Martha Kelly Art blog - MARTHA KELLY ART

Published on: January 14, 2015

Urban Sketching brunch

It was absurdly cold on Saturday morning, so the Memphis Urban Sketchers met indoors at the Arcade. Usually we scatter to paint, so it was fun to sit in a group, look at each others' sketch books, and (because I have to when I go there) eat sweet potato pancakes.

Published on: January 12, 2015

Domestic sketches

Mr. Darcy and I spend a number of evenings on the couch, with a book, journal, a little Downton Abbey, and usually a sketch book nearby. Here are sketches from the last couple of days.

Published on: January 7, 2015

Print progress

The forest print stalled out a bit while I came down with the family epizudiac and did sit down work instead. But today I couldn't stand the suspense of what it will look like, so I did the standing up work of pulling the second block in the four proofs I have going (color tests on different papers). The second block is three colors, with three rollers to blend the colors on the block. My printmaking is getting more complex as I go along, but multiple colors also helps me keep the number of blocks needed at a minimum. This print will be three blocks total, which means three printings, instead of five or six if I did one for each color.

I started another print while I was doing sit down work. I flipped back through my travel sketchbooks from the year. I'd halfway forgotten about this moonrise watercolor from my September stay at Country Workshops. I thought at the time it would make a good print, but then I got distracted by further travels and shows. So it was good to get a start on this one as well. It will be two blocks, with grey cloud cover underneath this main one.

Published on: January 3, 2015

New Print

I'm working on a new print this week. It's a direct result of my carrying a sketch book more often. I was out doing errands one day, and it was warm and lovely, so I walked through the park on my way home and just saw this. I'm glad I had the materials with me to draw it.

I love all my travel painting, but I've been feeling that it's time to get back to painting my home that I love as well. I'm planning a landscape show for the fall that will be home scenes instead of travel ones.

Here's the first proof of the key block (the main design block).

This is what's a lesson in patience about printmaking. I've got all three blocks carved now, but I'll have to wait another two days to see what they all look like together. The ink needs drying time between layers. I just printed the first layer today. It's two shades of blue grey rolled together. The fall colors in the trees will go on next, and the key block in a darker grey will be last. Then I'll see what adjustments I have to make to my carving before I pull the finished prints, also in three stages. Printmaking is the antitheses of quick, immediate gratification watercolors.

Published on: January 1, 2015

New Year

New Year's Eve was cold but sunny, after a good bit of grey, so I took my sketch pad over on my daily walk to Overton Park. I want to do an oil of the scene above, mostly from a watercolor sketch I have, but I needed a little more information about the left hand side trees.

Then the sky was so lovely I just wanted to mark the last day of 2014 by doing a sketch of the magnolias I love at the edge of the Greensward. It's a dear place to me, and marking it with a sketch seemed right.

By then Mr. Darcy and I were quite cold, so we walked.

New Year's day was the third year in a row for a potluck jam with the group of musicians I play with most weeks. (Very informal -- just tunes in someone's back living room.) Playing music in a roomful of people I care about is a wonderful way to start the year. I'm grateful to Mike and Lisa for starting this tradition and welcoming us into their home.

I'm going to continue try to keep sketching more this year. That was the biggest change in my work in 2014, and it was a very enjoyable one. It has also carried over into my printmaking and painting, so I'd like to keep up my momentum.

Published on: December 26, 2014

Christmas in the Forest

I've been so busy with Christmas commissions and shows that I haven't made it out with my tree journal lately. The weather Christmas Day was sunny and quite warm for December, so my present to myself was a couple of hours in the forest between family events. It was lovely to spend that time sitting with trees (and Mr. Darcy) and doing a little art just for myself.

And just because it's a beautiful spot, here's the morning walk photo I took earlier in the day. I'm thinking of doing a painting in this light.

I love my park. It's such a huge part of my quality of life.

Published on: December 20, 2014

More Cape May

I've been running a little nuts up here painting a ton of itty, bitty Christmas lights, so I haven't been posting every day the way I try to when I'm traveling. But here are a few of the watercolors I've been doing.

Above is the porch of the Blue Pig Tavern. And below is the porch of the Virginia Hotel. They have marvelous porches here.

And here are a couple of beautifully decorated lobbies. Congress Hall first and then the Virginia. They do really lovely details everywhere here.

But, man, lots of little, bitty lights....

Published on: December 18, 2014

Cape May Gingerbread

I sat outside today and painted the Red Cottage, my favorite of the Victorian cottages owned by Cape Resorts. It's got a lovely tower you can't see in my close up. Over three years of painting here, I've become much faster at painting architectural gingerbread.

Here's my set up. At 39 degrees, I figured none of the guests would be fighting me for a porch chair...

All the architectural gingerbread made me crave the real thing, so I warmed up afterwards with tea and a cookie.

Published on: December 15, 2014

Open Studio Sale

It was a lovely weekend's sale this past weekend. I enjoyed having so many friends in my house, and I also loved having Melissa Bridgman's pottery in my front room. I was sad to see it all packed up to go home, but I'm glad I got to keep a tea canister with a tiny bird's nest on top. It matches my teapot and cups.

After two days of socializing and doing the selling part of art, it felt great to draw out a new print last night. I've been looking at this page in my sketchbook for my next print, and I drew it out to size last night so it will be waiting for me to dive right in when I get back from Cape May.

I leave tomorrow for a week's worth of illustration job at Cape Resorts. I'm looking forward to painting all their Christmas decorations. Click on this link to watch a bunch of my previous paintings for them flash back. It's such fun to see my art used like that!

Published on: December 5, 2014

Open Studio Sale coming up

This week I'm cleaning my studio in preparation for my annual Open Studio holiday sale, all the while singing, "Make your house fair as you are able" from one of my favorite Advent hymns. My fair never looks like other people's fair, but it will be good enough to invite all of you lovely people in to have cookies and cider next weekend. And you should totally turn out to see Melissa Bridgman's marvelous pottery. I'm so excited she's joining me this year.

One of my preparations is printing the invitations on my press. I hand set the type, which takes me a while since I don't do it that often, but it's also highly satisfying.

I casually mentioned a "California case" the other day and came up against a blank stare. Just like typewriter keyboards, printers cases are organized so you can grab the more used letters more easily, so they are not a to z in the alphabet song order. I still have to cheat and look at my diagram sometimes. (I always lose the "k.") Here's the case, pulled most of the way out of my cabinet, along with the diagram.

I set the type in a smaller block and then build out around it with wooden "furniture" to make it fit inside the "chase" or frame that fits in my press.

I was on a printing roll this week. I got a bulk order for some cards, so I reprinted these trees as well. I'll have a bunch more at my open house. Stop by next weekend and have a cookie or three.

Martha Kelly is an artist and illustrator who lives and works in Memphis, Tennessee.

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