Mary Liz Ingram Art | Tag Archive

The Nap

Mary Liz Ingram — February 2, 2015 — Leave a comment

There was a recent day when my son was sick. Tired and weak, he crawled into the deep pile of pillows on my bed to rest, and quickly fell asleep. On tiptoes, I inched into the room to feel his flushed cheeks and warm forehead, checking him with a mother’s worried, loving eyes.

The Bed, Toulouse-Lautrec

The room was still and soft; the folds on the white pillows were tinted with blue and gold. The quilt lay across his sleeping chest, and the beauty of this restful moment enveloped me as I stood, quietly watching.

Always one to browse and soak in Impressionist paintings, an image floated through my mind as I lingered, a painting by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. I suddenly saw the moment as a painting.

As an artist – well, really, as a human – I try to pay attention. To notice and find the beauty and wonder in everyday moments. To value everyday moments, because that is where life is, and life is so short. When I see it, I try my best to capture what I have seen, what I have felt, what I have imagined. Sometimes it is easy, like a quick doodle to capture a snapshot in the day; sometimes it requires more effort.

In this case, I used gouache for the second time in my life, and sought to blend the images of Toulouse-Lautrec’s painting with the quiet, colorful moment of a child’s afternoon nap. It’s not perfect, but it captures a hint of what I saw as I stood in my room, and it is always a gift to try something new.

The Nap, gouache on board

“The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.” –Pablo Picasso

In Uncategorized Alabama, Art, artist, bed, Birmingham, children, doodle, drawing, gouache, Impressionism, Impressionist, Ingram, life, Liz, Mary, paint, painting, portrait, sketch, Toulouse Lautrec

Watercolor study

Mary Liz Ingram — January 22, 2015 — 1 Comment

Sitting at my kitchen table, where the sunlight rests so softly, I carefully arrange my paints and brushes. A container of water just above the paint, folded paper towels below, I line up my yellow-handled brushes, remembering when my grandfather gave them to me at my 12th birthday; they’re still my favorite. All this preparation is a design towards procrastination. The perfectly blank watercolor paper sits and waits, staring at me and asking what’s next.

What is next, I sigh.

A take a sip of tea, settle on a image, and begin.

I rub the wet brush into the color and begin to layer flesh tones, moving them, removing them, adding them, shaping the colors onto my white paper.

A face begins to emerge; I make space for the eyes. I add and move the colors to form the little pouty lips.

Letting the colors and water dance and mingle, ebb and flow, hair begins to frame the face and the eager blue eyes.

It’s not a mirror image, but my youngest daughter clearly stares back at me from the paper.

So that’s who was hiding there, under that smooth white surface. My little Nora. Hello!

In Uncategorized Alabama, Art, artist, baby, Birmingham, brushes, children, Ingram, Liz, Mary, painting, portrait, story, study, thoughts, watercolor

Holiday Block Party

Mary Liz Ingram — November 14, 2014 — 1 Comment

My next art event! Coming up next Thursday, November 20th from 5-8 at Pepper Place, my new pastels + many more will be at Ferguson Showroom.

: Myrtle, pastel $425 framed

: The Duck, 12×12 pastel $275 framed

: Chicken, 11×14 pastel $275 framed

Hope you can make it!

In art show Alabama, Art, artist, Birmingham, chicken, cow, drawing, duck, Ferguson, holiday, house, Ingram, Liz, Mary, open, painting, pastel, pastels, Pepper Place, Sennelier, Show, sketch, soft pastel, Southern

Creating Portraits: A Video

Mary Liz Ingram — October 28, 2014 — 2 Comments

Recently I had a cool opportunity to share about creating portraits for my sweet friend Julie Holly’s sermon serie, The Faces of Jesus, at Canterbury United Methodist Church here in Birmingham.

Now, my nerves were threatening to get the best of me as soon as my den was overtaken with a big ol’ camera, a bunch of bright lights, and I got hooked up to a microphone. But thanks to the kind cameraman, I did my thing as best I could.

I hesitated to share the video, you know how we humans pick ourselves apart, but they did such a good job making it, and it’s not everyday you get to share what you do in a video, so here goes nothing:

In Uncategorized Alabama, Art, artist, Birmingham, Canterbury, children, church, Cotton, Faces, family, Jesus, life, Liz, Mary, Methodist, painting, pastel, portrait, sketch, soft pastel, United, video

Dominoes

Mary Liz Ingram — October 17, 2014 — 2 Comments

With a ramekin of Raisinets and a game of dominoes carefully laid, we sit in a quiet house changed by time. Same waxy table and wooden chairs, same salt shaker, same floors, same smells, different people.

I used to be the small child playing on my grandparents’ floor in this den. My grandmother would be cooking in the flagstone kitchen, the smell of southern specialties like no other filling our noses and making our stomachs growl. My grandfather would be sitting in his navy recliner, telling us about the fish mounted on the wall or his latest wood-working project. Chipmunks and birds scurried and hopped on the flowered mountainside out the tall windows.

Dominoes, detail, watercolor

But today a different crew sits with elbows on the table. My grandfather runs this house now and acts as eager host. My grandmother rests not far away, getting the care she needs in a different place. My two oldest children make their own memories with their great grandfather in this same room, with a tournament of dominoes and hors d’oeuvres of sardines on crackers with tabasco. My daughter turns up her nose, as expected, but my son forms a bond of sardines with Paw Paw, the only two to enjoy such a treat.

Seven games later and snacks devoured, memories are made, added to, reflected upon. A special time for my kids; a bittersweet time for me. Time moves and carries on, we age and change, get busy and get lonely. Too long we wait to visit, too little we think of others as we go about our days.

Domino games and mismatched snacks don’t come often enough, and it is so hard to change. My emotions ebb and flow as I create this picture. Thinking of the old and the young, my life and my past, the simple things that can mean so very much if we just pay attention.

Dominoes, 12×12 watercolor

In Uncategorized age, Alabama, Art, artist, Birmingham, children, dominoes, doodle, drawing, family, game, Ingram, ink, life, Liz, Mary, painting, sardines, sketch, watercolor

To pastel or not to pastel…

Mary Liz Ingram — April 23, 2014 — Leave a comment

…that is the question.

And it was answered by 7 talented, lovely ladies on April 12 at Forstall Art Center at my pastel workshop!

Some picked up the pastel for the first time since middle school, and some honed their skills…it was a fabulous day drawing little goldfish to explore color and contrast, and big dramatic skies to work with texture and layers.

Here’s my quick demonstration piece…wish I’d taken pictures of my students’ fabulous work! They were amazing!!!

The Park, 11×14 pastel

In Uncategorized Alabama, Art, artist, Birmingham, drawing, Forstall, hill, Ingram, Liz, Mary, painting, park, pastel, pastels, Sennelier, sketch, sky, soft pastel, workshop

Baby Brothers

Mary Liz Ingram — April 11, 2014 — 1 Comment

Recently I had the great pleasure to do three precious portraits of baby brothers. They are such cute little babies, I just kept staring at them while they rested on my art desk!

Here’s a peek at my portrait process:

: Sketched

: Underlayers

: Face complete

There’s always that middle point, when I begin to cover the bright colors, when I panic. And babies especially make me sweat, with their smooth little faces. You have to be so careful to keep all shadows and lines subtle, to keep their chubby cheeks chubby and their newness young.

Introducing three cute little buddies, and a huge thanks for this fun commission!

Baby Brother, 8×10 pastel

In Art, portrait, Uncategorized Alabama, Art, artist, baby, Birmingham, charcoal, commission, drawing, Ingram, Liz, Mary, painting, pastel, pastels, portrait, process, Sennelier, sketch, soft pastel, tips

Friends, Fun & Ribbons

Mary Liz Ingram — April 7, 2014 — Leave a comment

On a beautiful Spring Saturday, I woke up to birds chirping before the sunrise. Dragging myself out of bed, I dressed and tried to shake off the sleep. It was time to load up, head out and set up for another art show.

My Dad

While putting the last few pieces in my little car, my sweet Daddy pulls into the driveway in his work truck, helping me load up the big stuff: tent, panels, tables & weights. With kids at home and my husband out of town, my mom has to get up early and pitch in with childcare. So much work just for me! I have great parents. (Thanks Mom and Dad!)

Art festivals are a lot of work. You create, you plan, you prepare, you pack it all up carefully. You price, you tag, you sort, you display. You raise your tent, you place your chair, you hang your art. You smile, chat, sell, share, and meet all sorts of new people. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun.

For this particular festival with the Mountain Brook Art Association, I had the great treat of being next to one of my friends and a fabulous artist Robin Miller. This was her first show, and I’d already claimed one of her paintings for myself, before the other buyers snitched it: a beautiful persimmon. Our kids were there, romping and playing together in the green field behind our tents.

It was a beautiful, sunny, perfect day. Then it got even better.

We were selling our art to all sorts of wonderful people. And then came some blue ribbons! We were winners!!!!

Like giddy school girls we jumped up and down and laughed and got our pictures taken. I won Best of Show for the Professional Artist Category, and Robin won Best of Show for the Emerging Artist Category. It was a fabulous surprise and great honor!

Thanks to everyone who came out to support local art and congratulations to my sweet friend Robin! She has a bright future in the art world!

My booth

In Uncategorized Alabama, Art, artist, association, award, best, Birmingham, emerging, festival, Ingram, Liz, Mary, Miller, Mountain Brook, painting, pastel, pastels, professional, Robin, Show, soft pastel, Spring

Nora

Mary Liz Ingram — April 4, 2014 — 1 Comment

A portrait really is something special.

Of all the art in my house (and I have a lot, as you can imagine), the ones that make me stop and stare and think and smile are the portraits of my three kids.

I grew up with an artist for a grandmother. Her den was filled with family portraits that she painted. I could describe every detail, because I spent so much time looking at them. When she died, everyone took their portraits home, a treasure that lasts. She made them with her own hands, and her children and grandchildren pass them down.

Now I have the honor to do that for my own children, and for other people. I love to look at the pastels I’ve drawn of my three buddies, and think (or hope) that one day they will treasure them in their own home. Something lovingly made by an adoring mother, attempting to express what treasures they are by creating a piece of art to capture a moment.

If you’d like me to create a lasting treasure for your family, check out my portrait page. I’d love to get started and create something meaningful for someone you love too.

Now let me share my newest piece, finally adding my little Nora to the wall, next to her brother and sister. I will have this piece on display at my art show in Crestline tomorrow, April 5th.

Nora, 18×24 pastel

In Art, portrait, Uncategorized Alabama, Art, artist, baby, Birmingham, children, drawing, family, Ingram, Liz, Mary, painting, pastel, pastels, portrait, Sennelier, soft pastel, thoughts

Sweet Home Alabama

Mary Liz Ingram — April 3, 2014 — 1 Comment

This is a new venture. A whim that came to me and I decided to go for it.

I think they’re a fun way to celebrate the South, and I have lots of ideas to keep me going.

With the blue skies of Alabama as a backdrop (cue the music…”Sweet home Alabama…where the skies are so blue…”), each 5×7 pastel of my state describes a color of the South:

Clockwise from top left: “Grass,” “Dirt,” “Rust,” “Camellia” (state flower!), “Wood,” “Yellowhammer” (state bird!).

Colors of the South, each 5×7 pastel

Come see my Alabamas in person for the first time this Saturday, April 5th at the Crestline Art Show! I’ve already sold 2 before it starts!

In Uncategorized Alabama, Art, artist, Birmingham, camellia, dirt, drawing, grass, Ingram, Liz, Mary, painting, pastel, pastels, rust, soft pastel, Southern, state, sweet home alabama, wood, yellowhammer

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