Tag: #painting

FSM Update – Projects Galore!

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in FSM Updates, Traditional Art

I have a lot going on in the near future. I have several projects in the making. Things are gradually slowing down with my landscaping job so I will have more time for my art!

We have two more days until Inktober so I will focus a lot of my time to completing this. I finally decided what theme I will follow this year and surprisingly it will not be horror! If there are any gamers out there you may know of Elder Scrolls Online, ESO for short. They have created their own prompt list for Inktober and it is my husband’s favorite game. He streams it live on Twitch.tv at RabidClown_Gaming. If you love the game too, check out his channel! I thought it would be neat to combine our interests this year and follow the ESO prompt list. If your not familiar with the game it deals with dragons, monsters, sorcerers, warriors, kings and queens….a huge realm of fantasy to vaguely sum it up! I enjoy drawing fantasy but never give myself the opportunity. Now it’s time to give it a turn.

I will also be spending all of October preparing for an Arts & Crafts Show that I will be participating in! It is November 3rd and I will share a separate post about this as the day draws closer with more details. I am currently working on a group of mini canvases. It has been a couple years since I’ve worked with the minis and I am having so much fun with it! It has also been a couple years since I have done an art show so my nerves are a little frazzled. For the most part though, I’m very confident in how it will turn out and I’m not procrastinating this time! That is a huge help for keep stress levels down!! XD Here is a sneak peek at some of the minis I will have at the show.

After Inktober and the art show, I’ll be picking back up with my totem animal symbolism posts. I had to take a break over the Summer because I am too busy working long hours with my landscaping job. Now that the colder months are ahead of us, the work load starts to ease up and I have more time to concentrate on my totems again. Since “Sloth” was a popular piece I will study this one and share with you what I find. After that I was thinking about tackling the panda. Who doesn’t love pandas, seriously!?

Aside from all of this (yes there is more), I have started dabbling with digital art. You may have already learned about this from reading my previous post, It’s A Digital Age. I am making mandalas on my laptop and phone using the program AutoDesk Sketchbook. It is so much fun and is just another way for me to express myself no matter where I am! I still have a lot to learn as far as digital art goes but I have made the first step. I would eventually like to get Adobe Illustrator since I am more familiar with it.

Prints available here.

That about sums up what artwork is ahead of me! Busy, busy, busy! I have never felt more motivated though! I’m confident I will be able to get everything done with ease and make strides with my talents!

Thanks for stopping by this week! Make sure to check back often to see my 2019 Inktober collection grow. I will share one sketch for everyday until the end of October! Share a comment below if you are participating and I’ll be sure to follow along with you!

Happy October, free spirits!

“Get busy living, or get busy dying.” – Stephen King

Free Spirit Meg’s Art Shop!

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in FSM Updates, Totem Animals, Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA)

Free Spirit Meg’s Art Shop….I like the way that sounds! Anyways…I am so excited to officially announce that I have my own online store now! It’s been a long time coming. Now, I can finally offer prints and canvases of my work. I am slowly creating an online presence starting with Society6 and RedBubble. They have a lot of great products on both sites and it is really fun creating merchandise with my art! I’ve already made my first sale on Society6 and I am so excited and grateful! This is my next step to becoming a full time artist and I feel that much closer to achieving my goal! Thank you to everyone who has supported me this far. I hope I can continue to create beautiful artwork to please your eyeballs! Be sure to check out the new shop and pick up what you like. There are frequent sales going on so check back often!

Another way that you can support my work is by subscribing to Free Spirit Meg on Patreon. It is a site that helps creative entrepreneurs build their business and put together Reward Tiers. You get to choose how much money you want to contribute and receive subscription boxes for each month you are subscribed. I currently offer monthly photography postcards, totem animal prints and custom totem cards exclusively for patrons! The more I grow, the more goodies I can put in my subscription boxes! Check it out and let me know what you think!

Again, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has helped me get this far and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here! Let me know what you think of the new shop and what your favorite items are! Also, if you have a favorite totem animal that hasn’t made it to the shop yet, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll be sure to add it in with haste!

Take care, free spirits!

Inspirational Quotes for Artists

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Sketchbook

I have been posting quotes on my Instagram for a few weeks now. I like to create a pattern in my posts so it goes…drawing, photo, quote, drawing, quote, photo….and so on. That way when you go to my Instagram, it’s clean and organized and my drawings don’t get overshadowed by my mob of photography. I have began accumulating quite a few quotes I would like to share with you. I look for quotes that are related to art in one way or another and that inspire me or make me feel good about creating art. I found a neat app, PicsArt, where I put the image and quote together. I use all my own photos for the backgrounds. It’s  fun to keep up with. I use to make little “computer art” pictures when I was younger. They were very simple and by no means what I would call digital art but it was still a lot of fun to mess around with crazy filters, duplicate images…etc. Now, this mini quote art is what I do to feed that part of me. I hope these quotes can inspire you the same way they do for me! Are there any I haven’t created yet? What are your favorite inspirational art quotes? Leave a comment below! I’m always searching for new quotes to use! Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time,

“Look beyond the paint. Let us try to open our minds to a new idea.”

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Dusty Drawings

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Traditional Art

I have quite a few pieces that I have started in the past and for some reason or another they have been left unfinished. I’m quite fond of all of them. It’s not that I didn’t want to finish them. They were just pushed to the back burner and forgotten about. I figured if I shared these dusty works that I just might get the motivation to complete them all.

My first long lost WIP is a mare and foal. I was working on it for a Mother’s Day art show. I completed a couple drawings for the show already and was hoping to finish this one to add. I didn’t have enough time to complete it, though it is half way there. I’m excited to finish this one.

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Next is a simple drawing I started for practice. I was using a reference photo that I took at a steeplechase in Nashville, TN. It was never intended to be more than practice which is why it has been put off for so long.

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This next one is also from a photo I took at the same steeplechase. I played around with the image on a photo editing program and exaggerated the already vibrant colors. I decided it would make an awesome painting and started working on it. Unfortunately, painting isn’t my true passion and will easily get surpassed by my urge to draw.

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Another painting has been waiting a very long time for me to finish it. I started a painting of flowers I had photographed at the Botanical Gardens in Toledo, OH. The colors were bright with many shades of pink throughout it. Again, my lack of ambition to paint has left this piece neglected.

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Last but not least, another drawing that I am itching to finish. This one is barely started. I haven’t even erased my grid lines yet. This faint sketch is to become a portrait of one of my parent’s horses, Spirit. He is a gorgeous Spotted Saddle Horse with a trademark “V” on his neck. He is a natural beauty and I was eager to incorporate his elegance into my work. Now I just need to do the work!

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That concludes my neglected WIPS collection. Now that I have brought them to light, I know there are at least a couple that will reach completion. The urge may strike at any moment!…….maybe.

Which piece would you like to see completed? Leave a comment below! I would love to hear from you. Thanks for reading!

Until next time,

“Hard work may not always result in success, but it will never result in regret.”

An Artist’s Library

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in FSM Updates, Traditional Art

My son and I took a well-deserved trip to a local bookstore today. It was actually, quite literally a warehouse filled with used books. All books for a dollar! Who can pass that up? At that price, it was easy to find one to add to my collection. I am quite proud of the books I have accumulated over the years for my artist’s library. I’ve acquired most of them from bargain bins and auctions; uncovering each one has been like finding buried treasure!

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Today’s find is Michelangelo and Raphael in the Vatican  compiled by a small group of hard-working individuals. There is detailed photography of the Sistine Chapel as well as descriptions of the artwork and what it represents. There are also stanzas from the 15th century, sharing the history from the time these paintings were created. I haven’t read much out of it yet, just quickly flipped through the breathtaking photographs. There is so much to learn and I can’t wait to see what this book has in store.

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I have another book about Michelangelo by Frederick Hartt. It has over 130 reproductions of Michelangelo’s artwork; each one is printed separately from the book and perfectly adhered to the pages. It’s a gorgeous book with gobs of information. A must have for any kind of art enthusiast.

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Another great one to have is Norman Rockwell and The Saturday Evening Post. This was a gift from my husband. It is another fantastic compilation of great works by a great artist. Every piece is accompanied with a paragraph explaining the inspiration behind each cover done for the Saturday Evening Post.

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An artist’s library isn’t complete without Van Gogh and His Art by Rosemary Treble. This book so far is the easiest for me to read for extended periods of time. It’s a biography but it reads like a story. Once you get started, you’re enticed to keep reading. So either the author is great at their job, Van Gogh had an interesting life, or both. I think I would choose the latter.

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To throw things off a bit, I also have a compilation of The Art of Todd McFarlane. He is a well-known comic book artist that is known for adding intense amounts of detail in his work. This is a solid book with a lot packed into it.

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Last but not least, we have another master, Leonardo da Vinci. An artist’s library has to have him on the list. This was a lucky grab. I got it for a steal at Border’s right before they went out of business. It was the last one and for good reason. This is one of my favorite books. I haven’t even read a fraction of this monster yet. I like leaving it open on my desk so I can read the same page over and over again. I feel like it will take me a lifetime to really absorb this 700 page beauty.

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I have many other favorites by artists Terry Moore, Claudia Nice, and National Geographic photographer, Annie Griffiths. You can never have enough books. Especially ones filled with pictures! I hope you enjoyed taking a peek into my library and hopefully there was something of interest to check out yourself.

Are there any books not mentioned that you enjoy in your library? Share a comment below! I’m always on the lookout for a good art book. Thanks for reading!

Until next time,

“Welcome to the library, young man. Don’t tell me. You’re here for a special book.”

Travel to: The Hyde Collection

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Photo Journal, Sketchbook, Travel

Thanks to a dear friend, I had the opportunity to check out a wonderful art museum located in Glens Falls, NY. The Hyde Collection was dedicated to the community in 1952 by Charlotte Pruyn Hyde. She was born into wealth, her father being the sole owner to the paper manufacturing company, Finch, Pruyn & Company. Charlotte married a young law student, Louis Hyde, who was convinced by her father to join the family business and eventually become vice president of the paper mill. The family, to include Charlotte’s two sisters, commissioned an architect to create three houses on adjoined properties for them to reside and overlook the Hudson River. These buildings now encompass the Hyde Collection.

Over the next few decades they collected works from their favorite dealers in New York and from frequent summer trips to Europe.

The museum is broken down into three sections. One of which being an educational wing for art classes, seminars, and other related events.

The Hyde Gallery, you can guess, is where the art shows are held. The current show is “Transforming the Hyde: The Feibes and Schmitt Gift. There is also an exhibition going on until December displaying the works of artists from the Mohawk Hudson region. There was many great pieces that took my breath away. There were also many works that made my lip curl. I definitely recommend having a look for yourself and seeing what you like…but no cameras!

The Hyde House is set in a home environment with bookshelves, antique furniture, priceless art hanging from the walls, tapestries, busts, statues, a grand piano…I mean, it just keeps going. This place was gorgeous. There was a great room with a high glass ceiling. Even the architecture was historical art. It was fantastically overwhelming. Luckily, I was able to take pictures here although I only had my phone available.

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I brought a small sketchbook with me as well so I could sketch some of my favorite pieces. I could not pass up sketching an original Picasso. I could literally get close enough to touch my nose to it. It was called, “The Boy With the Blue Vase”. You can learn so much from concentrating on the details of a master’s work. I also came across a Greek statue from 4th century B.C. called “Mourning Woman”. The head and one of the arms had broken off. I feel like it added even more to the emotion of the piece. The figure clutched a piece of cloth in the hand that was left, perhaps the remaining piece of whom or what she lost. She was draped down to the toe in a heavy blanket-like material. The sorrow literally hung from her. It was a very moving piece.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Hyde Collection. It really made for a great day for my artist self. I also discovered that it is free to the public the second Sunday of every month. I have a feeling I’m going to be sketching there more often.

I hope you enjoyed taking a peek into the Hyde House. Have you been to an art museum or exhibit recently? Which place is your favorite to go to? Share your story below in the comments! Thanks for stopping by this week!

Until next time,

“Look beyond the paint. Let us try to open our minds to a new idea.”

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