Tag Archives: art

Paintings for Livada: Fairytale Romania

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When I was on the missions trip with Grace Church serving the Livada Orphan Care ministry in Romania, the beauty of the country inspired me. I had the idea that when I got home to Arkansas I could paint these Romanian scenes and donate the paintings to Livada to raise money for orphan sponsorship.

Our group went to the restaurant called Restaurant Pestisorul de Aur.
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When we arrived at the restaurant, there was this beautiful scenery. I posted one of these pictures on social media and one of my friends had commented that where I was looked like something out of a fairy tale. This was one of the first images that started the idea to paint scenes of Romania.

Image to Paint
1. Fairytale Romania

Charcoal Sketch on Canvas
1. Fairytale Romania Sketch

Painting Sketch (1st Coat)
Fairytale Romania 1st coat paint

Painting Sketch (2nd Coat)
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Final Painting
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Hanging Art with Kelsey

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Kelsey texted me to come to Grace Church and bring some art to hang. M and Ein came along to help. We looked through each others work and started placing our work against the walls to see what would look good where. The wall was such a dark brown that only certain pieces worked in the space.

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We shifted and looked, shifted and looked and so on until we were satisfied of what piece we wanted where.

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We pulled out the hammer and nails and just eyeballed it. We didn’t use a tape measure or a level…basically a big “hanging art no no.” Why didn’t we call Ephraim!

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All of the work went well together in the end!

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Kelsey was a lot of fun to hang art with. She was just really relaxed and open to many different options. It made things very easy.

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Thanks to M for driving, carrying art, taking pictures, and general advice. Thanks to Ein for sniffing everything and being cute.

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A Studio Day

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My studio day was spent working on the Romania paintings. I approached my studio space and knew I needed a fresh space to work in. I rearranged my studio, moving everything around to make a new space for myself.

View from the window

View from the door

With my fresh space, I put on my audio track, and set up my paintings. My goal for the day was to cover the 13 charcoal sketched canvas in paint. I placed all of the canvas around the room in a line.

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I approached my easel and worked on mixing my color palette (oil paint).

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When covered in paint, the canvas was moved on top of the drafting table and flat file cabinet. The uncovered canvas would all get to move one space forward in their little line.

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I was covered in paint and pretty tired by the end, but it was a job well done!

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Artist Studio Series: Maria

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I got connected to this online art community called Doodlers Anonymous. A couple of weeks ago I was viewing one of the “Coloring Book Interview Series” and saw some eye catching illustrations by Maria Garcia.

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I saw a picture of her paint box and wondered what her studio space looked like.

Maria Paintbox

So, I emailed Maria and asked her if she would be interested in being a part of the Paper Opera Artist Studio Series. She said yes!

Maria Garcia Studio – Maria writes about her studio below.

“This is my studio during my stays in Spain. It is on the top floor of my home. It’s a really calm space, with blue walls, white furniture, Catalan vault ceiling and an access to a balcony from where you can see the sea.”

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“In my studio there is a table with a small light table area and a sofa where I like to lay for sketching or reading.”

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“The most precious thing I have in my studio is my watercolour box. My parents gave it to me when I was still a kid and through years it has developed its own personality. I use it every day and I kind of consider that my studio is wherever I carry my box.”

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“I like to work with no one around and with music playing. I usually keep it clean and tidy, sometimes it gets messy but then I get stressed because I can’t find anything and I don’t know where to put my stuff.”

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“I’m more creative during morning and I like to have long walks on the beach in the afternoon, it’s a really good way to get inspired and have new ideas.”

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You can view Maria’s work on her website mariagarciaillustration.com