When I painted the cardinal a couple of months ago, I intended to use it as my Christmas card this year. But I posted him on social media and sold 45 cards and the original in two days. Then the bottom right image also sold and with the new owner's permission, I decided it would be prefect for this year's card. Once they arrived and were so beautiful, I made a series of with these three other cards as well. They are already on the Shop page at www.maureenmccarron.com but I am not taking them to the craft fair, because that is strictly for the birds.

This is Ganymede. You may recall my dilemma about a painting I worked on in August and that I preferred it when it was about halfway finished to the final results. In fact, I disliked it enough that I put away where I don't have to see it. Then a few weeks ago, I decided to give the gannet another try. I struggled almost as much with this version as I had with the first, but I do like this new one a lot.

What's that saying about don't quit before the miracle? Or is try, try again more appropriate?

 Here's what my table at the Crown and Anchor craft fair looked like this past weekend. I have two sizes of giclees, the blank greeting cards, the mugs, and some original paintings. Everything is available on this website. Fingers crossed that I have enough to get me through until Christmas.

The woman with the table next to mine knits hats and she made a black wool pussy hat for me so I could add two round abalone shell buttons that will look like eyes and shaping the ears a bit. That's on the to do list for tomorrow. I also have three new pieces going at the moment and would like to finish one of them this week. Stay tuned, I might show it to you next time I blog.

 I hadn't planned on doing another shadowbox any time soon since I'm so busy with the birds, but after I wrote about selling Communion last week, the collaged piece I had at PMPM sold too. Which lead to a three hours total revamp on my website (www.maureenmccarron.com) - I think it's much better. I think you'll think so too.

So it's back to painting the birds, although now I'm itching to do another shadowbox. Maybe I'll go bigger. I do have some 18x18" frames to fill.

 

The last couple of weeks has been all about the craft fair, which is still proving to be learning experience, but the real news is about my collage work. Communion, the piece above just sold. Yesterday I delivered another one to The Provincetown Commons for a show. Next week I pick up a third one from the Pilgrim Monument/Provincetown Museum. I like collage. It's a good distraction for when my painting becomes a chore. It also makes a bigger mess. But trust me, I am just as persnickety about endlessly tweaking little bits of paper as I am about my tiny brush strokes of paint.

This is Pollyanna, who in a moment of madness I painted fucshia even though I intended for her to end up red. Yes, she's kind of goofy - I agree but she IS Pollyanna after all. It's been a strange week here, lots of ups and downs, but the good news is I'll have an inside booth for the craft fair that starts this Friday instead of freezing in the outdoor courtyard. The bad news is they cut down my beloved, ancient willow tree on Monday and I'm still not over it. But I am as ready for the first weekend of the craft fair as I can be except for packing the granny cart after dinner tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving!

Heard today that Titiana was accepted into the Juried Exhibition at the Provincetown Art Association Museum. I've been in a number of these shows before, but it's always exciting to get in them. That background, by the way, is golden even though it's hard to tell here but it softens her totem fierceness. 

I have also confirmed dates for my solo show next September at The Commons here in town. And the craft fair starts next Friday - hope I'm ready!

 

 This is Claudio, yes I reversed the sketch of Claudia, the yellow female cardinal from a couple weeks ago, and painted it red for the holiday card I was thinking about making. Seems only fair since it has male cardinal coloration that I name him after her. When I posted his image on social media, I sold forty-five greeting cards that I hadn't even ordered yet as well as the original painting all in the first two days. Then I got an email from the craft fair people, who added more dates to my schedule so I will now doing every weekend after Thanksgiving through New Year's Eve. Guess I better order more greeting cards. I've already ordered mugs and giclees.

 

This is my studio. It used to be my bedroom, hence the rug and bureau, but I got sick of looking at a big art mess when I walked into the front room when I came home. It was everywhere. Now it's corralled where I can shut the door if it gets too bad. I still get dressed in here since this is where the closet is, but my bed is the main room. I like it in there, it looks good with the rest of the furniture and it's guaranteed to get made every morning. It is like I live in a studio apartment with an art studio attached.

Lots going on with getting a resale number for collecting sales tax at the craft fair and a business bank account. Everything I ordered last week has come in and needs to be inspected and packed. I framed those five birds on the wall as well, and they look glorious. Will be framing more - onward!

 

Besides all the usual activity going on - I just got confirmation and dates for the big Holiday Craft Fair here in Provincetown. Which means lots of ordering and administration to do to prepare. Later today I plan to buy a new, much needed granny cart, I've already ordered more mugs, greeting cards and giclees. I also spent the morning working on my online store and it's finally open - check it out. https://maureenmccarron.com/shop

Okay, back to work - Onward!

 This is Claudia, finally. I originally planned to do a cardinal for a holiday card, but decided to make it a yellow female instead. In theory, I could reverse the image and paint it red to make the card with and I still might, but now I'm painting a scarlet tanager. That's a red bird, it could work. Also, I'm now listed in the Paris Collage Collective Registry as well as having a profile on the Creative Ground website, along with updating my own website and Saatchi account. That's a lot of admin work this week on top of cleaning house, my job, doing an expense report for my accountant, applying for a spot in a craft fair in town, and oh yeah, making art. Got a little crazy today thinking I needed to order more frames, giclees and greeting cards without knowing if I'll get a booth at the craft fair yet. So, I didn't order any of it. What I did get though was a couple of Arches Watercolor blocks in 12x12", my preferred size at the moment - one in Cold Press for painting and one in Hot Press for drawing. I'm supposed to be making art, right?

Since I enjoyed posting about one of my CoVid collages last week, here's another. It's titled Swallows and has 5 elements in it - the artist, the window frame and desk, the landscape, the two swallows, and Whistler's Fireworks, which I xeroxed in black and white, cut up and then rearranged to create the background foundation to the rest of the piece.

I've been thinking about the lockdown because I just got vaccinated again and as usual, it knocked me flat. This time it was the Moderna version and as bad as I felt, it was not nearly as bad a reaction as what I've had in the past to Pfizer's. Was this the 6th or 7th? I can't remember, but that's a lot of shots to have for one thing in only a couple of years.

Known primarily for the bird portraits, I also do analog collage that incorporates birds into the imagery. Both approaches can be provocative and unworldly but each exists between mystery and fantasy in their innate if elusive narrative. This piece, titled Aria, is one of my favorites. And like most of the bird portraits, it has a gilded background.

Ah, winter's on the way - I feel an episode of collage making coming.

What a relief, I can wear cashmere again! Not that I hate summer, but this one and the one before were almost unbearable. It did fly by however because I've been so busy with the new website and all the administrative tasks involved. And the Garage Gallery, where the birds have been all season, closes next week so they'll be coming home. Next up, I'm putting together my online Shop - stay tuned!

Speaking of the birds, this is Scout, a brand new Mixed Media on Paper piece that went through quite a few changes that you can view in my Process page on the website. Now I'm working on a female cardinal which might be finished in time to post here next week. I'm calling her Claudia - get it, or is the reference too obscure?

 

 Yesterday, a friend from out of town came to see the birds I have in the Garage Gallery. We were greeted by this guest who had placed itself perfectly. Everyone is a critic, but my friend, who is a well-known writer, said the work had "an eerie beauty, both unworldly and of this world at once." He is not the first person to say they are unworldly - perhaps I should add that word to my artist statement.

This is Professor. He is available, sans spider, at the gallery until the end of the month.

 It's been almost a month since my first email blast, and this beauty was the first piece to sell in response to it. Yesterday, I went to the post office to send out one of the CoVid 19 collages that sold because of the blast as well, so it seems to be working. Oddly enough, the hawk is Freya and the collage is called Frida, and I can't help noting the coincidental similarity of their names.

In other news, I entered an exhibition opportunity in London and have had a rather rude awakening about what would be involved in getting the piece there if it got accepted. I'll spare you the details and just say it would be cheaper and easier and frankly more fun if I pop it in my suitcase and fly it over, stay in London for the opening, go visit my friend in Newcastle while the show is on and if it doesn't sell, pick it up, pop it back in the suitcase and fly it home. Can you say VATs and complicated courier services?

Finally finished Ava, she's been on the desk for months. I've been so engrossed with the mixed media on paper pieces that the wood panel paintings, which always take a long time anyway, have escaped my interest lately. I'm not even sure I like her, but I think she works. I do need to let her set for a day or two before I apply beeswax and then buff like crazy to give her that mysterious glow all the wood panel birds have. I also took a series of progression shots that I'll be adding to the website later. They're pretty interesting, if you care to take a look.

 

Here she is, Cookie's evil twin, Salome. I know, I know, Cookie was a great painting and she had her fans, but this was so much fun to do and I for one, like it better. Maybe she just suits the state of things, what with hurricanes and the mood of the country right now. These bird paintings did in fact start because of how I felt after the 2016 election and the inauguration in January. Not to get all political on you, but yeah. I'm now looking at old pieces I've done of a falcon and a vulture for the next giclee to rework, although I have a lovely new image of a pelican on the drawing board to do as an original.

 

 This is Cookie, the first of my bird paintings that sold to someone who was a stranger. They had been walking down the street in Provincetown when they saw it hanging in the Adam Peck Gallery on the day my show was about open. As soon as they saw it, they rushed in, asked the price and then pulled out their credit card. Or at least, that's the way the story was told to me when I met them later that evening. Three other pieces sold that night, one to another stranger. I had only been painting the birds for six months and had already sold eight to friends before the show, but having an exhibit and selling them to strangers was very exciting.

Recently, when I started doing giclees to sell as prints, I decided to have some made so I could rework paintings I no longer own but wanted to change. Cookie was on the list. For me, she was too cute, as much as I loved the brushwork, but it was more about the blue being just too blue.

Not anymore. The background has become a deep, darker than navy color, and Cookie now has an evil twin in the making. It's only about halfway done, but I love it. I've been taking pix to put on the website in the Process category and I'm sure the transition will be interesting. Since I can't keep away from it, I'm calling her Salome, I should have it done in time to post it in next week's blog. Stay tuned, I think this one will be amazing.

Today, I sent out my first official email blast. Honing in on the marketing end of my art website project that started this spring when I awarded a grant to upgrade the site and learn about the dreaded SEO exposure expansion. Frankly, it's been exhausting but if you had told me six months ago that I'd be doing what I'm doing these days, I would not have believed you. I'm more about holing up in the studio and making art, or talking about art, or looking at art, than I am at putting it out there. But out there it is, I even have a Saatchi account, which I don't know if anybody but me has looked at, but Hey, every little bit helps. Onward!

 

Here’s my dilemma. Do I create a bird portrait that looks as true to life as possible, or go with my instinct and imagination to express something deeper? The struggle comes once the piece has been sketched out and is still loose and painterly. For example, I’m currently working on a gannet, which a very white bird, but my favorite version of it was from a few days ago when it was in its pink undercoat state. Luckily, I have been taking pictures of the progress and it has occurred to me that I could have a giclee made of it at that stage and finish it as a pink fantasy by embellishing the print while continuing to make the original gannet white. 

The real question is am I a bird painter, or an artist who incorporates them as talismans and totems into my work? I think you know the answer, I certainly do. But sometimes it’s just about the paint. 

This is Milagros, the most recent piece in my bird series. It's also a fairly new process for me that started in the early spring when I decided to do a number of giclees of paintings I no longer owned and wanted to rework. I had them printed larger than the original and reversed the image if I felt the new owner would object to me reproducing it. Some of the prints came out great and required very little to enhance them. Others needed a complete overhaul because of issues with the jpeg I'd sent to the printer. As I went along changing backgrounds and eye shapes and adding more detail to the feathers and such, I used a blend of colored pencils and acrylic paint, both as glazes over the pencil marks and as the dominant medium. Not as intricate as my actual paintings on wood panels, these mixed media pieces have become my primary process for the time being. And since I had duplicates made when I ordered some of the giclees, it has given me the freedom to experiment. For example, the print that Milagros grew out of was originally a crow. Only the back of the head is the same. If you look closely, you see the complicated chest feathers that got covered up with layers of colored pencil and acrylic washes as it transformed into this new parrot.

I will be posting more of these mixed media pieces, but here is another from the crow prints which got reworked earlier in the series. Titled Raven Redux, its silvery feathers were not so pronounced and copper background used to be a deep burgundy.

 I haven't been on this blog in years, but I have a whole new life in Provincetown, and am very happy here. I do birds these days, which I see as kin to angels. Using glazes of saturated color and gilded backgrounds give them the aura of medieval icons. Wise, alert, often provocative or otherworldly, these birds are talismans and avatars; but still archetypal messengers and guardians. They exist in the borderland between mystery and fantasy — as do my mixed media pieces on wood, which also contain birds in their innate if elusive narrative.

With them in mind, I have created a new website and hope you will join me there, I think you will like it!

www.maureenmccarron.com