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.”

Craft Loft2 Craft Loft

“I hung my threads on this cute pear shelf above my sewing machine for easy access.”
Craft Loft 4

“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.”

machine

“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.”

Craft Loft 3

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 Night for Projects

The Art Night for April 2014 met and I am thinking this group needs a name – like Crunch and Create, Munch and Make, or Snack and Scheme. The night serves dinner and then space and time to work on a creative project.

M made chicken and vegetable fried rice and then baked chocolate chip cookies.
M Cooking M Baking

Mariel was the first arrival and continued her puppet making project for the Man and Bear musical puppet show by the Damsels in Distress.
MG First Arrival M.G. space M.G. space buttons

J brought a Darth Vader coat rack that she wanted to touch up paint.
J and project J space darth vader J working

M.M. brought her beautiful beads and worked on a bracelet.
M.M. space beads M.M. project bracelet

K and A came together, sat together, and worked on their projects together! K worked on a felt billfold, and A worked on sewing an image for her trading card group.
K and A working K and A working 3 K and A working 2

I worked on printing cards to send to Lucy Luton in England. I was one of the first three to email her for a contest, and she sent me some of her cards – so I wanted to send her some of my cards.
L.K. Carving 2 L.K. Space Ink area L.K. space prints

More pictures of the night!
L.K. space ink work table
 L.K with Ein M.G. Eating
work space L.K. Carving

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.

EmilyWood2
“My studio is in the sun room at my house– it has tile floors and windows on 3 sides.”

EmilyWood4
“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!”

EmilyWood1 EmilyWood3

 

Enter a Drawing to Win a Chicken Painting

I am fundraising for the Walk for the Waiting event in Little Rock, Arkansas. There are over 4,000 kids in Arkansas’ foster care system on any given day. There are about 1,200 of these kids waiting for a foster family, including 500 that are waiting to find an adoptive family. Because of the shortage of families, nearly 250 kids will “age out” of the system this year and enter adulthood without having found a family.

Donate Now!

For every $20 you donate, you will get an entry into a drawing for one of two chicken paintings! When you donate – put “chicken painting” somewhere in the message, and I will enter your name (however many times) into the drawing. There will be two winners – one for each painting!

Chicken Painting Long #1

The drawing will be after the Walk for the Waiting event on Saturday, April 26, 2014 and I will contact and announce the winners and will deliver or mail the paintings.

Chicken Painting Long #2

Please consider donating to Walk for the Waiting to support foster children in Arkansas find their forever families. We are all in this community together.

Donate Now!

Best,

Lauren

Quick update: The winners were Beckie Sudduth and Niki Zimmerman – the names drawn out of a hat by Kelsey McCall and Ana Li Richardson.

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.

KelseyStudio3
“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).”
KelseyStudio4 KelseyStudio11
“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.”

KelseyStudio7 KelseyStudio10 KelseyStudio6

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

KelseyStudio5KelseyStudio13
“So my studio is a nice place to work but also a work in progress.”