Category Archives: trees

My art is on Ebay!

Road Curves Left, 5x7" pastel on paper inspired by the Manistee National Forest. ©Marie Marfia.
Road Curves Left, 5×7″ pastel on paper, available in my Ebay store starting 1/14/19 at 9pm.

I have been selling my original art on Ebay for about five years. I don’t do it all the time, but once or twice a year I get the urge to start posting paintings. Why do I do this? A few reasons…

It reinforces my daily painting habit. I am under a compulsion to paint every day so that by the time I’m 80 I’ll be freaking awesome at it. Since I’m splitting Ebay sales with a worthy cause (see next paragraph), boom! there’s built-in accountability to keep me on the straight and narrow.

It helps others. This year 10% of my landscape sales go to AFFEW, which is a local environmental group. I spend a lot of time wandering around Mason County, gobsmacked by the scenery, and I want to make sure those beautiful views are around for future generations. Happily, AFFEW does too, so they’re an organization I am happy to support.

I. Need. More. Space. I realize pastel paintings are flat, but when you’re painting every day, they pile up. I have boxes of paintings stacked in the corners of my studio as well as my storage space. So selling daily paintings on Ebay keeps the stacks to a minimum.

It’ll make me famous! Not really, but I enjoy the idea of my art being dispersed to all four corners of the planet. I’ve sold pieces to people living in just about every state in the union plus a few overseas. Frankly, my art is more well-traveled than I am, which I find both sad and hilarious.

It fits my impulse-driven lifestyle. With Ebay a painting sells or it doesn’t within 7 days. If it doesn’t sell I throw it in a re-work pile. Then sometime during the next six months I pitch the re-work pile, usually because I’m trying to make room for a pile of new stuff. Problem solved!

It’s my drug of choice. I get the same dopamine rush when someone bids on one of my Ebay paintings as I do when eating an entire bag of Lays potato chips, but this is better because not only does it mean another painting is leaving my studio, it’s also not making me fat(ter)! Since my goals this year include reducing my weight and my inventory, Ebay is a win-win.

So there you have it, some of my reasons for using Ebay as an art sales outlet. Here’s the link to my Ebay store. Thanks for looking and happy bidding!

Long Shadows, 9x6" pastel on paper, inspired by the Manistee National Forest. ©Marie Marfia.
Long Shadows, 9×6″ pastel on paper, available in my Ebay store starting 1/16/19 at 9pm.
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pastel study of a road through the woods

Half Invented – pastel study of a road in the woods

pastel study of a road through the woods

Half Invented, 6×9″ pastel on paper by Marie Marfia. ©2018 Marie Marfia. Available $110.00

Half Invented

This is the same place as yesterday’s post but today I just painted what I remembered. I like it better. It’s truer to what I meant rather than what the camera meant, if you know what I mean. It’s fresher feeling, more lively. I like it.

This painting is available in my web store for $110, includes shipping.

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pastel study of a sky and woods and a road

Cracking the Landscape – pastel study of a road and woods and sky

pastel study of a sky and woods and a road

Cracking the Landscape, 6×9″ pastel on paper. © Marie Marfia. Available $110.00

Cracking the Landscape

You can’t see it, but my car is parked just up ahead.

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Sunlit Path – pastel painting of a path through the woods

pastel painting of a sunlit path through the woods

Sunlit Path, 9×6″ pastel painting of a path through the forest. ©Marie Marfia. Available $110.

Sunlit Path

One of three pieces that I did yesterday morning after walking through the woods. Not everything is dark! Sometimes there’s light coming through all the trees. Just keep walking! That’s what this piece says to me.

This painting is available in my webstore for $110.

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pastel painting of a path leading to a dark wood

Towards the Dark, pastel painting of a dark forest

Towards the Dark

Here I am sitting on the floor in my tiny house, working on the third pastel of the morning. I’ve been trying to do more work per day because I think it’s the only way I’m going to get better. The first two little paintings were fine and I’ll probably post them later but this one is the one that I really liked. Just like the overall ominous quality of it and the way the path just stops dead in front of that line of dark forest.

Here’s the finished piece:

pastel painting of a path leading to a dark wood

Towards the Dark, 9×6″ pastel painting on paper. ©Marie Marfia. This painting is available, $110.

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Tall Pines over the Pere Marquette – pastel painting of a river in the woods

pastel painting of a river in the woods

Tall Pines Over the Pere Marquette, 9×6″ pastel painting by Marie Marfia. Available $110.

Tall Pines Over the Pere Marquette

Made it all the way back to the first campsite but the second one was occupied so we had to cut our walk short a little bit. No worries. The view was spectacular as always and I’m glad I picked this particular dirt road for our walk today.

This painting is available for $110 in my shop.

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pastel painting of two dogs in the woods

Daisy and Roger Listening – pastel painting of dogs in the woods

pastel painting of two dogs in the woods

Roger and Daisy Listening, 18×12″ pastel on paper. ©Marie Marfia. Available $210.

I really like how this turned out. I tried to keep it simple. Wasn’t sure about adding the dogs on the first day but then walked in this morning and thought, “Why not?” So that’s what I did. I like all the gestural lines around the dogs. I love the dark tunnel ahead of them and the light filtering down through the tree canopy. Enjoy!

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Synchopation – pastel painting of the Manistee National Forest

Synchopation, 9×6″ pastel on paper by Marie Marfia. Available $110.

Synchopation – pastel painting of the Manistee National Forest

I went out walking after the rain this weekend. So good to be out in the woods! I love my little cottage in the forest, but you know, it’s awful nice to be able to stretch your legs every day in such beautiful surroundings. I’m trying to soak up as much as I can.

Here’s a video of me creating this piece.

 

You can purchase this painting here.

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Coming at you

Smiling dog in the woods pastel coming at you

dog in the woods coming toward you happy

“Roger Coming at You” 18×12″ pastel on paper by Marie Marfia..

This is a pastel of my dog, Roger. He’s the one that always comes at you for a pat after he’s finished investigating whatever was in the ferns on the side of the road. Daisy goes around you, but Roger comes right at you. He’s a very good boy.

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pastel painting about a walk in the woods

A pastel about a walk in the woods

pastel painting about a walk in the woods

A Walk in the Woods, 18×12″ pastel on paper. Available $210.

I love to walk in the Manistee National Forest. The trees make a tunnel over my head and at the end of the road there’s a bright light shining. I always feel better after spending time in the woods.

Enjoy a video of me creating this pastel!

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