“I Matter” ACEO Artwork

April 13, 2019April 13, 2019 | marandarussell

I was feeling really depressed when I made this mixed media ACEO artist trading card. I originally wrote “I don’t matter” because that was how I was feeling, but after finishing the abstract artwork, I decided I didn’t want to leave such a negative message permanently. So, I took out my black pen, marked out the “don’t”, and underlined the words “I matter”. Just doing that small thing made me feel a bit better and like maybe I do matter more than I give myself credit for…

See my art for sale on my Ebay store!

2 Vintage ACEO Artworks: Edgar Allan Poe and Victorian Shoes

April 8, 2019April 8, 2019 | marandarussell

Here are a couple more vintage-themed ACEO artist trading cards. Both are mixed media pieces. The first one here features paper with an Edgar Allan Poe stamp in the background, so I had to feature that! I thought the scissors looked kind of cool with it too. Then I painted over it with oil pastel and watercolor.

This second one was made with some victorian shoe stickers against a paper background of print and flowers. Lastly, I added a little random scribbling in black, white, and yellow gel pen if I remember right.

Check out my art currently for sale on my Ebay store!

Depression Spirits ACEO Drawing

April 4, 2019April 4, 2019 | marandarussell

This ACEO oil pastel drawing pretty much sums up how I’m feeling. Still struggling with the depression spirits today:

Find this artwork and more for sale on my Ebay store.

Abstract ACEO Artworks – Oil Pastel & Markers

February 24, 2019February 24, 2019 | marandarussell

Lately I’ve been in an abstract art frame of mind. I created the following ACEO artist trading cards with a mixture of textured papers and either oil pastel or art markers. I hope you like them!

If you would like to buy one of these artworks or want to see what others I currently have for sale, visit my Ebay store!

Valentine Sticker ACEO Trading Card Collages

February 14, 2019February 14, 2019 | marandarussell

Happy Valentine’s Day! I bought some Valentine stickers at Dollar Tree recently and decided to make some ACEO collages with them. Here are the finished results:

My favorites are the food themed ones. I thought those were really unusual for Valentine’s themed stickers. I always like to find the weird, different stuff!

You can find these and more for sale on my Ebay store!

Walking Towards Depression

August 10, 2018September 3, 2018 | marandarussell

I recently sold this oil pastel drawing shown above, but I wanted to share it because it is one of my favorite pieces I have done recently. If you can’t tell, the image is of a person and a little dog walking through a rainbow world (which represent happiness and life), but ahead of them lies the darkness of depression and they either don’t see it coming, or are impelled to continue walking, perhaps against their own will.

As someone who struggles with bipolar type 2 and chronic severe depressive episodes, this is clearly a personal feeling conjured into a visual image. I thought I would share though, because I bet some of you can relate to it too.

2 Fun, Goofy Drawings: Aliens & Monsters!

July 20, 2018September 3, 2018 | marandarussell

Both of these artworks have already sold, but to check out my other art for sale, visit my Ebay store!

Primitive Abstract Painting

February 15, 2018February 15, 2018 | marandarussell

One type of art I have always liked and enjoyed creating is symbolic or simply abstract art with interesting lines and shapes. This oil pastel ACEO painting is a good example. This pattern or symbol or whatever you want to call it doesn’t have a specific meaning since it was just a creation of my imagination, but I do enjoy making artwork with specific historical symbology as well. To me, the finished picture looks rather primitive or almost like cave/ancient native artwork: