Creative Incentive

2012-01-27T13:06:00.001-06:00

Rook on the RocksThis is my latest miniature, (4.125 x 2.375") finished today. It has been a while since I've posted. The holidays rob me of a lot of creative energy but January is a great way to kindle that fire up again. I've got so many great new compositions in the works for 2012! I just need more time in the day...

2011-09-23T15:36:00.002-05:00

Waiting For Dinner
Miniature 4.5 x 2.5"

This miniature is the last of the series to be sent to the MASF show in Florida. I used the same palette as the previous painting and was surprised to see just how different the two compositions turned out. Yesterday on my bike ride beside the DesPlaines River I spotted one of these magestic birds right beside a waterfall. He could have been posing for my painting! He looked at me as though to say, "Well...did you get the painting right?! Because here I am, with all my beautiful feathers on display for your personal observation!"

2011-09-13T16:49:00.002-05:00

Red Eyed Vireo 1 7/8 x 2" transparent watercolor

It's been a while but here is the next miniature on the list of those I need to complete for the fall shows. The painting is actually more smooth in real life. For some odd reason the scanner seems to highlight and emphasize the texture of the paper! It's very frustrating but I'll live with it. This little gal is protecting her home from invaders. She has to...I mean...who in their right mind wouldn't want a home tucked among cherry blossoms? She probably has a view too!

2011-07-17T18:47:00.002-05:00

Skin Deep Beauty

We have just come home from a marvelous, adventurous trip to Yellowstone! And what do I decide to render? Not bears, wolves, geysers or waterfalls. A Marine Iguana. I couldn't help it. I saw this guy last month at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and fell in love with his complex, textured skin and wry grin. I love reptiles...especially lizards. Perhaps it's because they seem to thrive in the simplicity of their lifestyle. Sleep, eat, bask...sleep, eat, bask...they are content creatures indeed!
This portrait is 2.5 x 3.75" Pencil.
It will be entered in one of two fall miniature shows this year.

2011-05-31T07:52:00.003-05:00

Come to the Dark Side Fluke

It's a little less than a week before my art friends arrive here in Chicago. I'm getting butterflies in my stomach and should be straightening things up around the house. But what do I do? I paint. Painting Koi is such a meditative practice. I think therapists around the world would do wonders with their patients if they just put a brush in the hands of the anxious and instructed them to paint these magic fishes!

2011-05-10T21:24:00.002-05:00

"Double Vision" 3 x 2"
And here's another miniature. I just can't seem to stop producing these fun little pieces. This Great Egret portrait is a composite from photos that, again, I had taken in Florida. That place is bird wealthy! We have birds here in Chicagoland but they are flighty little things! There was a group of vireos flitting about my garden today. They were so sweet mixed into the redbud brances. But trying to get a photo of them is futile. Perhaps one day I'll get lucky...

2011-05-10T21:21:00.002-05:00

This miniature "Morning in the Mangroves" is in the Seaside Show right now. The reference photos taken for this piece were shot in Florida while I was visiting the MASF show in January.

2011-05-10T21:16:00.002-05:00

It is time I updated my blog with some new work. This piece is titled, "On Golden Pond" and is a 3/4 sheet watercolor. I had hoped to get it in the Birds in Art show this year but it didn't make it. I'll enter it in another show. I like the way the pelicans posed for me in this photo so I painted the image twice, (the other is in a miniature format). We are spoiled here with the Brookfield Zoo so close by. We get ample opportunities to photograph the wildlife.

2010-11-22T20:26:00.003-06:00

I just received a wonderful letter in the mail from MASF (Miniature Art Society of Florida). They have awarded me with the "Excellence in All Entries" prize along with first place in botanicals/florals. I'm so tickled for there are truly so many fine and skilled artists that participate in this show! (I'd hate to be the judge.) I am still giddy with excitement and keep running into walls and speaking gibberish. What a great week!

2010-10-13T20:09:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I decided it was a great day to ditch the house work, the shopping and the laundry and go to the zoo. I'm so glad I did for here at our Brookfield Zoo we have White Pelicans rescued from the Gulf goo. It was late afternoon so the ligthting was simply magical! I've got several paintings in mind with these...and miniatures too!

2010-10-11T20:16:00.002-05:00

It has been a while since I've posted. This is the season to regenerate and sketch. It's so beautiful outside with all the fall colors I have a difficult time planting myself inside the studio. However...I did manage to complete one last miniature for the season. This guy was taken from a reference photo I had captured years ago. I love the way the figure is reclining and the way the face is seriously pondering. He is off to Florida now and hopefully will be a part of the upcoming MASF show. In the meanwhile...time to stretch out those eye muscles and paint something large again!

2010-06-22T17:47:00.002-05:00

Well here we go again...yet another illustration done with Adobe Illustrator. This one I had sketched out on paper months ago and didn't get around to until recently, (had difficulty figuring out the numerous layers and lines...ugh! What a mess!) But I felt compelled to finish it for a dear watercolor artist, Paul Jackson has begun a fundraiser campaign to raise money for the gulf oil spill clean up. This image I will donate to the cause. It will be appear on Zazzle.com where customers can preview this along with many other wonderful designs and then purchase a t-shirt or whatever with the image on it. All the profit goes to the clean up effort. I'll get specific link soon and post it.
Now...think I should get back to watercolors for once?!

2010-06-21T15:33:00.003-05:00

This Mockingbird, (an addition to my songbird card series) was completed for a dear Texan friend of mine. My friend lives here in Chicagoland now and she often speaks of how she misses the lovely concerts Mockingbirds graced her with down south. Though Mockingbirds are the state bird of Texas they are widespread throughout the west. I grew up with them in California and have wonderful memories of "teaching" the local birds new whistles. They often sang at dusk which is why I included the full moon in this portrait. And just to assure my friend that this is indeed a "Texan" Mockingbird I placed him in a Pecan tree...the state tree of course!

2010-06-21T15:18:00.002-05:00

I apologize for not checking in for some time. I have not been slacking though-just terribly busy! I'm one of those who sticks her fingers in too many pots at once! I'm happy to report that my miniature drawing of the Cooper's Hawk won the drawing catatgory award in the Seaside Miniature show. It was sold immediately afterwards. My miniature painting of the waterfall also sold...which is great...however...there is that inevitable sense of loss as I am quite fond of that particular scene and the painting was such a joy to do! I'm happy someone else enjoys it too!

This leaf painting above is now hanging in the LaGrange Art League gallery. It is similar to another painting I had done of leaf duff. I love leaf patterns on the ground...and fall leaves light up the soil like a casket of jewels. Who could resist?! Yes...I'm jumping the gun on fall. But it's my favorite season! It's a fleeting season as well so I don't feel guilty extending its spanse of time!

2010-04-19T11:42:00.002-05:00

I'm getting a lot of mileage out of this Green Heron reference photo I took last year. I love this bird so much I wanted him to be a part of my graphics bird card collection so here he is...again. He was drawn with Adobe Illustrator. I worked on him last week. A series of water birds will follow, (a Canada Goose, a Great Blue Heron for Debbie, and a White Pelican, and I think an egret...any other suggestions?)

2010-04-05T11:06:00.002-05:00

"Stalking Supper" Mary Jansen 9" x 15"

I seen a number of Green Herons stalking dinner along the various streams here in IL. They are marvelous birds and are gifted with unique grace. They are wonderful to spot for they sit so still and patiently!
This guy was taken from one of my photos and superimposed on another background photo I had shot. I used lots of masking material in creating the woods in the background and intend to develop this technique further. Masking is tricky but it lends itself to marvelous textural effects one can achieve no other way!
Now that spring is here in full force I will focus more on the brilliant colors that it brings. Flowers abound in our sweet little town and I intend to take advantage of them!

2010-03-11T22:23:00.002-06:00

Mary Jansen "Tuckered Out" 6x9"

It took me a whole week to complete this little drawing! I just don't know how pencil and colored pencil artists have the patience to go through this process over and over again! Thankfully, for me this was just an exercise to get back to drawing for a spell. Drawing is SO important in the painting process. It's easy to forget that sometimes when all one wants to do is play with those pretty colors!

This is a rendering from a photo of my sons when they were little. Of course, my sons now think this picture is creepy. I told them I didn't care. It reminds me of those wild times when those two had unlitmited energy and wrestled each other until they dropped. Ah...the good old days! Today they are two outstanding young men but they still have been known to take a respite from maturity and wrestle each other to the ground on occassion!

2010-02-18T20:52:00.002-06:00

Coopers Hawk graphite miniature 3.5 x 2.5"

This guy was rather a quickie. He's just graphite after all...no color to worry about. I love drawing and this hawk and old oak tree allowed me to indulge in textures and value range like no other! I may have to do another pencil drawing as this one was so satisfying and fun!

2010-02-14T15:18:00.002-06:00

Saucy Sunbathers 2.25 x 3.5"

One can only dream of those summery garden jewels while trapped in a wintery ice cave of a studio in February! This miniature is done on hot pressed Frabriano watercolor board. I used both watercolors and colored pencils for this composition. Perhaps a spring boquet or landscape should be next. I need bright colors to pull me out of this winter stupor!

2010-01-25T15:23:00.002-06:00

Sentient 4.5 x 2.5"

Here's the first miniature of the year! I found this guy at the Lincoln Zoo. He was sitting at the top of this rock pile in a single beam of sunlight. He knew he was breathtaking and regal. That's why I titled it "Sentient". I think this ape knows he's of royal lineage! Now on to something a bit more colorful to chase the January blues away!

2010-01-09T20:32:00.004-06:00

Bromeliad Mary Jansen 3.5 x 9.5"

I'm kicking the year off with a burst of color. I love the Bromeliad collection they have at the Garfield Conservatory in Chicago. These plants look as though they have landed here in little space pods from alien planets! It would be fun to do another Bromeliad using a rainbow of colors...perhaps I shall! On my pallette now however is a Green Heron and miniature for a spring show. So much to do! So little time! Happy New Year's!

2009-12-15T22:29:00.002-06:00

Golden Goose 6.5 x 20.5 Mary Jansen

This wonderful guy posed for me beside the Salt Creek Trail in LaGrange, IL. He wouldn't let me get very close for a good reference photo but he sure did want the other geese to know how magnificent his plumage was! I enjoyed watching him on the banks of the river but it was a greater joy trying to capture his strutting bravado on paper! This was done on hot press Fabriano paper. I love the smooth surface for rendering feathered friends.

2009-10-28T21:07:00.005-05:00

My Christmas Cards are now up on Ebay! It has taken me, the computer moron, quite some time to learn the basic instructions but I think I have it down, (at least for now...) Take a peek:
http://shop.ebay.com/marymjansen/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340

2009-10-23T22:08:00.002-05:00

I am done for now. The napping duck is being put to rest for a while. Her cousins in the Canada Goose family are eager to be painted! Birds are such wonderful creatures to paint!

2009-10-20T14:29:00.002-05:00

This sweet little momma was trying so hard to catch her "z"s last year when I took her photo. It wasn't very nice of me to barge in on her snooze time with camera in hand. But...I'm not sorry either. This painting is almost finished. I've posted it because many love to see the process of the project in action. I've used hot pressed paper 140lb Fabriano paper and transparent paints. It has been a wonderful process!

2009-10-15T11:03:00.001-05:00

Here's some fun for Christmas! If you like what you see will you please consider giving me a vote at:

http://blog.psprint.com/design-gallery-submission/#gallery

Thanks so much!

2009-09-03T11:10:00.002-05:00

This is a miniature of one of the waterfalls in Starved Rock State Park, Il, (one of my favorite places!). I could just sit at this place for hours and hours...just soaking it in! This watercolor is about 2" x 4".

2009-07-21T15:46:00.002-05:00

I guess I can't get enough of peonies. I'll be doing some more renditions of this beauty but in watercolor next. These flowers remind me of ballerinas. They gloriously leap up in their bright tutus and then gracefully touch ground again in the slightest rain storm. Wish mine would bloom...I had to tresspass into our neighbor's yard with my camera to grab some photo references...An artist has to do what an artist has to do...

2009-07-08T13:22:00.002-05:00

And yet...another thrush! What is it about these birds that I find so intriguing? Robins don't have as pretty a song as their counterparts but still, they sure have pluck! The Bleeding Hearts are from my garden. They truly bloomed their hearts out this spring! This is a miniature watercolor, 2 x 3 1/4".

2009-07-08T13:19:00.002-05:00

As promised, here is the combined thrush painting with my card graphics. This is a marriage of watercolors, pen and ink and Photoshop tools. It is so exhilerating to mesh so many techniques together to produce a piece!

2009-05-29T09:22:00.002-05:00

This is the next in the backyard bird card series. I was so looking forward to creating the Blue Jays as they are one of my favorite birds. I don't know why but I feel a certain kinship with the more racous birds. Jays are birds with attitude and I love all varieties, (may have to do the stellars too for they are simply gorgeous!). I have included my messy sketch to give you an idea of how I go about arranging the composition. The beauty of a computer program such as Illustrator or Photoshop is that you can take different scanned elements of a work in progress and easily slide them around in a format to quickly view the best composition. I prefer to do this on screen rather than on paper...saves erasers! But, as you can see...it ALL begins with pencil and paper...and an honest love of birds!

2009-05-15T17:01:00.002-05:00

All the thrushes are among my favorite birds, (well...not too fond of the robin but love all the rest!)This little guy, (2.75 x 2.75) is not miniature quality but he will do nicely for a birthday card I am presently designing. I'll upload the entire design when I'm finished.

2009-04-16T14:51:00.001-05:00

I meant to get this done before Easter...oh well. Happy belated Easter everyone! May spring warm your hearts and souls!

2009-03-24T15:22:00.002-05:00

This is the last miniature I'll do for the season. I'm behind on other projects and must catch up. I'll start some mini's again in the fall for a couple of shows I think. They are just too much fun! This one, "Quiet Repose" is 2 1/4" x 3".

2009-03-14T20:48:00.002-05:00

Here is yet another miniature. This one is a reworking of a previous painting only this one is scaled down to 3.75" x 2". This beauty grew in our backyard when we lived in Iowa. I thought the backside was far more intriguing than the front so, of course...it got all the attention in this composition. Until spring decides to wake up this year I'll be hooked on flowers from the studio for a while!

2009-03-01T16:03:00.002-06:00

This is another mini, (3 x 2") painted from an old photo I had taken years ago at the Iowa State fair. It was a very hot day and though the afternoon light was harsh outide, inside the barns, there was a dramatic and warm refraction of those strong outside rays. Looking at sheep munching on hay always relaxes me...cows have the same calming affect. I'll have a hard time giving this one up for after having painting it I feel a certain kinship with those animals!

2009-02-19T17:42:00.002-06:00

If only spring would come! Then I might indulge in a live model rather than a photo taken last year. Oh well...I take what I can get to chase away the winter blahs! This one is another miniature. It measures 1 7/8" x 4". The minis are rather addicting!

2009-02-04T16:35:00.002-06:00

I love tigers. They are such clever, playful cats! This one is a mini (4 x 1.75") done on crescent watercolor board. I think it's time to give my eyes a break now and work on a larger piece!

2009-01-20T22:24:00.002-06:00

I just pulled these guys out of the closet and finished them. They've only been sitting there for a couple of months. Sometimes paintings get shoved aside when times get busy. It was fun completing this miniature. The composition is a whopping
3"X3" and took way longer than I would have liked to have finished. Still though...I'm happy with the results. Now on to the next...a mini landscape perhaps? Stay tuned...

2009-01-16T12:25:00.002-06:00

Yes, I realize fall is over and done with...but...it's my favorite season! And as I find myself cowering in my studio, safe from the viscious cold, my thoughts, (and brush) turn back to the glorious days of hiking through gilded-leaved woods. It's what keeps me sane in January! Happy ponderings!

2009-01-08T14:24:00.002-06:00

I've never been a patient person. The winter months are long and trying so I work with as vibrant colors the palette offers to chase away the winter doldrums. Spring can't come early enough for me so I paint the garden beauties with the faith that color will some day soon greet me OUTSIDE my studio doors!

2008-12-21T16:03:00.002-06:00

Anybody out there have a couple of hungry teenagers like I have? I swear, I can't keep the fridge filled! These "Midnight Feedings" don't stop in infancy I'm afraid. Sigh. Have a wonderful holiday season everyone!

2008-11-14T19:07:00.002-06:00

Miniature painting is growing in popularity these days. And I can understand its appeal! What a fantastic challenge to paint a composition so utterly diminutive that one requires a magnifying glass to check one's lines! I had loads of fun with this little guy. He was a patient model and stood still while I fumbled my camera to take a reference photo!
The painting is 2" x 3" and painted in watercolors.

2008-10-12T07:46:00.003-05:00

It's a little early yet...but HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I just love this time of year!!!

2008-10-08T10:26:00.004-05:00

I think I managed to render the nasturtiums just in time. Last week I spotted a hummingbird making good use of their nectar before her long flight south. It was such a beautiful sight! Every time she poked her beak into the flower it looked as though she were wearing a colorful pointed hat. I will miss those guys and the flowers that keep them happy. Time to hunker down for winter studio projects, (and there are MANY!)

2008-10-05T08:25:00.002-05:00

The season is coming down to the wire now. I have a few marigolds and nasturtiums that are hanging on for dear life and are begging to be painted before the frost does away with them. Perhaps I should have rendered the nasturtiums first for they are far more vulnernable but...I have the mind of an artist...logic eludes me...

2008-09-30T10:23:00.002-05:00

Sometimes, as a good exercise, it's a good thing to sit down with pencil and paper and just let that creativity rip. With no expectations the creative spirit has ample play room to romp and develop. This little treefrog emerged yesterday as a result. The process off his coming into being has, in a small way, refueled my energy. Everyone needs to do this...especially if caught in a creative rut!

2008-09-21T21:41:00.002-05:00

The Cleomes are finished! They are ready for printing into cards and prints. Now on to the marigolds. I'd like to complete the first of a garden series before my garden models kick the bucket!

2008-09-19T08:31:00.002-05:00

Sometimes art patrons become confused when they see creations facilitated by drawing programs on the computer. Is this real art or merely computer generated graphics easily composed with a digital paintbrush? Ah, if it were only so simple! I have to admit that early on I too was a sceptic. But years of utilizing graphics programs have taught me that the programs, both vector and rastor, are genuinely tools of the art trade and can be used as intuitively and viscerally as any brush, pen or pencil. It is only a different medium; a different canvas. (Not so much clean-up either...)Here is a sketch that I have hand drawn with pencil and paper. Scanned into the computer I can use this composition as a template to re-draw my design with vector graphics in Adobe Illustrator. The execution of the "second drawing" is much like the process of applying paint to a ready canvas. There is no quick solution to the end process. But the results are satisfying.
Will computer art replace other fine arts mediums? Of course not. And it would be a travesty if this were to happen. It's simply a different technique just as oils are different from pen and ink. In this day and age of clip art though, one needs to be reminded that not all images generated with computer tools are cheap and ill-made.

2008-09-12T17:51:00.002-05:00

Here is another of the flower card series. Zinnias, like Cosmos are easy growers that perk up a garden with their intense colors. I used to think they were gaudy but now I can't seem to do without them. They are LOUD garden participants...but..you gotta love 'em!

2008-09-12T12:16:00.002-05:00

I will never stop working on my line of birds. But flowers are also intriguing. Here is a first in a new line of garden flowers. Firecracker Cosmos are not only satisfying to grow in the garden but fun to draw too! They add a splash of cheer to any dark corner!