Late Afternoon in Elk Meadows

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This article is written by Gloria Malouf-Marsh

Elk Meadows is a region in the Rocky Mountains.  Many parks and trail systems boasts the Evergreen countryside. It is situated on 30 acres, right outside the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.

The scenery is vibrant. The atmosphere is fresh and brisk. The mountains are rugged towering to the skies. The pine, fir trees are carpeting the countryside. The animals are soaking the sunshine and this is elk country. Cascading waterfalls, rivers and brooks abound with rock formations in many shapes.

Mixed Media Painting “Late Afternoon in Elk Meadows” by Gloria Malouf-Marsh

I was excited doing this painting.  I wanted to experiment and discover texture.  I didn’t realize the challenge I was getting myself in for. So I started with gessoing (not sure if this is a word) the canvas with a palette knife.  It was a glorious sunny winter’s morning in Brisbane with some wind.  I had some fun manipulating the swirls, tucks, turns and working with the gesso in creating texture and shapes.   I’m loosening up with my grip on the brush. My canvas included the beckoning snow capped mountains; streams, waterfalls and rocks surrounding the carpet of trees massed with bright complimenting colors of yellow/orange, greens and the smell of nature surrounded me.

I sat at art class (before I started) looked at a blank yellow painted textured canvas.  As I skimmed through books – my imagination had ideas of free flowing curves, and instead of defining scenery, I wanted to listen to my intuition and carry it out without criticism or judgment.  My inner critic wanted me to use bright happy natural colors and I chose an area in the Rockies with snow-capped mountains – I then started with the deer brush, dabbing outlines of the trees, dark bottle green and yellow/orange.   As the canvas started to unfold my free flowing creativity expressed itself in mountains and pine trees.  I came home from my class and my canvas had  set out on its own journey.  I now need to define and build my subject matter. And on I go.

I used texture paste to form the stirring and splashing of the waterfall and this flowing down to the stream below surrounding rock formations.   I applied swirls of water eddying in downward direction to represent the speed of water. I used sand mixed with texture paste to form the rock formations. I then painted the rocks with Provincial Beige. Adding animal life to the scene made it very realistic and welcoming, as they were munching food and looked very happy.

This painting is a busy one, but very vibrant and alive. The finished canvas resembled late afternoon in Elk Meadows. I was quite happy with the end result.

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My name is Gloria Malouf-Marsh. I live in Brisbane, Australia, with my husband Greg and my daughter Salwa .  Springtime is glorious in Brisbane. I rise early and go for brisk walks, do my yoga practice and I’m inspired to face the day with inspiration and confidence. I get creative ideas for painting when I’m in nature. I love listening to nature’s sounds and watching and hearing the birds.

I am developing discipline in creating and making time for myself to daily paint. I seem curious to want to further my techniques.  I’m working with the building texture  mediums.  A sense of confidence and enjoyment has developed with me regarding honing my skills and techniques in the art medium, and I do enjoy this website so much.  Hearing peoples’ ideas and seeing their talents, just simply amaze me.  It is a special global family.   If I can create, so can you! Enjoy!

Emails are welcome at Gloria@radiantpathways.com.au

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Filed Under: Mixed Media Painting Tagged With: , ,

Santa Fe – New Mexico

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This article is written by Gloria Malouf-Marsh

This scene captures a Spanish/Mexican feel.  The countryside has rolling hills, scenic mountain sides and glorious vivid and bright colours of the rich culture of life, fire, and courage.

New Mexico is a Spanish colonial living history site. It boasts beautiful parks, river valleys, scenic mills and historic buildings dotting the countryside. It is so scenic… ranging from Westerns to Civil War sagas, have been filmed there.

Santa Fe – New Mexico Acrylic PaintingI started this composition using crimson red and I used a sponge dabber, which managed to spread across the whole canvas. I found the base, red colour off set the blue clouded sky and enriched the breadth of the frame.  I deliberately did not use perfect cloud formation in the sky, as I wanted to create my own shading and composition.

At first, I sketched a rough outline of my subject matter, the mountains where they started. The shadowing of the mountains added perspective. I concentrated on the two houses, the road just off the middle, and last of all, the fence. The fan brush was used to create the grass spikes. This added more depth. With the fence wires, I applied a silver fine pen to the wires so the fence line would be a feature of the painting.

Bright colour brings boldness and character to any subject matter and also reflects the rich colours of the countryside. These colours enliven the artist within and shape takes form.

The foliage of the trees and colour combined, orange/yellow, brown and gold were dabbing effects.  I used the deer brush for this application. I felt this brought a sense of balance and especially the semi-circle shape below the mountain range and undulating hills. The two houses had a hacienda feel.

Acrylic painting is ever so forgiving. I believe this is the way to go if you are a beginner. I take more risks now. I begin a painting with a bright coloured background and kick starts the imagination to take risks.  This boosts one’s confidence. I have been amazed with the outcome and end result.

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My name is Gloria Malouf-Marsh. I live in Brisbane, Australia, in a very leafy suburb called Indooroopilly.  I live with my husband Greg and my daughter Salwa. Among my many interest are, singing, playing the piano, cooking, doing voluntary work and studying Ayurveda and Taoism.  I’m a Yoga Chi Gung Teacher.

In December of last year, our beagle Cassie died from cancer.  She’s sorely missed by us all, but I do very much miss our times together when I’d be painting away.

Beagles are very loyal, loving and caring dogs.

My husband and I have not long returned from three weeks in Vietnam.  The highlight of our trip was Halong Bay. Halong Bay is a UNESCO Heritage site, and is surrounded by limestone mountain formations. We went on a cruise for 3 days, and I was in awe of this amazing place. We had a wonderful time. It really is a special place to visit.

The weather in Brisbane is glorious in winter. We are very spoiled with sunny days, clear blue skies, and the weather is very conducive for applying the brush on canvas.

I have enjoyed painting this art contribution of Santa Fe very much.  It’s amazing how much confidence we acquire after practicing daily with the brush, doing any form of Mixed Media art creations.  Motivation is the word of paramount importance for me, in being creative. I, sometimes find excuses with trying to always be creative, working my imagination, tracing, stenciling, drawing, etc…So, I say there are no excuses, but to continue and prod dry patches. I’m the one to encourage myself not to lapse into excuses.

Enjoy and create something from nothing.

Emails are welcome

My email is: gloria@radiantpathways.com.au

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Filed Under: Mixed Media Painting Tagged With: , , , ,

The Holy Trinity

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This article is written by Gloria Malouf-Marsh

Original Painting by Andrei Rublev (1370-1430)

This painting I took from an Icon called “The Holy Trinity”.  Andrei Rublev painted it around the 14th century. He is a famous medieval artist of Orthodox icons. This icon is a masterpiece of Russian traditional iconography. There are many depictions of this Icon, portraying different colorings.  It represents the Trinity in the form of three angels.  The icon describes three angels who visited Abraham at the Oak of Mamre. The angels are a representation of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father and the Holy Spirit are both inclined toward the Son, which is the central figure. The faces’ gaze is circular.  The symbolism portrayed is that the Father leads us to the Son, who leads us to the Holy Spirit; in turn the Holy Spirit leads us back to Christ and Christ leads us back to the Father. There are three figures sitting around a table. The finger pointing is very important in iconography – pointing to the chalice, the eyes gazing to God the Father, which is the first figure. God the Son is the central figure and the figure on the right is the Holy Spirit.   Its purpose is to transport us into a transfigured world. Meditating on and symbolism of the icon is a very important factor during the painting.

The house above the first figure (God the Father) is that of Abraham and Sarah from the Old Testament. The subject of the icon is based on the story of Abraham, who is camping by the Oak of Mamre when he received three visitors.  As he converses with the three angels and serves them a meal, it is revealed he is actually talking directly to God. The Mamre oak tree above the middle figure (God the son) may represent the Cross, and the mountain above the third figure represents places where people often encountered God -places where heaven and earth seem to touch. Another name for this icon is called “The Hospitality of Abraham” icon.

mixed media painting

To appreciate the subject, I thought to elaborate on the background of the Icon first. I started painting the canvas with gesso. I sketched 3 figures and 3 haloes and wings in the center of the canvas. I worked around, above and below the 3 figures. Firstly, I used burnt umber (dark brown) above and below the figures.  I then used the deer brush to dab the rich gold, over the burnt umber and left spaces between. I then applied yellow oxide on top of that with the deer brush, and finally used Naples yellow hue, one at a time to build the texture and effect. This gave a three-dimensional effect to the picture. This is an effective tip to pass on. I loved the color scheme that I chose.  The painting was very detailed; drawing the figures had to be reasonably in proportion. I then sketched the wings and the painting  was taking form. A clergy told me that I depicted the feminine side in the three figures of this picture. I thought that was significant, as one would imagine that the male dominant force was strong in the medieval times. This was significant for me because I learned that we all have a feminine and masculine side to us. One goes on a very personal journey with the artist and the subject. Creating and painting folds of material sweeping and draping of the arm garments and the knee positions all assisted with the overall effect. I chose to create my personal style in this composition and it meant a lot to me. This took me over three months to finish.  I was also caring for our very sick dog named Cassie, during this time.  So my time was divided, and I was feeling very sad at the time.

I thoroughly enjoyed the time I gave this painting.

I do encourage all artists to try all mediums and a diversity of choices when being creative.  Create with abandon; nothing is right or wrong with using the brush.  Acrylic Medium is very forgiving. So be daring with swirls and freeing up of the hand, the brush and the mind, and you’d be surprised where creativity takes you. This does unleash the artist within.

I also encourage regular practice with the brush. Mix with likeminded people.  We all teach each other so much and most of all have lots of fun and enjoyment! This keeps us connected to our creative spirit.

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My name is Gloria Malouf-Marsh. I live in Brisbane, Australia, in a very leafy suburb called Indooroopilly. I live with my husband Greg and my daughter Salwa.

Emails are welcome to gloria@radiantpathways.com.au

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Filed Under: Mixed Media Inspiration Tagged With: , , ,