Artists Studio Series: Mariel

Mariel Garcia’s Studio

Mariel is a professional in North Little Rock who works mainly with fabric and sewing creations. She is an avid animal lover and volunteers with Raptor Rehab of Central Arkansas. Some of her work is currently for purchase at Gallery 26 in Kavanaugh.

Mariel talks about her studio below.

“I live in a small efficiency and work all around that space but felt like I wanted to have a dedicated area where I could call it my ‘craft home’.  My loft area was becoming just an area for storage since I have to make the best use of my space.  Instead of buying a table, I decided to use my creativity and see how I could keep both the storage and create that desired crafting space.  I stacked up the storage containers and added a nice lace blanket to make a table.”

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“I hung my threads on this cute pear shelf above my sewing machine for easy access.”
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“I love how the natural light seeps through how I don’t have to worry about cleaning up if I’m in the middle of a big project.  The good thing about my sewing machine is that I can take it downstairs if I wish.  Everything is versatile.”

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“Since this used to be my sleeping area before I bought my big mattress, I also feel a calm connection.  It’s amazing how a little reorganizing can bring life to new ideas and create such a wonderful nook.”

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Creativity Inspirations:
“Music and nature are big inspirations when beginning any project. Listening to music helps calm the mind so that I can easily tap into creative ideas and embark on new journeys.”

Other inspirations:
“Seeing other artists at work through craft meet-ups, blogs, Pinterest, and ideas from local hobby stores.  I always think ‘If I can do it, I should try it.'”

“Creativity and imagination go hand in hand.  It means innovating when there is a lack of materials thus making use of resources by being cost effective and helping our environment.”

Art Studio Series: Emily

Emily Wood is an artist in Arkansas. I know her from the Master of Arts painting program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She teaches at the Arkansas Arts Center, and is highly involved in the Arkansas artist community.

Her website is www.emilywoodart.com

Emily Wood’s Art Studio – Emily talks about her studio below.

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“My studio is in the sun room at my house– it has tile floors and windows on 3 sides.”

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“Besides being a little small and a mess, I love it! The lighting is great and I can open the windows when the weather is nice. This is also my dog, Turk’s ‘room’, so I am always picking dog hair out of my paintings!”

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Art Studio Series: Kelsey

Kelsey McCall is a student in the painting progam at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She works in her studio, which is a room in her home.

Kelsey McCall’s Art Studio – Kelsey talks about her studio below.

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“I primarily do realistic figurative painting in oil. I’m working on a series of Rockwellesque paintings right now (one of which is on my easel).”
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“My studio is a mess. Every once in a while I get overwhelmed with it and I try to clean and organize it all to perfection. But when I’m working I tend to create clutter and chaos around me so the cleanliness doesn’t last long.”

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“I recently got a giant black-framed mirror, so now I don’t have to go to the bathroom to paint self-portraits.”

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“So my studio is a nice place to work but also a work in progress.”

Art Museum Picnic

M and I took the kids for the lunch hour on Friday.

M brought a picnic lunch, and everyone enjoyed the goodies (peanut butter and jelly sandwich, banana, and kettle chips).
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We had to keep a lookout because the geese kept invading our picnic!
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The kids found a resting duck on our way into the museum.
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Once into the Arkansas Arts Center , we went to Carroll Cloar’s exhibit. The kids seemed very interested in Cloar’s work and when asked how they would describe it, they said “cool.”
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Looking at art is a great way to spend the lunch hour!
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There was even a kids area – which I thought was “cool.” While Al helped ZZ with the magnets, SS made his own composition.
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Two things I learned while viewing art with kids was #1 When holding the two year old, I focused more on colors and shapes because I wasn’t sure what else to point out in the painting.
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#2 Going to see art with your kids is a really good thing! Also, people will look at you approvingly and admire your genius family.

What a good looking bunch!
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The adventure of an artist and her pullet.

FreshEggs

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to create a logo for a local chicken coop rental called Fresh Eggs 4 U. This is the logo – which she designed and I created.

I asked if L – the owner, was interested in trading something for the logo. She said she would trade a chicken – to be more specific, she would trade for a silver laced Wyandotte that is about 10 months old.

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This is the chicken – which is from Dragonfly Farm

The chicken, which I named Ms PotPie I received at 7:00 a.m. in a small cat crate. Since it was M.R’s birthday, we decided to take the chicken to her for her best birthday present. M and I drove Ms. PotPie to M.R.’s house and entered her house at 7:10 a.m.

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Since it was M.R’s birthday, S.R. brought donuts!

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And M.R. opened her handmade card from Paper Opera!

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We got to it and introduced Ms. PotPie to her new chicken roommates – Mole, BBQ, and Dumpling.

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Everyone waited anxiously to see how it would turn out. Would Mole, BBQ, and Dumpling like the new Ms. PotPie?

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The anticipation was building!

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Mole, BBQ, and Dumpling decided they had to get out of there and check out the box that Ms. PotPie came in – leaving Ms. PotPie alone in the corner of the coop.

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So, in the end, maybe they didn’t fall in love with her right away, but Ms. PotPie was left getting cozy in her new coop!

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And that is the adventure of the artist and her pullet!

The End.