Star Spangled Salem Treasury for July 4th on Etsy

Just in time for July 4th festivities, along comes this Red, White and Bluetiful treasury by DIY Studio on Etsy. This Star Spangled Salem Treasury features Etsy creations from shop owners residing in and around Salem, Oregon. Here is a sample of the treasury to tempt you…but Make sure to check out ALL the fun goodies!

James Franco’s New Art Project: The Museum Of Non-Visible Art -Why didn’t I think of this!

ArtInfo.com
This is Brilliant. I’ve been working on a new line of artwork (see post below this one to see!) and I am finding it challenging to blog at the same time -24 hours not being enough time in a day to do everything I need to do (okay, I always tell myself that Einstein had the same number of hours in his day so quit making excuses…). Now, come to find out, all I really need to do is sell INVISIBLE ART! This would take a lot less time to create (practically no time at all), and, if marketed correctly, I apparently could make a lot more money than I’m making now. I just need to attach a celebrity name (Lady Gaga invisible art?) and I’ve got a winner! You can read more on this on the Huffington Post website.This is a great article- you should def read on…

By Julia Halperin
Published: June 16, 2011
Every so often, a new art initiative is so outlandish that any attempt at parody ends up sounding more reasonable than the project itself. Such is the case with the Museum of Non-Visible Art (or MONA), a conceptual art project organized by artist duo Praxis and backed by actor James Franco, who is by now well known — some might even say too well known — for his kooky dabblings in the world of conceptual art. Since the project appeared on Kickstarter a few days ago, it has raised $11,251, handily topping its $5,000 goal. So what the heck is it? MONA, according to the site, is a museum “composed entirely of ideas.” When contributors donate money to the project, they are buying a work from the collection. They then receive a card in the mail describing the work of art they have “purchased.” They will not, however, receive anything more tangible than that. The project description reads, “Important Note: When you contribute to this Kickstarter project, you are not buying a visible piece of art!”
A video posted on the Kickstarter page features Franco and Praxis’s Brainard and Delia Carey — best known for their participation in the 2002 Whitney Biennial, where they gave out free hugs and foot massages — describing the imagined artworks that will form MONA’s “collection.” Various “editions” of “artworks” for “sale” on the page include an unrealized short film by Franco based on William Faulkner’s short story “Red Leaves.” For $25, you can get one of an edition of 500. There are 491 remaining.

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The priciest item is a $10,000 “original” work, titled “Conceptual — Fresh Air,” which is, actually, just air. (“The air you are purchasing is like buying an endless tank of oxygen” reads the description.) As of today, “Conceptual — Fresh Air” has been purchased.
The MONA initiative has its own Web site, which, fittingly for a Museum of Non-Visible Art, is pretty bare bones. “Although the artworks themselves are not visible, the descriptions open our eyes to a parallel world built of images and words,” it explains. “This world is not visible, but it is real, perhaps more real than the world of matter, and it is also for sale.” On the Kickstarter blog, Praxis explains that they plan to give tours of the non-visible museum in the future, which will consist of them describing an invisible space and the artworks in it, which will be the artworks purchased by fans in the current campaign. For the New York performance, they intend to use the site of the unrealized downtown Guggenheim as the “home” for MONA.
So what does it all mean? Is it a scam, or a brilliant commentary on the contemporary art market? Hard to say. Then again, if we could get even $25 for our unwritten “imagined memoir,” we probably wouldn’t complain.

To see my very visible art, I invite you to click on:
Elizabeth Marshall Gallery of Fine Art
emarshallgallery on Etsy
Fine Art America-Elizabeth Marshall

New ART! “Eat Your Elephant One Bite At a Time” by Elizabeth Marshall Gallery

Finally! Here is a preview of the new line of artwork that I will be adding to my online gallery, my Etsy shop, and Fine Art America. This is just an iphone pic of the artwork as it sits on the sketch pad, but I am excited to share it! With all the graduations this week, I’ve been sidetracked (in a good way), but next week, I’ll have reproductions made, and we’ll be off and running!

I chose “Eat Your Elephant One Bite at a Time” to illustrate first because that is the phrase I have over my computer. It reminds me daily to take life “One Step at a time”, “One Day at A Time”, and just relax. Problems become “opportunities,” and nothing is too challenging if you break it down into small hurdles, instead of looking at the whole marathon, right?

As far as the creative process goes, I am stepping away from the oil pastels for a while, and concentrating on these fun, whimsical, inspirational pieces. They’re so much fun to create (they’re done with colored pencil), and I have so many quotes, and inspirational sayings in my head, that I don’t know which one to do next!

I also have the section at the top of my blog that is for momisms and “Things I never thought I’d have to say as a parent.” These humorous moments are also meant to someday be turned into artwork. I would someday like to turn this section into an open forum for my readers to contribute to. If I use your momism, or humorous experience, the contributor would be paid for it’s use. But first, this line needs to be profitable so that I can do that 🙂 Isn’t that the way it goes…

I am so excited and inspired to get this launched! The plan is to post a new one every week, so stay tuned 🙂

A Bee’s Eye View now in “Sophisticated” Etsy Treasury

I woke up this morning to find I had been included in this lovely Etsy Treasury titled “Sophisticated,” by xenia . The curator, Xenia, writes: “I fell in love with these items because they were so boldly detailed and complex.” I have included 6 of the 16 items to tempt you, but, that is only a sample of the beautiful collection of Etsy treasures found there, so do check out this entire treasury. It’s Sophisticated!
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The Birth of a Painting: Bubbling Serenity

Dear Readers, I wanted to take a break from working on my Etsy Sale (See posts below), to show you the process involved in creating one of my most popular paintings, Bubbling Serenity. It is basically self explanatory, so I will just show you the story in pictures…

….And once I had the arrangement worked out, the “puzzle” was as I wanted it, I took these photographs, and worked from them to complete the painting…Tada!

Many of the places I paint don’t exist- they aren’t really places at all, but they are a world I have created myself by putting together parts of many different plasces that I love…a tree from here, a waterfall from there…its my own little world. I hope this inspires you today!

Huge Sale on ARTWORK from Elizabeth Marshall Gallery of Fine Art

Huge Sale on Elizabeth Marshall Gallery Prints- matted and framed and ready to hang!
Click here! Elizabeth Marshall gallery of Fine Art

HUGE SALE at my ETSY Store!!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/emarshallgallery

Check out this direct link to my Etsy Site!!!
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I’m having a HUGE BLOW OUT SALE at my Etsy store! : http://www.etsy.com/shop/emarshallgallery

~~~~~~~~~~ART PRINTS FROM $10 – $30 DOLLARS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I decided its Spring Cleaning time, and I want to make room for my new line of artwork that will be arriving in about a month. I also decided to give buyers a break- I totally understand that buying museum quality fancy smancy giclees and gallery originals is expensive- especially in this economy. Thats why I decided to offer affordable prints and see what kind of response I get. I hope it helps all those people who love my art, but dont’ yet own any to get their own little slice.

It has turned out to be a very time consuming process putting this Sale together, so it wil all get posted in hunks over the course of a couple of days. The end result will be fantastic. You will now be able to buy an 11 X 14 of one of 8 different pices for only $25- double matted and framed, and ready to hang. No charge for shipping either.

AND just to make it even more affordable than THAT!…I am adding those same prints unframed for $10! Seriously! That is an amazing deal!

So wander over to my Etsy store : http://www.etsy.com/shop/emarshallgallery and take a peek!

Sneak Peek of my New Art Series- Time for Color!

Its a beautiful, sunny day here in Oregon, and I went back to my easel today. It just doesn’t get better than this! The inspiration for a new infinite series of art pieces has been ruthlessly tugging at me for about a month now, and with the Pandas behind me, I was able to get started.
I sketched out my first drawing, which I am sharing with you, and so far, I’m loving it!

In short, my general concept is not a new one- do simple artworks around sayings, momisms, and especially the CRAZY things that happen around my own family. Honestly, sometimes I feel like I’m living in a sit-com 🙂

One of my favorite exclamations is ” I never thought, as a parent, I’d have to say THAT!”, as in, “Jordan, honey, please don’t put the DOG in your PANTS…” . My own personal momisms, combined with my daughter, Jennifer’s, own library of momisms (She has 3 sons and a daughter), should keep me busy indefinitely. I always told Jen that she should write a book- that her life was too funny (well, for those of us who aren’t actually responsible for what happens), and she owed it to the world to write it down. Of course, that’s impossible because she’s too busy just keeping the kids safe from themselves. But this stuff is too good to lose to time and senility, so I will share it with the world through my artwork. I am so excited!

My first work of art, is a saying that I have over my own computer :” Eat That Elephant One Bite At A Time.” Remembering to do this has served me well. Likewise, the way you change your life is one thought at a time, because you control the doorway to your mind. That is our philosophy lesson for the day, folks.

I’m too excited to get to work to sit here and write, so I will leave you with the first pictures of my artwork to ponder. I chose the general colors (possibly my most favorite part of the process!), and they are nestled next to the sketch. I look forward to sharing more with you very soon. Have a wonderful day, and I hope my enthusiasm sets off a spark in you today as well.

Want to see more of my art? Check out Elizabeth Marshall Gallery of Fine Art to see my series of beautiful, bright oil pastel paintings!

Top Etsy Seller Successful by Dressing Animals in Suits and Dresses- Odd…but Fun!

I often check in at Craftcount for inspiration. I want to know what the TOP SELLERS are selling that is making them so successful. . Today, I am sharing one of the TOP TEN in the Homemade division, “berkleyillustration“. These works of art are very odd, but apparently endearing enough to generate 25,092 sales. Yeah, I’ll draw pigs in suits, if it will make me rich, wouldn’t you? And secretly, I really DO enjoy these characters…there’s a cow in a dress that reminds me of my grandmother- in a good way.
Since we’ve been on the subject of PANDAS, I’ve included a panda in a suit, for your viewing pleasure.

Now, I’m off to enjoy the Keizer Iris Festival parade and carnival. This is my town’s yearly slice of Americana, and our family loves it…can’t wait to put my ten year olds on a ride that spins them around until they throw up (oh, after eating hotdogs and cotton candy)- what could be more fun than that?

Pandas Take Over My Art Gallery and MY HOme creating Pandamonium!

This is the little project I’ve been working on all week, instead blogging. Here are 7 out of the 10 Pandas I’ve been creating for Pandamania, which is my church’s VBS program this year. To be honest, I didn’t have to design them -they are copied from the Pandamania website, but thats okay- they WANT you to do that. I am just the artist who is bringing them to life…and housing them and feeding them and putting up with their constant merriment…yes, they are rambunctious houseguests. But soon they will go spread joy and love in the hearts of children, not only at my church, but to several other churches before the summer turns to fall… I just wanted to share all that I have been doing so you all would give me some grace for not posting as often. Now you know why! Okay, time to get back at it- I have ONE MORE bear to create, and I will be finished! YAY!!!