This scene if from a recent walk along the dunes in wintertime. I love the Ludington State Park!
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This painting is from a walk along the beach in the middle of Michigan winter. I love this time of year because there is so much drama. It’s a beautiful time to visit the beach!
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This painting is from a walk along the Lake Michigan shoreline during winter time. The snow peeks in and out of the grasses which are blowing in the wind. You can see the lake under dark clouds. One of my favorite times of year. So much drama!
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Sign up for my Marie Marfia Fine Art newsletter! You’ll get regular updates about my latest work in the studio plus insights into my process. Plus, get a free downloadable print just for signing up!
What’s On Your Mind? 6×9″ pastel on sanded paper. ©2018 Marie Marfia
Today I brought my mother-in-law to my gallery. I was going to take her to the Ludington Area Center for the Arts to look at an art show there but she said, “Are your paintings there?” and I said, no, they weren’t. “I want to look at your paintings,” she said. So we ended up going to my studio.
I brought her in, helped her sit in one of my cafe chairs and she watched me paint a larger version of the painting above.
Afterward, I tried to get her to help me fill out a questionnaire from the American Cancer Society (she had lung cancer a number of years ago and the ACS sends out these forms for research purposes), but she was more interested in telling me what had happened to her this morning.
“They got me up and dressed me and then they said I could sit in my rocker chair or go back to bed. But they didn’t talk to me, just to each other! I got mad and said some things before I could stop my mind.”
She doesn’t care for it when the aides come into her room and act as though she’s not there, talking among themselves and not including her. It’s de-humanizing. Makes you feel like a worthless lump.
Diana can talk pretty well still and she understands a lot of what’s going on around her. If she feels pressure to perform she stumbles when searching for the words she wants. But she’s definitely all in there.
I get how it can be a lot easier to talk to someone who you work with every day than some poor old woman that you don’t know very well. But no one likes to be treated like a dummy. Especially not Diana.
On the way back to the memory care unit I thanked her for visiting my studio. “I’d like to come back again in two months,” she said. “Maybe next time I can paint, too.”
I’ll definitely do my best to make it so.
This painting is on ebay as of 9pm tonight. Bidding starts at 99¢.
A Learning Experience, 6×9″ pastel on sanded paper. ©2018 Marie Marfia
Not everything works out the way it’s supposed to the first time you try it. I call these learning experiences. I still like them, even though they’re not what I expected. They’re different, but useful. They set up the next one, and the one after that, and the one after that.
This painting is on ebay as of 9pm tonight. Bidding starts at 99¢.
Carving Time, 6×9″ pastel on sanded paper. ©2018 Marie Marfia
I like how the shadows carve out the snow. Or is it vice versa? I like it, anyway.
So I’m finding that having a clear horizon is important to me right now. That’s why I’m putting the lake out there. Cool, blue and attainable. I just have to get over these dunes first.
This painting is on ebay as of 9pm tonight. Bidding starts at 99¢.
Getting There, 9×6″ pastel on sanded paper. ©2018 Marie Marfia
This version is with a warm blue underpainting and pink and purple shadows. There are dunes between me and the water, but I can see it from here. I know I’ll get there.
This painting is on ebay as of 9pm tonight. Bidding starts at 99¢.
Seeing the Horizon, 9×6″ pastel on sanded paper. ©2018 Marie Marfia.
I was thinking about these little paintings of the dunes at the Ludington State Park and how I’d started painting them without a payoff, you know? Like the dunes were the obstacles in my life and I couldn’t see the horizon anywhere and then I thought, I need to put the water in there. I need to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I need a carrot so that I keep on climbing. So I put Lake Michigan in the middle of everything because that’s where I want to be.
This painting is on ebay as of 9pm tonight. Bidding starts at 99¢.
Back in the Swing, 9×6″ pastel on sanded paper. ©2018 Marie Marfia
Had a very nice weekend with friends up in Leelanau County. It sure is pretty up there. Steve took some pictures of the lakeshore. We were hiking around on Lake Michigan, looking for ice caves. Saw a few but I generally stay away from the edge of the ice. I have a fear of being trapped under ice. When Steve used to take the kids out to look at ice caves I would stay home and worry. It was easier than going along and worrying.
Anyway, we hiked around and played some games and celebrated an old friend’s birthday. This is her last year as a fifty-something. Hope it’s a fabulous one.
I’m going to try to step up my daily painting game in anticipation of our vacation coming up at the end of March. I’d like to have enough daily paintings to keep seven at auction the whole time I’m away. We’ll see. If I go back to my old practice of two a day, I should have plenty stockpiled by the time we leave on March 18.
This painting is on ebay as of 9pm tonight. Bidding starts at 99¢.
Funner Than I Thought, 9×6″ pastel on sanded paper. ©2018 Marie Marfia
That interview I did with Mason County Press was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I have a tendency to worry about things like that. I anticipate all kinds of weird things going wrong and have to work pretty hard to calm myself down beforehand.
I suspect a lot of people are just like me, nervous of looking foolish in front of everyone. And to be honest, I didn’t realize I was quite so Midwestern sounding until I heard myself speaking. Kind of hoot, really.
I’ve been getting a lot of good feedback from friends, and even met some new people who saw the interview and stopped by the studio to say hello.
This painting is on ebay as of 9pm tonight. Bidding starts at 99¢.
