paintings

3 New ACEO Artworks – Fiery Forest, Cat Lantern, Abstract

| marandarussell

It has been a little bit since I did an art post, so here are three of my favorite ACEO size artist trading card artworks I’ve made fairly recently. The first is a fiery forest oil pastel:

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Next, we have this cute mixed media cat lantern:

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And lastly, here is another oil pastel, an abstract expressionistic painting that just speaks to me on some level.

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I hope you liked these! Please let me know which is your favorite and why! If you want to check out the art I currently have for sale, visit my Ebay store!

7 Chakras Art Series

| marandarussell

A little while back, I decided to do a series of ACEO artist trading cards based upon the 7 chakras spiritual system. I wanted them all to be abstracts, with the colors for each chakra taking center stage. Here is the end result:

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Root Chakra – Red
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Naval Chakra – Orange
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Solar Plexus Chakra – Yellow
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Heart Chakra – Green
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Throat Chakra – Blue
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Third Eye Chakra – Indigo
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Crown Chakra – Violet

Which are your favorites? Mine are probably the heart, throat, and solar plexus ones. Some are still available for sale on my Ebay store, so check it out if you are interested!

Another Art Contest Opportunity – My Entries

| marandarussell

In the past couple months I have actually entered art into 3 different art contests/exhibitions. I already shared the art I submitted to the contest I placed in last year, but thought I would share a few artworks I submitted for a brand new contest. This contest will be choosing a variety of artworks that will be exhibited in New York and Oregon, and will be used to produce derivative products based on the selected art. If my art is chosen, I will get a 25% royalty on all products sold with my design, plus whatever the art sells for at exhibit.

I tried to pick a variety of my recent artwork to submit. I decided to go with this cute wolf portrait:

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A nice abstract design:

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And something a little inspirational and personal:

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I hope they pick at least one of my pieces for their exhibits!

Music Themed Art Contest – My Final Picks for Submission

| marandarussell

I wrote a post the other day about my anxiety over entering an art contest I placed in last year, well, I went ahead and chose my three pieces to submit and thought I would show you guys the ones that made the cut. Here are the three I made that I submitted to the contest:

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Oil pastel, 2.5″ x 3.5″, Synesthesia (the contest theme is officially “music and synesthesia” this piece illustrates synesthesia, in this case, the ability to “see” color when you hear music notes).
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Oil pastel, 9″ x 12″, Feel the Music
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Acrylic/Gouache painting, 8″ x 8″, Sound Storm

I also made this fourth painting, but could only submit 3 pieces to the contest, so I ended up listing this one for sale on my Ebay store:

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Art Museum Visit: Favorite Artworks

| marandarussell

Yesterday my husband and I visited our local art museum to see a few new exhibits they were having, including the “For America: Paintings from the National Academy of Design” collection. Here were a few of my favorite pieces, some are student art and some are from professional artists, can you tell which is which? (There are 3 student art pieces and 3 professional artworks in no particular order):

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March 2019 OwlCrate Jr Subscription Box “Birds of a Feather”

| marandarussell

I got my first OwlCrate Jr subscription box! This book box is for middle grade books and each month a theme is chosen revolving around that month’s book. This month the theme was “Birds of a Feather” and the book is The Simple Art of Flying by Cory Leonardo. I chose OwlCrate Jr instead of the regular OwlCrate box because I thought I might enjoy the middle grade books better than the YA books. I do love YA books as well, but well-written middle grade fiction holds a special place in my heart.

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Here is what came in the box:
– The book (obviously lol)
– Author-signed bookplate
– Letter from the author
– OwlCrate Jr monthly magazine
– National Geographic’s Ultimate Explorer Bird Field Guide
– Pineapple scented tropical birds stickers
– Flamingo gel pen
– Mini owl plush toy
– Parrot keychain
– Spoiler card and card for next month’s theme (which will be “Crack the Code”)

I loved this first box and am excited to see what else they send in the future! I’m halfway through the book and love it so far. It is a sweet, sad, and funny story about a pair of brother and sister parrots living in a pet shop. Right now I just got to the part of the story where the siblings are split up when one is adopted and it is breaking my heart a little.

I love the bird field guide, the owl plushie, and the flamingo pen. Plus, I’ve already made a couple ACEO collage artworks with the stickers:

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(Art available for sale on my Ebay store!)