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A change of pace, and style.

  • Writer: Annie Mason
    Annie Mason
  • 2 min read

Watercolor is my medium (check a recent blog post on this topic)... CREATE. Why? I have talked about how I love pen & ink with watercolor. It might not be much of "a change of pace," but it seems to be a HUGE change in style.


This idea began when the owner of Heather a Boutique in downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia, had a quick chat with me while I visited her shop. Heather wondered whether some of the iconic sites in this historic district could be the subject of some of my greeting cards.


The thought stayed in my head for months, pushed back by the strange intervention of Covid-19. Heather's shop was one of so many in Fredericksburg that needed to shut its doors in mid-March and continued to do so into the summer months. Like many shop owners, she had to devise creative ways of selling her wares remotely, by phone, email, and appointment. It's been very hard on the independent shops.





Now to my revelation: Why not just pick a place, take a picture, pick a pen, and start?


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The result is quite striking, at least to my eye. Architecture has never been my strong suit. The curves of flowers and birds keep my arm loose, and accidents can be quickly adapted with some paint to the affected boo-boo.


The straight, bold, perspective lines of buildings and facades are unforgiving. "Oops" cannot happen with a pen or ruler. Can I do this? Yes. Yes, I can.


First came the photographs. A foray down to Fredericksburg on a lovely day gave me at least three different places to dive into. I knew well enough not to do this on a Saturday afternoon. Even during the lockdown in March and April, people were bound to be out walking their dogs along the tree-lined sidewalks.




With my camera at the ready, I found parking spots (Fredericksburg is notoriously hard to park your car, and you had better beware: the local police might mark your tires and come back to boot that exact tire if you haven't moved in the allotted time frame).








Below are the results. Hold the cursor over any fifteen images for the title. Click for more information.




The jump to try my hand at architectural drawing is a change. Isn't it nice to "shake it up" sometimes? It can be scary, yet refreshing.



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below and purchase any book.

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by James K. Bryant II. Paperback and Hardcover


by Ted Kamieniak. Paperback, Kindle, and Hardcover


by Michael Aubrecht Paperback.


by De'Onne C. Scott. Paperback


by Francis Augustin O'Reilly. Paperback



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Meet the Artist - Anne Corr

  • Writer: Annie Mason
    Annie Mason
  • 4 min read

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Meet the Artist. The place where I introduce YOU to an artist through a "virtual" interview via a set of questions. Let's begin.



Anne Corr

Nottingham, England



Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means that if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.


  • Who are you, and what is your background?

Hi there! My name is Anne Corr - I live in Nottingham, England which is about as far from the sea as you can get in the U.K.! Unfortunately, as I love the sea. I have a husband and grown-up children, and an adorable rescue dog - if a bit needy. I enjoy living at home because for fifteen years we lived a two-county existence which demanded a lot of travel.



  • What is your favorite medium?

That is tricky - I move in and out but currently, I enjoy working from the pc and designing surface pattern design. I use Photoshop a lot and work with both photographs and images from past masters.


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I have a strange condition called aphantasia which means I have no means of visualizing -- so my memory is non-visual too. I cannot recall people's faces (even my son's!) or places that I have been. I rely on what I see around me to create. (It can be difficult for others

to get used to. I live very much in the present as I don't recall a great deal). I used to paint much more than I do now. I may get back to that, but when I worked away from home I became interested in using images digitally for ease of workflow, as much as anything.






  • Has your practice changed over time?

I change constantly. I have a great love of literature and words, so those infiltrate what I do (see my blog to believe me!), I create handmade books that reflect my curiosity in literature, the arts, and nature. I love the physicality of making my handmade books, playing with creating new covers, new end pages, new wraps -- my handmade work is not particularly lucrative as is very time-consuming -- but the rewards are fantastic --it grounds me and creates reflective, thinking-time.



  • What do you most enjoy painting?

I love the natural world, particularly botanical illustration. I love going back to art history

and reworking it for more contemporary decoration. I also enjoy painting from my own

photography. This is a direction that I am attracted to at the moment. I created some digital paintings from a holiday in Cornwall that I enjoyed, and I spend a lot of time in Scotland because of the landscape there. [see fineartamerica.com ]


Art Print at Society6
The fragility of living - a botanical illustration (click the image above to Society6)


  • What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

I started my working life very early, at 14 (spare time) in a sweet shop! I spent time in retail jewellery, then a management training course at M&S -- it wasn't for me. I worked in a printed packaging company for about 13 years before I had children. It connected me to a love of graphics.


  • What food, drink, or song inspires you?


Wine, wine, and more wine!! I will interrupt it with a cheese break now and again - whilst listening to the Waterboys or Van Morrison! The Waterboys are my go-to when I am working at the p.c.


  • What has been your favorite response to your work?


greeting card from modestly etsu
Country Garden II

Being told I am a 'Renaissance woman'!!!


I am often really moved when I read messages from my customers, particularly from [modestly] Etsy. My books get wonderful responses, and it makes my world very much more connected when someone tells me that my work has had particular meaning for them. It is the fuel to my creating more.







watercolor design flowers spring bath shower curtain
Circle of life - floral Shower Curtain from Society6


comforter from society6
Floral arrangement comforter from Society6


  • Professionally, what is your goal?

To improve. I constantly want to create better, both in my hand-crafted books and in my surface pattern designs. I look to new outlets, and wonderfully have started to sell limited edition prints locally, as well as moving into fabric design at Spoonflower - Designs by anipani



  • What's your best piece of advice for someone who wants to get started as an artist?

Play...try anything that sparks an interest in you, and practice a lot! There will be frustration involved in making anything, but the process itself brings rewards. It is a wonderful way of living a meaningful life. Failure is part of the process - and only helps you learn more.




Thank you, Anne. Your artwork is just wonderful. I am sure that you will have many new visitors to your sites.


For more of Anne's work here are her links:

Displate: collections



As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Clicking any link

below and purchasing this product will be an Amazon commission

for me but will have no cost to you.



If interested in "Aphantasia" here are some books/audio that pertains to this condition:


by Alan Kendle, Peter Baker. Audible Audiobook


by Josh Windrow. Paperback




Thank you for visiting this "Meet the Artist" blog post. Thank you, Anne Corr, for sharing your background and artwork with my visitors.


visit all the MEET THE ARTIST posts


Pin it, please. Comments below this post.



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New feature MEET THE ARTIST

  • Writer: Annie Mason
    Annie Mason
  • 3 min read

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Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.



Michelle Brenmark

Wisconsin, USA



  • Who are you, and what is your background?


My name is Michelle Brenmark, a.k.a. One Artsy Momma. I'm happily married to my best friend of 28 years, Ed. We have twin teenagers, Eddie and Catie, plus two dogs, Indy and Junior.


I'm a breast cancer survivor (5 years cancer-free) and a self-taught artist.


I've been creating art since I was a child. While I took a long hiatus from creating once I became a momma, I eventually jumped back into it; it was in 2012 that I decided to try digital art for the first time. I saved up for a

fantastic software called ArtRage.

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I taught myself how to create digitally, and I opened up my very first

Product on Demand (POD) store:













  • What is your favorite medium?


In 2019, I stopped creating digitally and started using the real deal. I first started with watercolor paints and, lately, colored pencils. I am seriously considering trying out acrylic paint. I am going to experiment with this technique called paint pouring. I can't wait to try it out. It looks so fun, but it will be messy.

My favorite medium would be colored pencils, which is surprising because when I first started using them, I didn't enjoy the process. It's a slow way to create art because of the many layers of color you need to put down onto your paper and the color blending process.


What do you enjoy creating?

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The Owl Lovers




My favorite subjects, hands-down, are owls. They are so majestic and adorable.


(click the photo to see this image on a ceramic tile from Zazzle)











When I found digital art in 2012, my main subjects were ladybugs. This is my very first ladybug painting.

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Ladybug Professing His Love

(click the photo to see this image on a Poster at Zazzle) -->















Then, I started my Wildlife Series: pieces of animals with a ladybug visiting them on their noses or beaks. This panda bear was the first creation of the series.


(Click on the photo to see this image on a Throw Pillow from Zazzle)

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The Panda Bear and His Visitor


  • What food, drink, or song inspires you?


Music is another form of art. I always have music playing while I'm creating. I love a variety of music genres, from classic rock to jazz. My favorites are The Beatles, Led Zepplin, Wings, Sir Paul McCartney, and Vince Guaraldi. Lately, I have to hit the repeat mode on my favorite song from Wings, "Goodnight Tonight." (YouTube)

I LOVE that song!




  • Professionally, what is your goal?


I plan to write and illustrate my first children's book within six months. I want to create more art pieces, as well.


  • What is your best advice for someone wanting to start as an artist?


I would say don't put your eggs in too many baskets. If you plan to sell your art online via product-on-demand websites, choose a couple of sites. I made the mistake of joining a half dozen sites when I first started my art, and it was too much stress and a huge hassle to load my art to each site. It was way too time-consuming. Just start with one or two. I highly recommend Zazzle.com. They have high-quality products and superb customer service.





Thank you, Michelle. I'm happy you are Annie Mason's first "Meet the Artist" series post. I hope the readers enjoyed this as much as I did.


Visit Michelle's website to see more of her art and blog: One Artsy Momma

Stores:

Social Media:


As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Clicking the link

below and purchasing this product will be an Amazon commission

for me but will have no cost to you.





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