Here’s a sugar skelly dancing in blue and yellow with marigolds on her head. I am enjoying this process so much. Sometimes pastels seem fussy. This is a nice change from the usual.
I like drawing with a felt tip very much and I like the cartoonier feel of these. I will probably continue to work with them, so expect more where this came from!
Untitled, 11×14″ pastel on paper by Marie Marfia. This is a skeleton tourist posing in front of an old fountain in St. Augustine, Florida. This piece needs a title! Leave your idea in the comments and you might win a print of this painting! Woohoo!
Here’s the latest in my Greetings from St. Augustine skelly series and, as usual, I need help coming up with a title for it. Anyone who enters, regardless of whether I use your suggestion or not, will be entered in a draw. The winner will receive an 8×10″ print of this painting. Leave your suggestions in the comments, please, along with your name so I can enter you in the draw. Thanks for your help! Drawing will take place this Sunday, August 30, 2015.
I just have to get back to daily small painting again. I miss it. Woman cannot live by skellies alone! So here’s a wave painting that I did this morning. I used a piece of UArt paper that had a failed painting on it, brushing some rubbing alcohol over it for an underpainting. Then I worked quickly, trying hard not to fiddle with it too much. It’s on my Etsy site for $70, includes shipping anywhere in the USA. Or if you’d rather have a print, it’s on my Fine Art America site, in a range of sizes.
Wave Portrait No. 129, 5×7″ pastel on UArt paper by Marie Marfia. $70 in my Etsy shop, prints available at Fine Art America.
Blue Skelly Dancers final
I started a membership on Fine Art America, just so I could see what this finished piece looks like as a shower curtain. I think I must have one, but it might not be to everyone’s taste. If you’d rather have a print, click the link and order the size you like. They’ll even frame it for you or you can have it on canvas or as a throw pillow… whatever your heart desires! I’m also offering the original painting for $512 in my Etsy shop.
Blue Skelly Dancers from the Old (Dead) Masters Series, 16×16″ pastel on Canson paper by Marie Marfia. $512 in my Etsy shop. Prints (and shower curtains) available at Fine Art America.
Other good news
Since signing a contract in June, I’ve received two deals through Art Licensing International, Inc. for which I am very grateful. One is a company called Leotie Fashion and Lifestyle in Germany, and the other is from Art.com.
I’m not sure, but I have a sneaking suspicion it’s trying to get out. Up next is my skelly version of a lovely Edward Degas Blue Dancers painting. Since I love them so much, it’s only proper that I flay them down to the bone for my own amusement. Wonder if there’s an easier way to draw a rib cage? Maybe model the thing as a solid form and then put in the negative space? These are kicking my behind for sure. Glad I got the deluxe skeleton model from American Science and Surplus, otherwise I’d be truly lost.
Blue Skelly Dancers, Marie Marfia, 16×16″ pastel on paper. Sold.
Report on the Steampunk Art Show
Success! My friend’s crafty steampunk “Ladies ARTillery” display drew lots of people who took pictures and signed up for a mailing list and bid on the silent auction item. This Airship Purse in particular got lots of oohs and aahs all night. Not surprising, really. She makes awesome stuff.
First Coast Pastel Society Member Show at the Jewish Community Alliance, September 4-30, 2015
I’m submitting two recent skelly paintings to this show, Skelly Dance at Bougival and Madame X-Ray. If you’ve never been to the JCA, it’s a beautiful facility on San Jose Boulevard, just north of Baymeadows. Here’s the address: 8505 San Jose Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32217. There is no opening reception for this show, so check the hours, and then come when you like to enjoy wonderful pastel art by local artists.
Coming up
Here are some pics I took at the beach last night, while out enjoying the cool breezes with my beloved. I will get busy turning them into awesome pastel paintings, so stay tuned. And then after that, I have ideas for about a dozen more skelly paintings, and then there’s the show at the Red Sable in October, plus a half dozen other ideas stewing around in my brain pan. It’s good to be busy.
I’ll be out at the beaches today. Steve’s got a company party and it’s going to be a million degrees out there. I’m packing sunblock, an umbrella and my camera. You never know who you might see doing something a skelly might do. Like this guy.
Don’t Mind Us, Work in Progress, 18×24″ pastel on Canson paper by Marie Marfia
Me, I stopped napping in public when I first woke myself snoring. Once the ol’ palate goes loose, it’s over, baby. No more sleeping beauty. More like drooling grandma. I am not just ready to face it.
Guess what? I made the front page at Art Licensing International, Inc! I’m so excited. I keep wandering around the house, whispering “Woo hoo!” and hugging myself. I have to whisper because Steve’s on the phone, but once he’s off, I promise you I’ll get a whole lot louder.
