Linda Mahoney Art

I continue to find zentangle-inspired images relaxing and fun! There are many sites on the web where you can find ideas for designs to incorporate into your doodling. I like to work on these while my hubby is driving - though unexpected bumps result in a few squiggles here and there. I've begun including color in the images and like how it pops. I hope to get more sophitiscated in the use of the doodles and size of the marks to help create depth and shading within the images. Update on the artwork in the previous post: "Wrong Turn" - is SOLD. Prints may be available at a later date. All the Best - Linda

Here's a colored pencil painting that I finished yesterday. It's 22"x16" on Stonehenge. This past summer an artist friend commented to me, "You like art that tells a story." I had never thought of that before, but perhaps I do. I very much enjoy doing representational still lifes and landscapes, but I suppose when I do something that is totally created from my imagination, it does tell a story. I often have the title of a piece in mind before I start on it, so I guess that figures in, too. This one is titled "Wrong Turn". Sometimes purchasers want to know what I was thinking when I created a certain piece. I don't mind sharing, but I prefer for the viewer to have their own story. If I tell them mine first, I feel it limits what it can be for them. Most of us have made a wrong turn or two in our lives, and I hope that idea doesn't cramp your story when you consider this image. 

Here is the finished (I think) artwork with the abalone shell that I was working on in the previous post. It was a lot of fun to do and I'm already off on my next colored pencil painting. I hope to have it finished by the end of this month so that I can enter two of them for the jury process of the Colored Pencil International exhibit. Only one piece per artist can be selected, but I figure having two will double my chances to get in. I would really like for that to happen so that I can get my 10-year merit status. Back to the drawing board...

This doesn't look like anything more than a bunch of squiggles, right? When you look up close, even the most realistic renderings can look very abstract. I have to remind myself, as I do my students, to "draw what you see, not what you think you know". We all develop some kind of preconceived ideas of how things should look from a very early age. To accurately reproduce what we see, it is helpful to shift away from naming the object or thinking about what it is. Focusing in on small areas and duplicating what we see rather than what it is helps to make the shift.  This is a small area - about 4" square from a 16 x 22 image. It's  Prismacolor pencil on Stonehenge paper .  I hope to finish it within the next couple of weeks and will share the whole image here.

Zentangle - In the latest issue of CPSA's "To the Point", Verna Curnow presented an article on zentangle or zendoodle. An artform where repetitive patterns or shapes are used to create a meditative image. Easily seduced to try something new with art, I began my patterns with ink pen in hand. I used archival Pitt pens and made my image on Stonehenge paper. I have to admit it was time consuming, but thoroughly enjoyable. I titled this little piece "Edge of Entanglement". It's on an 8 x 6 sheet of Stonehenge paper. It's something I could work on between other projects with very little needed for materials. I did some of it while riding in the car and had to stay away from the finer lines while bumping along in the Mustang. Seems those sports suspensions are not built for smoothness. LOL! Now I'm thinking of doing a whole art journal in this style. Wonder if I can stick with something that long...Anyone can do this type of art and it if doodling is ...

I am so very honored to have my artwork included in Ann Kullberg's "Colored Pencil Treasures" book. My work appears on page 34 as seen in the previews here http://www.annkullberg.com/cptreasures_2.php This is the third book that includes colored pencil artwork that I have created. I continue to work on improving my skills in fine art and to promote colored pencil as a viable medium for creating fine art.

I can't believe it's been over a year since I posted on this blog and vow to be much more attentive to this in the coming year. Just this week I helped judge artwork at the local junior livestock and homemaking show. It was interesting and inspiring to see such wonderful work being created by local children ages 6 - 12. I was moved by the ability of so many of them and encouraged by the interest of all of them. We were instructed to make comments on each judging sheet. As a sometimes instructor of adults who have shared their childhood experiences with me, I strived to find positive comments for every piece and to frame negatives and suggestions in a constructive manner. I thought about abandoning my blog as it takes time away from other things I might like to do a little more. But then, I thought about how easy it is to give up on things and that's what so many kids do even though there was something they longed to communicate. So, my message to myself and to you is: Keep...