totem-like tattoo of a bird-of-prey talon grasping forth, curled and sharp.

'Abolishing Monsters', Graphite Drawing, Pre-Painting, 13.5x18", 2014.
'Abolishing Monsters', Detail Crop, 2014.
'Abolishing Monsters', Detail Crop 2, 2014.

I'm excited for the painting of this piece, and am eagerly looking forward to the non-corporeal gesturing of color associated with the 'monster' presence. I see violent red, for one...But you'll have to wait and see!

I've got holiday work to attend to in the meantime, and some shop gift promoting, so please visit by the store for items, including prints, of this new graphite addition to the artworks you can purchase from me! If you'd like a reproduction of 'Abolishing Monsters' to take home, before even the painting is done, I have it up on various products at the store, hint hint.

The Store frequents many quick succession sales, but they won't last for long with Christmas 'round the corner! Stop by and share the inspiration just in time. Browse products now! 

In the meantime,
As ever,
Mairin-Taj

26 November 2014

'Ghost Love' - Finally, the Final!

For context, process, and concept origin, featuring a vivid dream and a biographical event, visit back to the first few posts:

Ghost Love - The Warning Dream (Stage I)

Painting Progress - Ghost Love (Stage II)

Catching you up in these next several posts with new content, from portfolio to side projects and events that have been my focus, I am happy to finally get this piece scanned properly and presented! It is long overdue.
(*Scroll down for the link to purchase products, including iphone cases and tote bags, featuring the artwork)

Ghost Love:

'Ghost Love' - The Warning Dream, Watercolor on Hot Press, 13.5x19", 2014.
This personal painting was triggered into being by many interwoven events during a turbulent year of change for me, throughout 2013, and as may be apparent in the tittle, it holds significant value for me. It is melancholy, it is foreboding, it is suspended in a mix of hope and loss, and it is oddly futuristic, while harking back to a past of sorts.

'Ghost Love', Detail One, Watercolor, 2014
It pictures that space between the two, that moment when we could almost see the space closing and their hands grasping tightly again, safe and secure. But it is just enough space for that reunion to be unlikely, just enough space for more to grow from it, and the falling one to fall away for good. 

'Ghost Love', Detail Two, Van Gogh-esque Dream Sky Over A Mediterranean Coast, Watercolor, 2014
Ultimately, it is meant to function as a kind of frozen vision, memory, or knowing. A preservation, of sorts.

What an excellent function, of the many, that art has.

And here again is the graphite preliminary version I worked from:

'Ghost Love', Preliminary, Graphite, 13.5x18", 2014
*Purchase Art Prints of Ghost Love HERE. And check back again for ever-updating, rotating printed works available!

Always remembering,
Never forgotten,
-Mairin-Taj

Preview Preliminary - 'Abolishing Monsters'

I have a number of works to interject here before the end of the year turns over into 2015!

Dear followers and friends, I know I haven't posted anything in quite some time, and I intend to rectify that, despite the fresh batch of heavy winter weather that has my need for scanning finished or process works severely thwarted...

I have here a preview of a piece that is indeed finished, but has yet to be rescanned correctly. (Long story, but in short, it's too large for scanning in one piece, and the attendant at Office Max fudged one half, making them unsuitable to merge into one file...I need to get it done again).

I'm quite excited about the piece, though. It's called 'Abolishing Monsters', and is in it's finished state, pre-painting.

Once I get the scans merged into one satisfactory file, I shall post it in all it's glory here, but for now, here is a preview:

'Abolishing Monsters', Graphite, Top Half, 2014
Studio Process Shot, Graphite Hands!
Check back for the finished upload, and for more on the content, as well as further recent work and project updates - I'm catching everyone up!

-M

19 September 2014

What Comes from Walking Out


As artists, we have said amongst ourselves how we need to stretch, step back, see the world - or even just the local neighborhood - a little bit more,  in order to reapply ourselves to the creative process with renewed attention.

But even with our affirmation of these clear benefits in punching the pause-button, we often fall short of acting on them. Perhaps it is a common trait for creatives, to predominantly intellectualize our progress?

For myself, I have been stubborn enough to sit before my spread of projects and, feeling the tick of the clock as if I had swallowed it, simply stare into the void of creative dilemma that hangs somewhere between my mind and the paintings a few feet away. I'll just...survey my work, but being stuck, for any of the myriad reasons we get stuck, I am only investing in staying stuck! I sit there, watching only my problems, prolonging my dysfunction. It's remarkable how much time goes by under such poor investment.

So how do we temporarily step back, stop over-analyzing, and make better investments?

Don't think about it like you would a planned outing. It isn't a picnic with a menu and friends. It shouldn't be a grocery list or a set equation to solve for x, 'x' marking the prolific sweet spot. Don't fight with the same tools that are making you loose the battle.

Just. Do.
Do get up, and with the 'hand's off' ease of autopilot efficiency, throw a to-go bundle of brushes, pencils, watercolor, and towel left-overs into a satchel, maybe with your water bottle and an apple. Or take the camera instead, or the years-weary, precious leather sketchbook that records all thumbnailed ideas. Whatever simple tool-kit of creativity that might need a bit of attention again.
Don't think about it. Just pick it up, stow it, and walk out the door. No plan.
(If you have a family, prepare them ahead of time with this probable and necessary, self-diagnosing re-set method. It's the courteous thing to do).

There is a certain 'pressure's off!' mode that can be tricky to learn to access, but is a wonder of relief once figured out.

If you're naturally inclined towards analyzing your experiences, keeping a meticulous psychology, and monitoring your tasks and time with hawk-like application - like me - you will find it challenging to first:
   - reprogram your neurology to identify and avoid over-stepping functional intellectualism
and then:
   - to switch on an action-oriented perspective.

But it's temporary. It's the metaphorical eject button; have the self-preservation to activate the parachute, take the flight down, letting external forces do their work, and by the time the parachute has deflated, you've got a fresh head.

It's the brilliance of endorphins, really, and when a practice like art, by it's definition, inhibits a consistent relationship with these invigorating, healthy chemicals, it's easy to leave them out of our repertoire.

Once you're in touch with recognizing those moments of going too far into creative no man's land, and through trial and error have found your cue or 'trigger' method to let something active clear your head, the benefits take on a steady role in your life, improving both creative presence and vital, daily drive.

But be lenient with yourself. That equation can wait until you've put in the hours on it's components.
How do you best reset? What actions most directly flow with you, let you tune out or explore a simply sensory few moments under the sun again?
Just, go. Start. Begin to bounce, turn it into jumping jacks, maybe that will inspire you to start sprinting, and turn that into a game for yourself, no strings attached. Don't think it through ahead of time. Think action.
How did that feel? How effective was it? Is it easy for you to switch on again next time, or would something else be better? Mix it up.

Childlike, automatic, commanding my mental guidelines to take a siesta, I stand up, collect a small satchel of options - only options! - put my shoes on, and walk out the door, all in a few swift minutes, following through on long-legged strides.
I'm letting my body oxygenate, giving it permission to initiate my trek for me, flexing into my physicality as I go, taking deep breaths, letting go of the 'stuck'. It doesn't belong here.

Taking advantage of what I know of the area I am living in, I walk a few miles to a glen park, where forest, water, and nature-noise await me. I step onto the path, climb over rocks, tip-toe across stream-beds, no plan, no schedule for my 'creative options' on my back. They are just options, meant to be pressure-free. I don't need a new project giving me grief.

And as I do, as I let my body chemically activate, processing as it does best, setting me up for a boost I could never have stubbornly ordered out of the murk of sitting, staring, at my 'stuck' back in the Studio, I float down, my 'parachute' deflates, my head is remarkably fresh - hey, thanks body! - and a little sweaty, I sit down to bask in the clear sunlight...

And then this happens, with those 'options' I gave myself:


A fresh study, flexed fingers, and hungry, wakeful neurons firing.

I leave my scene with hope, with lightness, with a renewed sense of confidence in my conviction to get that bloody painting done (or that infuriating concept strong, or that tedious drawing transferred, or that less than ideal commission sorted out properly)...

I'm smiling, before I arrive back at the Studio. I'm limber as I walk back into the room, and my attention is renewed. After only a few hours, from setting out to getting back, I've done more for my mind and body than I could have ever come close to achieving in equal time, foolishly procrastinating in mental muck.

The problem is still there, but I'm no longer a problem.

As artists, we can intellectualize the hell out of technique, content, process, emotional preoccupation, and all the ways our cerebral domain deserves our loyal, milling finesse.

Yet, there is a limitless resource we're neglecting. The body. It's able to provide the natural replenishment for the not so infallible imagination, that creative musculature, if you will, also known throughout the artistic and freelance communities as our livelihood. The more we act physically, the stronger our inspiration, confidence, wakefulness, and vigor for art work is. And the beauty of the human form is it's ability to personalize; there's no need to mimic an athlete in order to empower your own individual, biological prowess.

We know our strongest, most powerful work communicates best with audiences because of it's ability to incite a lingering emotional response. Work that is great, that is loved, is informed by human experience, visceral language, kinetic energy, emotional depth. "Draw verbs, not nouns", says Zelda Devon. Create what inspires and excites you, others will love it too, colleagues advise.
For a reason. Our work gains flatness as we sit, stuck in our own uninformed stagnancy. When we build our own human experience, visceral language, kinetic energy, and emotional depth, we are equipping ourselves to superhero status the way our 'powers' deserve. We're fortifying that repertoire. We're putting in the hours to solve for 'x', that prolific sweet spot. And we're smiling about it.

It's what comes from walking out.

-Mairin-Taj

28 August 2014

Painting Progress: 'Ghost Love' - The Warning Dream - Personal Piece

For those who missed it, or as a refresher on the concept, content details, and back-story, along with preliminary sketches, visit 'Ghost Love' part one HERE.

Ghost Love's scene of a Mediterranean coast, a patch of Van Gogh-like emotionally garish sky, and otherwise sea-storm clouds, torrential space and accosted figure is coming along. I have been developing the painting in amongst other projects and pursuits, July having been devoted to my journey North with accompanying plein air speed painting.

In the next few days the second part of a pair of clowns - of A Madcap Credo, that is - will be complete with the debut of September 1st's 'Eve', so check back for her.

And life figure studies, horse sketches, and new portfolio pieces are littering the Studio space.
More to come on that.

Now, here are some sneaks at the slowly finishing personal piece 'Ghost Love':

Hands, Ghost Love, Crop, Watercolor, 2014
Head, Ghost Love, Crop, Watercolor, 2014
Waves, Ghost Love, Crop, Watercolor, 2014
Van Gogh-esque Mediterranean Coast Sky, Dream, Ghost Love, Crop, Watercolor, 2014
Colorful Layering Painting Process, Ghost Love, Crop, Watercolor, 2014
To review, here is the graphite drawing that I am working off of:

'Ghost Love', Graphite, 13.5x18", 2014

That's all of a progress update for now, but visit back again for more underway in the Studio, and soon after the interim and it's other work, the finished painting of Ghost Love will be here with all the gory details behind completion.

-Mairin-Taj

22 August 2014

What Happened To July?

So, where did I go for the entire month of July? What was I up to, out of the country? I'll give you a few hints - travel, art, research, reference, family.

Numerous photographs were taken, various studies and sketches taken down, plenty of notes, and some plans.

Here is a small sampling of the aforementioned imagery from July - a mix of art and photography - all from Canada:

Lake Country, Ontario, CA - Ten Minute Speed Plein Air, Watercolor, 2014


Westport, Ontario, CA - Three Minute Speed Plein Air, Watercolor, 2014
'Water Gore'

Canals and Rivers, Ontario, CA - Five Minute Speed Plein Air, Watercolor, 2014
'Eyes'

'In the Name of Hogan' (My Irish Clan)  
 (Where my sires walked, tending the land, as they did on the Old Sod, before) 

Irish Family Farm, Ontario, CA - Roughly 15 Minute Speed Plein Air, Watercolor 2014


 
Happy adventuring!

23 June 2014

'Ghost Love' - The Warning Dream

'Ghost Love' crystallized under a different title, but it was a title that served as a foundation for the true identity of the concept - ghost love - which was a phrase used between myself and the participant of the life experience alluded to. I decided that using the phrase we had favored in conversation for the final title was most descriptively succinct. I will keep the original title to myself.

There was also a dream, a very vivid dream, that I afterwards referred to as 'The Warning Dream', which featured exactly the scene of (what will be more colorfully apparent in the painted version) the Mediterranean coast, a patch of Van Gogh-like emotionally garish sky, and otherwise swiftly moving, realistic sea-storm clouds and rain beyond a small cliff edge, merging into the torrential space of the accosted figure somewhat disengaged from the geography below.

But the rest of the intricacies and small, significant moments will wait until the painting is finished. Until further elaboration, here is the final preliminary graphite drawing for 'Ghost Love':

'Ghost Love', Pre-Painting, Graphite, Rough, 2014
'Ghost Love', Detail One, Graphite, 2014
'Ghost Love', Detail Two, Graphite, 2014
'Ghost Love', Detail Three, Graphite, 2014
Process Photo One, 2014
Process Photo Two, 2014

The drawing is set up for transfer to the painting stage and will maintain it's dimensions of 13.5x18".

In the next installment of this piece, I will address the gesture, the hands in their color form, and the quality of drowning.