02 May

Posted at 18:01h in 365 project, abstract, art, artist, mary gaspar art, pen and ink, sketch, sketch a day, still life by

The end of April in Chicago we spent celebrating Easter and enjoying watching the garden come to life. Yes, the rain and perpetual indecisiveness of the Chicago weather can be a drag, but nothing beats seeing the first signs of Spring. The buds forming on the trees, the hosta plants popping up through the earth, my chives and parsley coming back from last year’s garden! I love the Spring and I love gardening. The large floral commissions I have been painting are a reflection of the flowers popping up. People want to put nature on their walls! I have a few new commissions which will be nature inspired as well. Lots of sea and sky. Sigh. How lovely! Here are the last few weeks of my Sketch-A-Day project. Ranging from whimsical jellybeans to sketchy still lifes to abstract.

25 Apr

Posted at 00:26h in acrylic, acrylic painting, art, artist, botanical, mary gaspar art, marygaspar painting, painting, still life by

My latest painting was commissioned to celebrate a couple’s 10 year anniversary. Their wedding flowers were pink and white peonies…and this piece will hang in their master bedroom. Gahhhh, how romantic, no?! I love the sentiment behind this painting and how the piece itself is a botanical feast for the eyes. I named it “Blushing Peonies” as an ode to the actual name of these lush soft pinky white flowers and also as a nod to the sheer romance they evoke.

Sketching out the placement of flowers…

Beginning the underpainting

I loved the roughness at this stage in the painting. So undone…and a little sexy.

Adding contrast…

Placing it next to my painting, Spring Ranunculus, to see the contrast of the black vs. the white background

The finished painting, Blushing Peonies, 24 x 36, acrylic on canvas

14 Apr

Posted at 17:56h in 365 project, abstract, art, drawing, mary gaspar art, sketch, sketch a day, still life, travel by

April started off with a glorious spring break vacation to Venice, Florida. The weather was truly perfect…75 to 80 and sunny. After the Chicago winter we’ve had, it was a welcome break. We are back and I have a lot of work to do! I have three commissions I am working on concurrently. A couple of them are large floral pieces. As I have gotten my gardening underway, I am surrounded by flowers both in and outside the art studio. Oh April, you lovely rainy month…you’re being good to me.

 

29 Mar

Posted at 14:56h in 365 project, art, drawing, journaling, mary gaspar art, pen and ink, sketch, sketch a day by

The last two weeks were filled with birthday tea party fun for my now 6 year old. You’ll see some elements of this in my sketch a day series. What has become clear, for a while now, is that whether I am working on a larger painting or a sketch, I go back and forth between styles. If I have been meticulously painting details on colorful flowers all day, my sketch is usually geometric in nature or an abstract black and white. If painting a boldly colored loose abstract, my sketch will be a tightly drawn person or object. This feels balanced to me, like I can’t let one practice overtake the other. The abstracts are balancing the figurative work, thus a duality in my art. This is good to note as I sometimes agonize over the idea of having recognizable work or a signature style. I may or may not have a fluid through line in my body of work yet, but I do see patterns.

28 Mar

Posted at 19:12h in acrylic, acrylic painting, art, botanical, etsy, etsy seller, flowers, mary gaspar art, marygaspar painting, new painting, still life by

Here is my newest painting, titled, Spring Ranunculus. I have several large scale floral commissions right now, so I thought I’d do a few smaller pieces in between. It is 20 x 20 inches, square. I loooove a square shaped canvas! This piece is for sale at my Etsy shop.

Spring Ranunculus, 20 x 20, acrylic on canvas

20 Mar

Posted at 17:22h in abstract, acrylic, acrylic painting, art, artist, mary gaspar art, marygaspar painting, Modern Art, new painting, painting by

This is my latest painting, French Pop, 18 x 24 acrylic on canvas. It is for my 87 year old grandmother who wanted “an abstract with a juxtaposition of various shapes” in a color palette of turquoise, red, cream, black and white. She has an amazing collection of antique furniture (my great grandmother was an antiques dealer!) as well as a killer sense of style. She loves the tension of a modern geometric piece in bold colors with traditional furniture pieces. How cool is she?! I named the piece because the color palette has a retro feel to me…all that aqua and red! And I couldn’t stop thinking of France, when looking at it…in fact I added the black and white and red and white stripes while thinking of the French Riviera. I put on some 1960’s French Pop music and voila…I had my name!

13 Mar

Posted at 17:09h in 365 project, art, artist, drawing, flowers, instagram, journaling, mary gaspar art, Modern Art, pen and ink, sketch, sketch a day by

71 days into sketching and I can definitely attest to the power of Routine. My sketching habitually takes place at night, after the kids are asleep. The telly may or may not be on. I may be drinking a glass of wine or having some tea. Sometimes I sketch in bed right before I fall asleep. After, of course, capturing a picture of it and instagramming! That is as much a part of the process as the actual drawing. I’ve been playing around with frames and filters on my phone quite a bit. It’s like a speed version of digital mixed with hand drawn art. I really enjoy the editing process. You’ll see some of that here. The first 13 sketches of March 2014…

07 Mar

Posted at 02:25h in acrylic, acrylic painting, art, etsy, etsy seller, mary gaspar art, marygaspar painting, Modern Art, painting by

My newest painting is called, Capture The Moon. It is an abstract in a palette of neon orange, blues, grays, white and yellow. Inspired by well, the moon in its phases…and specifically the moon in Spring. Not gonna lie, this Chicago winter is making me dream/sleep/paint Spring in all her glory! Wanted a fresh color palette that was invigorating.

Capture The Moon, 24 x 30, acrylic on canvas

03 Mar

Posted at 16:31h in 365 project, art, artist, drawing, February, flowers, hearts, instagram, mary gaspar art, Modern Art, motivation, pen and ink, sketch, sketch a day, valentine's by

February is finished and in Chicago, unfortunately, the snow continues to fall. While it is so pretty, these winters get tiresome and draining on one’s creative spirit. So I try to focus on the positive things I am grateful for in my little art business. So what am I thankful for?

  1. My growing creative community…bloggers, creatives, and artists whom I have met through social media and namely, instagram…which I love! A feast for the eyes! You can follow me under @marygasparart 🙂
  2. My creative friends whom I have known for years and years. I rely on their insight and support and love watching them grow their own creative businesses. They are truly inspiring.
  3. Commissions! Yay for commissions! While it doesn’t always sound ideal to have to put aside what you’re working on to create someone else’s vision, let’s face it…it’s money. Plus, it is often the constraints of a client’s color palette, subject matter or time limit that foster real growth and creativity in my work.
  4. This 365 sketch a day project for getting me through these days when I feel less than inspired to put pen to paper or spark a new idea.

My sketches are really all over the place in terms of both content and style. I have been thinking about this a lot and while I’d like to have some signature that “says” what  I do, I don’t want to force anything. I never plan out these sketches, and simply let what comes to my mind happen. It is a grand exploration of subconscious ideas as well as an exercise in commitment, practice and technique. Here they are in no particular order rounding out February. And with that Happy March everyone!

 

24 Feb

Posted at 00:35h in acrylic, acrylic painting, art, flowers, interior design, mary gaspar art, marygaspar painting, Modern Art, painting by

My latest painting was commissioned by a collector for her dining room in the Andersonville neighborhood in Chicago. She loves peonies and wanted something large and dramatic to fill the space above her buffet. Initially she wanted a mural but decided a canvas would be more practical and portable if she ever moved.We decided on a square, 36 x 36 inch canvas. I have been loving painting flowers on blacks and navies, so we decided on peaches and pink peonies on a rich navy color. I really love this color palette and hope to use it again soon…SO fresh! She gave me a photograph of two flowers snapped on her iphone. I used this for reference.

Spacially mapping out my canvas…you’ll see I end up with WAY less flowers.

Adding highlights and cleaning up the background.

I added a few budding flowers to balance the bouquet.

The finished painting, Peonies, 36 x 36, acrylic on canvas

My client was completely elated upon seeing the finished piece. We installed it on Monday and now her dining room is dramatic and dinner party worthy.