''Silent dreams'' - 07.2014

"This world is but a canvas to our imagination." - Henry David Thoreau

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Today I will not go on a rant about some random thing... I'll not go on a rant at all.

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The following painting is currently on display at Christ Church, Oxford.

It was a birthday present for my dear friend Henry. 

Not Henry Thoreau, 

Henry Rodriguez-Broadbent or the ''guy who does maths at Oxford''.

He's also the guy who's ruined my life and convinced me that doing a maths degree was a great decision. yh right. 

I mean, who would want to do calculus for 4 years? 

Well, to be honest, I'm exaggerating, I'm actually looking forward to it :')

Come on September, hurry up.

As always Artists' oil paints from Winsor and Newton on a strange size canvas (about 6" x 12")

"Silent Dreams"

Lots of Love,

Marlena 

Drumlane Abbey, Cavan - 24.11.2014

Where are you Christmas? Why can't I find you? Why have you gone away...?

[listen]

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Christmas, Christmas, Christmas. Amazing time of the year. Usually. This year I feel like someone stole Christmas from me... Every year I start my Christmas preparations a month in advance and just spend the month searching for presents and writing cards.. This year however I had to rush everything, didn't write any cards and my presents weren't as thoughtful as usually.
Why? well... the answer is simple. I got a job. 

During the Christmas period we spend so much time worrying about money and our jobs. In all that hassle of everyday worries and problems we fail to truly experience Christmas. 
Christmas Day has become the most stressful day of the year for because everything has to ready and perfect even though we're spending it with our families. 
Christmas has been so commercialised that it is more about the presents and showing off than it is about having quality family time. Christmas itself has become purely a day focused on money.

I doubt that I'll get a Christmas job next year because this year it has simply robbed me instead of giving me something (except for money of course). On Christmas Day I was too exhausted to enjoy it. I literally fell asleep.

Christmas huh .. 

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Here's one of my latest paintings. It was created for the man with whom I have spent my Christmas this year.
It was a gift for his 19th birthday and it took me exactly 19 hours (which was of course a coincidence) :)

It's a painting of Drumlane Abbey, Cavan - a place where his Grandparents are buried. I wasn't just being creepy - he asked me for a painting of that place ages ago :)


Here is it:

Painted using artists' oil paints from Winston and Newton on a 18"x14" canvas, also from Winston and Newton.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas :) !!!



Lots of Love,
Marlena x 

The Annoying Tree - 28.06.2014

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep" - Scott Adams

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I've got this strange tendency to over-think things. I'm sure most of us do it. It's not usually a bad thing - to think things through, but with me, it's like an addiction or an illness. If I ever make a decision it's always in the heat of the moment, because if I have enough time to think it through, I'll never come to a conclusion,  I'll just keep on constantly changing my mind and messing stuff up. If you've ever seen me make an important decision I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about. I need to talk through all of my options, this is where my friends step in. And then even if I do make a decision, I'll just change my mind on the following day. It's horrible.

I haven't been very active here recently (again) because I recently started being a ''Teacher'', well more of a learning support teacher. I just do some extra maths with one boy, some reading with others and help a couple of boys in English/Latin. It's a very fun job, every day is different but it does mean that I barely get any free time to paint (I get home from work and then tutor in the evenings).
I feel like I'm talking to an old friend right now, so if any of you reading this wanted to catch up with me, here you go, no need to get in touch with me anymore - you know everything now :)

I'm talking nonsense today, but what I write here is not the main subject of my blog. All of this is just extra stuff. The main thing is the painting. So here it is.


It's called ''The annoying tree'' because the tree you see in the foreground nearly made me destroy the painting. I had to repaint it way too many times. I was just never happy with it... I did get there in the end and I'm quite satisfied with the outcome :)

''The Annoying Tree'' using artists' oil paints from Winsor and Newton on a 18" x 14" canvas.



Lots of Love,
Marlena