Archives For pastels

4 Calling Birds

Don’t Lose It…Day 4 in the 12 Days of Christmas Sketches

Mary Liz Ingram —  December 14, 2012 — Leave a comment
Little Elf, charcoal and conte on paper

My Little Elf, charcoal and conte on paper

On the fourth day of Christmas sketches…

4 Calling Birds fit well into my day: lots. of. noise.

Being calm and finding peace in the midst of the rush and whirl of life takes a lot of effort. A LOT of intentional effort.

I woke up late; it was a busy day at work. I had a packed out afternoon full of complications, rude drivers, and a shopping trip (thankfully only with one child instead of all 3!) during which I discovered at the register that my wallet was at home. So, we left the buggy to the side, drove home in traffic to retrieve the rogue wallet, then drove back in traffic to the store, to stand in line yet again to purchase my load.

I was quite proud of myself: I was still feeling calm and peaceful up to this point. The traffic didn’t get to me; the rude drivers gave me reason to teach my kids about being kind; I found humor in the forgotten wallet. Yet, I say “up to this point” for a reason. The cashier lady tipped me over the edge. I recognize she’s had a long day dealing with fussy customers…I get it. I’ve had a long day too. But, man, the attitude just got to me.

In the car, I vented on the phone and reigned myself back in. My daughter (who has had a streak of bad-attitude lately) and I talked about how good attitudes and bad attitudes will rub off on others. She blamed the cashier for making me frustrated… Cue the next life lesson: we have control over ourselves. Sure, the lady got under my skin. Yep, I got pretty irritated. But I’m my own person and have choices to make.

At those times, like tonight, when I think I might just lose it, I purposefully find my calm by recognizing my family. Thinking of my family grounds me and puts things in perspective. I think of my chubby little baby, my sweet kids, my strong and steady husband: my comforts, my constants. The frustrating trivialities fade, and I am surrounded by a grateful peace.

What brings you peace?

4 Calling Birds

4 Calling Birds

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3 French Hens

Wonky Santa…Day 3 in the 12 Days of Christmas Sketches

Mary Liz Ingram —  December 13, 2012 — 1 Comment
One-armed bendy Santa, charcoal and conte sketch

One-armed bendy Santa, charcoal and conte sketch

On the third day of Christmas sketches…

We all like something weird, some little trinket that strings along memories that other eyes can’t see. It holds sentimental value like a treasure, though it may be locked away in the trivial shell of an old toy.

Each year as I pull out decorations, there are a few pieces that stand out more than others; a few that I dig around for, searching through attic-musty tissue papers in the Christmas box. My one-armed bendy Santa is one of those oddly precious objects.

He has a wonky, yellowed beard, mismatched painted eyes, and an excellent wooden cone hat. He’s one of those toys where you push the round base from below and it makes the figure slump, then you release it and he pops back up. He’s old and you can tell…he was part of my paternal grandmother’s collection, and he has been around my whole life.

Now, this is the grandmother who was an artist. She taught me the basics of art and let my cousins, sister and I have regular, free-for-all craft time at her house. She was quirky, inventive, interesting and fabulous. And she collected EVERTHING: rocks, bells, books, flowers, these little toys…you name it. She had a room in which the walls were completely covered in framed family photos (aka “the picture room”).  I apparently get the urge to collect and create from her, along with a lot of other quirks that my sister likes to point out. Ha!

Anyway, this little cockeyed, one-armed bendy Santa makes me think of her, my delightfully eccentric grandmother, and it warms my heart each Christmas.

3 French Hens

3 French Hens

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Boykin Spaniel

Psychedelic Pup Transformed

Mary Liz Ingram —  December 7, 2012 — Leave a comment

I’m teaching a class to a group of beginning pastelists: Some students have read up on pastel techniques, others may have had a few classes. My first instruction always throws them for a loop: “Begin with lots of black!”

As I’ve said before, I’m a self-taught artist…When it comes to pastels, I fiddled with them alone at my art desk until I discovered results I liked. And it all started with black.

Below you will find a quick tutorial using my own technique to create vibrant, textured pastel paintings. Continue Reading…

In Art, pastel, portrait, Sennelier, tutorial , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Love at First Sight…

Mary Liz Ingram —  December 3, 2012 — 2 Comments

Everyone remembers the day when you first met your true love. Oh, the euphoria of that first glimpse, the excitement of realizing what has been revealed before your eyes.

About 7 years ago, I was walking across a beautiful bridge in Paris, on my way to visit Notre Dame. It was a beautiful, romantic afternoon in an amazingly romantic city. The clouds were soft, the water languid…I was strolling along, making my way unexpectedly through the city, when I looked up. Continue Reading…

In Alabama, Art, pastels , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Eclectic Cool was a Success!

marylizingramart —  October 21, 2012 — Leave a comment

This past Friday was “The Eclectic Art Social Club’s” second group show: “Eclectic Cool: the Colors of Calm.” Let me pause and give you a little insight/explanation into our name…we are a group of 7 “young women,” shall we say, who are serious about art, but we don’t take ourselves to seriously. We began meeting several years ago to help each other in our art careers, but mostly ended up brunching, drinking coffee and having a good time together at each other’s homes (hence “social club). Continue Reading…

In abstract, acrylic, Alabama, Art, art show, artist, Birmingham, Cecily Hill Lowe, Chi Roach, cool, Dariana Dervis, eclectic, Erin Hardin, Ingram, Liz, Mary, Parkside, pastels , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Memories

marylizingramart —  August 5, 2012 — 1 Comment

Shepherd, Soft Pastel… On my twelfth birthday, my grandfather gave me a collection of my first “real” art supplies. Never doing anything halfway, he went to a local art store to have a professional choose the best materials: a selection of nice brushes, a set of watercolors in tubes and in a pan, acrylic paint, oil paint, canvases, papers, a set of drawing pencils, erasers, and a large box of pastels. With that gift, I moved from the childhood world of drawing cartoon characters with a #2 pencil to exploring the world of fine art. Years later, after I had painted and sketched the days away, I finally picked up the untouched box of pastels. But what to draw? It was my sophomore year of college, and I had recently returned from a Jan-term trip to Jordan and Syria (where, incidentally, I met my husband, a fellow student). There were so many new memories forever burned into my mind, but one stood out, and still does to this day: standing atop a golden ridge, looking out as the amber sun set over the Dead Sea, viewing the Bedouin caves from above, and spotting a flock of goats and sheep with their robed shepherd in the valley below. It was a beautiful moment, rich in color, that became the subject of my first pastel drawing with my first set of pastels. I have drawn it several times since, and it has become a repeated special request from my grandmother. The image has been altered as my hand has gathered new techniques and greater knowledge over the years, but here is a version from today, commissioned as a gift, sitting atop the greatest treasures of my much-expanded collection of art supplies: my Sennelier Soft Pastels.

In Alabama, artist, Birmingham, collection, commission, goats, Ingram, Jordan, Liz, Mary, pastels, Sennelier, sheep, shepherd, soft pastel , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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My POV

marylizingramart —  July 21, 2012 — 2 Comments

Hay Bale, Graphite Sketch…My husband and I have a ritual; it helps us decompress after our busy days, and is a routine time to relax and enjoy being together. Each night once the kids are tucked in bed, we sit on the couch, each with a glass of milk and two freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, to watch one of our recorded shows. Last night we watched the Next Food Network Star. Each Star hopeful must have a “POV,” a “Point of View” that would make their own Food Network show unique. Two weeks of my daily drawings are now complete, and over morning coffee, I reflected upon my “POV”…my own point of view around which my art revolves. I know art doesn’t have to have a “point” or a “meaning,” that it can be art for art’s sake, but my organized self loves to have everything in its place, categorized and grouped. I want my art to fit together and have a meaning, a purpose, a POV. When I reflect upon my daily drawings, I see the common thread of my own human experience: family, relationships, love, warmth, what surrounds me in my place, what is important to me in my life. Linking the theme of my sketches with my current pastels and paintings, my POV emerges as, in my husband’s words, “Southern eclectic”: a mixture of rural and city, objects and figures, past and present…the story of my place. I find warmth, family, richness and beauty in the South, in its porches and fields, its trees and marshes, its people and history, its rust and wood. A representation of the story of humanity, the South is a tightly woven tapestry of good and bad, hospitality and hatred, comfort and pain, smiles and sorrow. Despite its dark threads, my South triumphs with beauty, with color, with life, with strength; in my place and through my art, I hope to reveal and foster greater peace, honest love, and a warm, genuine reality of Southern hospitality, a welcoming with open arms.

In Alabama, Art, artist, Birmingham, drawing, Food Network Star, graphite, humanity, Ingram, Liz, Mary, pastels, pencil, pov, sketch, Southern , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Homage to Degas

marylizingramart —  July 19, 2012 — Leave a comment

Nora, 3 months, Graphite Sketch…Today is the birthday of Edgar Degas, the French Impressionist famous for his figures of ballerinas, bathers, and other turn-of-the-century subjects. He also happens to be my favorite artist and major influence on my own art. I especially love Degas’ pastels…the vibrant contrasts, the intense markings, the vivid colors. His preparatory sketches are often a combination of strong, dark shadows mixed with precise, yet loose, lines. I like to study his work and absorb what I can into my own way of seeing color and interpreting subjects. In homage to Degas, I chose a figure drawing for my daily sketch, drawing my sleeping baby girl (who was a bit squirmier than I expected, once drawing commenced!) I used my darkest pencil, marking in the shadows, contemplating the art of Degas as I recorded this day in my baby’s young life.

The Tub, Edgar Degas, Pastel

Two Dancers Resting, Edgar Degas

In Alabama, Art, artist, baby, ballerina, bather, Birmingham, dancers, Degas, drawing, figure, graphite, Impressionist, Ingram, Liz, Mary, pastels, pencil, portrait, sketch , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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SpectraFix Pastel Fixative

marylizingramart —  August 6, 2011 — 2 Comments

I have recently begun using a new pastel fixative introduced to me by one of my very talented art students Jenny Thornton. SpectraFix Is “a natural milk casein pastel fixative” that is non-toxic with no odor, and you can even spray it inside! It is pretty much alcohol and milk protein…it comes from cows! See? Continue Reading…

In Art, Birmingham, Degas, fixative, Impressionism, Impressionist, Ingram, Liz, Mary, pastels, soft pastel, Spectrafix, spray , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Thistle

marylizingramart —  April 21, 2011 — Leave a comment

 

About a week ago, while running errands with my family, on a persistent whim I decided I wanted one of the several thistles scattered along the shoulder of the road. As with most “whims,” there was not much reason for it…I just saw a tall, spiky, blooming thistle and became briefly obsessed with pulling one out of the ground. Partly driven by nostalgia, remembering a trip from my youth when my parents pulled over and showed my sister and I a thistle, partly driven by an “educational opportunity” for my own children (and humor at hearing my daughter say “thithle” with her slight lisp), and partly driven by an artistic impetus, I cajoled my husband into making two loops on a busy road so I could pop out of the car and pull up my coveted thistle.

It was one of my finer moments: dressed in nice clothes, climbing out of a little mini van, carrying a brightly striped child’s pullover (for spike-protection), dashing down a weed covered hill, watched by a whole intersection of onlookers merging off and onto the interstate, I quickly yanked up a thistle before scurrying back to the car with my strange prize. I’m sure I looked totally normal…

When I got close to my chosen thistle, which was much larger than I expected, I had a moment of panic that after all this trouble, in front of all these anonymous commuters, I wouldn’t be able to pull it up, and there I would be tugging in vain before retreating to the car in shameful surrender. To my relief, it came up with a quick snap.

My thistle has been blooming steadily all week in it’s little jar of water and giving me lots of opportunity to draw it, observe it, and reflect upon why I am fascinated by this odd plant.

At once both soft and jagged, with downy coverings and serrated thorns; both beautiful and dangerous, with soft red tufts of flower tempting the touch, while fingers must weave cautiously through the plentiful thorns. Strikingly harsh with it’s stiff, sharp leaves, and artistically intriguing with it’s curving, striated stems and colorful urns of flower. An unlikely place to find beauty, grace found among thorns.

Here are my impressions/studies of the thistle; I plan on trying it again soon with some different techniques.

3 Studies of a Thistle, 5×7 soft pastel on card coated with pastel ground

In Art, Impressionism, pastels , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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