Friday, March 31, 2017

shoes and bees and art

My 16th Brushstrokes With Impact (tm) "Paint-a-Thon" was on Saturday, March 25th at Selby Shoes Etc in South Portland, and it was so much fun! As you may or may not remember, the first "Paint-a-Thon" I had at Selby Shoes Etc was in December 2016, and there was a big snowstorm that day. Well, guess what happened when I was setting up my "pop-up" art show on Friday, March 24th? WE HAD SNOW! Thankfully, the severity wasn't even close to December's snowstorm, but Dennie, Ed, and Paul at Selby treated me to some good-natured teasing nonetheless ("Do you have a snow cloud over your head?"). The forecast was clear for Saturday, though, and Friday's snow was gone as quickly as it came. WHEW!


all set up!


Besides clear skies, Saturday was filled with laughter, visits from friends (thank you, Jen, Jenn, Lori, and Heather!) and encounters with new, friendly faces. I sold a handful of tote bags, including two to a woman who purchased one, walked out to her car, and came back in to get a second for a friend. I even met Ellen from Dobra Tea in Portland, who invited me to show my work at her shop on Exchange Street. Woo hoo!


The beginning...


progress...


The eight hours flew by (as they usually do), and suddenly, I had a finished painting! The title came to me through a conversation I was having with Dennie while I worked: "Let It Bee"!


"Let It Bee" and my Fluevogs!


Ed was kind enough to do the raffle drawing honors, and sure enough, the winner of "Let it Bee" was Heather Goulette of Monarch Massage! Heather is one of my dearest friends, and she has supported many of my previous Brushstrokes With Impact (tm) "Paint-a-Thon"s, but this was her first time winning a painting. I'm thrilled that her name was on the winning ticket, and I know she will give "Let It Bee" a good home, because Heather is a collector of my work! Plus, I will get to visit, which is always nice. Thanks to everyone's support, together we were able to raise $100 for the conservation efforts of Maine Audubon


Hooray for Heather!



In other news, I will be hosting another four-week "Playing With Paint" series at Curtis Memorial Library! Take a look at this wonderful write-up in the library's newsletter by Sarah Brown: 


PLAYING WITH PAINT-NEW CLASSES
Due to overwhelming demand, the library will offer a repeat series of free Playing With Paint classes.  Each class will focus on a different famous artist and one of their paintings:
  •  Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh, April 6, 5:30-6:30
  •  Convergence by Jackson Pollock , April 13, 5:30-6:30
  •  Red Canna by Georgia O'Keeffe, April 20, 5:30-6:30
  •  Blue Circus by Marc Chagall, April 27, 5:30-6:30 
 Maria Castellano-Usery, a well-known artist in the Brunswick area, will teach the classes.  Maria has a wonderful sense of how art is created, what is required to dive into the process, and how to have fun while doing it.
Maria will talk briefly about the artist and their work and style and then class members will paint (and take home) their version of one of the artist's well-known masterpieces.
  The goal of Playing with Paint is to learn about painting and art, and have fun in the process!  Come by yourself or bring a friend with you - it will be an enjoyable, relaxing evening with some interesting learning mixed into the process.
Appropriate for ages 14 years and older, the classes are free and all supplies will be provided.Class size is limited to 12 attendees-so sign up early! Sign up limited to two classes per person, with the option of adding your name to the wait list for the other two classes.
Please sign up by calling the library's reference desk at 
725-5242, ext. 204.-SB



Speaking of Curtis Memorial Library, if you're interested in checking out my bi-weekly blog for Curtis Creative Spaces, here's the link to my most recent post (they go up every other Wednesday, in case you'd like to follow along): http://curtiscreativespaces.com/. I think that's it for now! 

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

marching on and on

It's mid-March already! Here's what's been going on with me.

Thank you to everyone who supported my 15th Brushstrokes With Impact™ “Paint-a-Thon” on Saturday, February 25th in Claremont, New Hampshire! Together we were able to raise $105 for the Claremont Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry. It was a fun day, complete with visits from family, friends, and new, friendly faces. I even sold a painting! Here are some photos: 


The start...


...and, eight hours later, "Avocado Star" was complete! 



"Perpetual Light": SOLD! 



The winning ticket! Yay for Rebecca!  


The winner of "Avocado Star" is none other than the lovely and talented Rebecca Boothby Conley of Boco Video Pro! As you can see, Rebecca was very excited to win, and I'm thrilled that "Avocado Star" has gone to a good home where it will be loved and appreciated! In addition to running Boco Video Pro, Rebecca hosts the Evening Sun Blues radio show on WMPG! Tune in to hear her every other Wednesday from 5pm-7pm (and you can stream it online if you're not local)!


the handoff! 



In other news, I painted a Little Free Library for Curtis Memorial Library's "Booked For The Night" fundraiser, which took place on Saturday, March 4th! I wrote all about it for my Curtis Creative Spaces blog, so rather than writing the same thing twice, here's the link if you're curious:
http://curtiscreativespaces.com/in-the-books/


Speaking of Curtis Memorial Library, I'm happy to say that "Playing With Paint" is coming back in the month of April! We'll be focusing on the same artists as last time (Vincent Van Gogh, Jackson Pollock, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Marc Chagall), but we're changing up the paintings ("Sunflowers", "Convergence", "Red Canna", and "Blue Circus", respectively). Woo hoo! 


Time for another announcement: I’m having my sixteenth Brushstrokes With Impact™ “Paint-a-Thon”! On Saturday, March 25th, I will be setting up my easel at Selby Shoes Etc (220 Maine Mall Road, #5, South Portland, ME) and painting from roughly 10am-6pm. At the end of the day, the completed painting will be raffled off, and 50% of the proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the conservation efforts of Maine Audubon. Raffle tickets can be purchased in person for $5 each or 3 for $10. I will also have a “pop-up” show of my art at Selby Shoes Etc and 10% of all my art sales (excluding magnets) from this show will be donated to the conservation efforts of Maine Audubon. Please contact me via email (maria@brushstrokesbymaria.com) for raffle information. Here's the link to the Facebook event page:  https://www.facebook.com/events/286541395116060/


I'm excited to be going back to Selby Shoes Etc.! They were so nice to me when I was there in December...hopefully the weather will be nicer this time around! Fingers crossed...