Bringing "Ryann" home

Back in September I shared my exciting experience watching artist Mary Qian's demonstration at Saks Galleries.  If you missed it, you can read about it here.  During that demonstration we watched her paint a model live in the gallery. We went back a few days after watching the demonstration to purchase one of her other paintings that I fell in love with, "An Innocent Gaze".

An Innocent Gaze

Well, Mr. H really loved another painting, the one we watched her paint.  The painting is titled "Ryann" which is the model's name. It is painted in more of an impressionist style than "An Innocent Gaze", with larger brush strokes. He loved the painting itself but he also really loved the fact that we got to watch it come to life, meet the model and have a real emotional connection to it.

©Mary Qian

©Mary Qian

 

Mary said that the hands are the hardest part of the anatomy for her to paint because she wants them to look natural and real. They convey emotion and mood all by themselves and they are always the last part she paints. You can see in the photo on the left that the hands are unfinished even though the painting is almost done. I was really excited to see how she would paint them so I watched really closely and intently. I tried really hard to watch how she was going to do it but all I saw was a little shading here and a little shading there and suddenly there were fingers positioned so elegantly and naturally! It was so amazing to me. True talent!

Mr. H loved the painting very much (and I liked it a lot as well) so we went back to the gallery and brought "Ryann" home. Here is the painting in our living room.  I am so pleased with it and it looks like our cat Shifty loves it, too! We told Ryann the next time we have a party at our house we'd invite her so she could see the painting of herself in its new home.

Artist Mary Qian demonstration

Liberty

Last month I introduced you to artist Stephanie Birdsall. Today I'm even more excited to introduce you to artist Mary Qian (pronounced like Chien).  From the moment I found out that Mary would be doing a demonstration at Saks Galleries I was giddy with excitement.  I love her work!  LOVE IT! LOVE IT!  

Mary paints florals and figurative.  I am a huge fan of her figurative work so I was hoping she'd be painting a person for her demonstration but I didn't let my hopes get up too high because I knew florals would be much easier to set up.

When we showed up Mary was already painting and it was a figurative!  I can't even begin to describe how my craziness and excitement went off the charts and I couldn't even sit down.  I'm sure Mr. H wanted to hide and not claim me as his wife that afternoon.  I know I must sound like a fan meeting a celebrity or something, but to me it was sort of like that since I loved her work so much.

As she painted she described using techniques of hard and soft edges to keep the viewers eyes on the canvass.  She talked about using a light easel so she can carry it around if she is painting on site.  

She even uses styrofoam plates instead of a traditional paint palette because they're so much lighter to hold for extended periods of time. 

I love this one of the model taking a picture of her portrait. Can you just imagine if Mona Lisa or The Girl with the Pearl Earring jumped up after their sittings to take a picture of the painting?  

My favorite work of hers is "An Innocent Gaze". I just love the girl's face, how serene it looks.  I also love the colors in the painting.

An Innocent Gaze

Here are some other ones I love.

Passing Times

Lily

Winter

After going home and obsessing thinking about it for a few days, we went back and purchased An Innocent Gaze!  Here it is in my dining room. I just love it so much and make it a point to sit down and truly appreciate it for a few minutes each day.

If you'd like more information on Mary, here is her website www.maryqian.com

Don't forget to enter my giveaway if you would like a chance to win the herb box made from a wine crate.  Just visit my previous post for details! 

Artist Stephanie Birdsall demonstration

Farmhouse by Stephanie Birdsall

 Art can reflect the soul. With the careful mixing of hues and strokes, an emotion or moment in time is captured.

Framed art is one of the main staples of home decor. Everyone's tastes vary, but most people will agree that hanging something on the wall that reflects your style and tastes makes your house more of a home. It creates the feeling and atmosphere that you want your home to exude.

I love spending idyllic Saturday afternoons in art galleries looking at paintings and wondering if the artist had an underlying meaning in the painting and maybe if you look hard enough you will understand the message, or maybe what you see is all that is meant to be seen, nothing more.

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to watch an artist in action. Saks Galleries hosted a demonstration by artist Stephanie Birdsall. Stephanie received her formal training at the City and Guilds of London Art School in England. She currently lives in Arizona but has plans to move to Denver by the end of the year.

To me, it's a privilege to see a work of art come to life, to see the process that the artist goes through. For this demonstration, she painted pansies. As she painted she explained her process, why she was adding a stroke, or taking one out, and how she was layering colors.

Stephanie didn't finish this piece that afternoon but here are some of her pieces available at Saks Galleries.  My favorite is Farmhouse, the one you see at the top of this post. I wish I could take it home!

Red, White and Blue by Stephanie Birdsall

Wild Roses by Stephanie Birdsall

Lilacs by Stephanie Birdsall

Forgotten Tea by Stephanie Birdsall

Festival by Stephanie Birdsall

If you'd like to learn more about Stephanie and to see more of her work, you can visit her website at stephaniebirdsall.com.

I'm sharing with: