Category: Watercolor

May 29, 2015

Beauty is…

Like any artist or lover, I love Beauty.

But here’s a challenge: define Beauty. And why does it matter?

I intuit Beauty is important to the human experience. I’m sure some happiness researcher has done a study that shows Beauty is important to cultivating happiness. And geesh, happiness is so important these days that scientists study it. The magic happiness pill makes lots of money.

Beauty is healing too. And Beauty is more.

Here is a story

I’ve started to sell a little on Etsy. A customer approached me in a conversation about a print Fertility. She has been having a hard time conceiving and she wanted a piece of art that would help her imagine conceiving but also a healthy reproductive system. She wanted to know what my thought process was going into this painting.

Fertility (c) Marika Reinke

It took me a year to conceive my daughter. I relate to this struggle. It was one of my most difficult times.

Here is my response.

I painted this when I was having a hard time conceiving as well. It is such an exhaustingly emotional and baffling time. I didn’t know what was wrong or if there was something wrong. It was just hard and trying and gut wrenching. As you know. I was learning a different relationship with my body. I didn’t have full control of it. I was powerless in a way I never expected.

With this painting I was trying to imagine what my body looked like from within. I was learning to love me as I was. That it could be beautiful, not a scientific drawing, an x-Ray or broken somehow. It was and is amazing.

So it is a painting of a beautiful womb, artistically experienced (not scientifically rendered) from the heart. There are ovaries, and layers of red, shapes of the feminine ovals, circles and hearts. It is a place of love and power as it is. It is a place of potential.

There are suggestions of implantation. Yes. At the time that was my dream. But not a reality.

The blues are deeply soothing and mark and frame the womb. They bring power and contrast to the subject. They are organic shapes to suggest movement, other organs and life. I love that you see feathers! Yes!

Personally, I love the colors in this painting.

For my limited edition prints, I will hand highlight and embellish the painting with iridescent paints, silver or gold. If you have an idea you would like me to embed in the painting when I do this, I’d be honored to mark it that way for you as well. I embellish them when the order comes in. If you decided to purchase it, just send me a message and I can do this. They are high quality prints on watercolor paper and take this paint beautifully.

My hope is that it would help give you some peace and self-love in a difficult time and it would be meaningful for you as well.

In all, we exchanged 37 messages. By the 6th or 7th exchange she purchased a print. For the next dozen or so, we exchanged messages on how to hand embellish the print. This customer took full ownership of her print, directing me to mix a 1:1 ratio of gold and silver and very specifically directing me to the places she wanted highlighted. Here is the result:

Fertility highlighted (c) Marika Reinke

I loved the exchange. We collaborated and connected. As we communicated, I learned about her and her trying time. I have deep empathy and hope for her. I hope that she loves herself and through her process she becomes a mother.

Equally, the process made us both vulnerable. I had hopes this print would bring her peace and support. She had hope this print would touch her and bring her beauty, healing, peace in an emotionally exhausting time.

I mailed the print and we waited, holding our breath that our hopes would be realized.

Here is the beginning of her 5 star review. I say we succeeded:

“When I saw my painting I could not restrain tears of joy and hope that filled me up. Thank you, Marika, for a beautiful custom work! …” Read more here (In my opinion, it’s a good read).

But also this is Beauty. Not just Art the Product, but the Whole Process. Beauty.

And I love Beauty.

BUY HERE

Buy “Fertility” On Etsy Here

Buy Prints, Original and Cards at My Shop Here

Original: $250 with shipping

Customized Prints Available: $50 with shipping

Pack of 10 5″ x 7″ Art Cards: $35

CONTACT ME

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May 29, 2015

Reflections at Marika’s Art Studio #2: A Quarterly Newsletter

Spring has been busy and granted me incredible learning opportunities with many mishaps and a few victories. I’m very grateful for every success and I’m learning all about the joys and perils of accepting rejection too.

Lesson for all: Keep knocking on doors, some will open.

I’m expecting a summer full of the same. Let the roller coaster continue.

I’ve released my second newsletter, coming to your mailbox soon (or already). Take a peak here:

Marika’s Newsletter for May 2015

Save these Dates!

Details are on my Events page.

Art in the Park on Summer Thursdays:

June 4^th11-6, and July 16^th and August 4^th from 11-8
South Lake Union Park in front of MOHAI.

Queen Anne Days Art Walk

Saturday, June 11th Art Walk 11- 9 pm
Queen Anne Community Center Field

May 27, 2015

Draw a Blank

Truth: An artist comprehends no separation between art and life.

But recently I learned that I subconsciously regard aspects of my art as separate.

I have told myself this: Writing is not painting. But writing is most definitely art.

In this way…

When I decided to take the leap of faith and become a painter, I let go of others’ judgment and my worry. You know, that little voice that wants to please and seeks praise? I threw that out the window. It does not help the artistic process. Truth: I have an unique artistic voice that is not for everyone and that is the nature of art.

My paintings touch people and some people profoundly. I focus on this. When I paint for someone or some theme, I do my best to put their skin on and see the world from their perspective. The painting should be profound for that person or theme. If it touches more people in the process, that is a lovely side effect.

Paintings are an expression that creates meaning, relationships, and ultimately expand our understanding of life. Mine will do that for a few or many. But not all. Ok. I accept this and let go of worry.

When I handed “A Healing Place 2” off to my client, she stood in her living room and announced that she was going to read the story card aloud to her daughter and husband.

A Healing Place 2 In route (c) Marika Reinke

“Ack!” I choked and covered my face. I had a mini-panic attack right there. I wanted to run.

It was a Moment of Truth. A Teachable Moment.

Here on this blog and in all my marketing attempts I have exposed (one aspect of) my artistic soul in a gallery of public paintings and processes. I have no panic attacks. It is a struggle but ultimately I trust myself here.

But in that moment I could not listen to someone pronounce my words. I wring heartache into writing. I did not want to hear it and be faced with a critique.

Some damage, huh?

Writing is a cracked and bleeding medium for me. This is a revelation. I have been manipulating words and hiding behind the painting, a coward. Writing and I have a long history, longer than painting, but before I knew how to protect myself from all the real, imagined and self critics. It is my first love saturated with juvenile expectations and painful miscomprehensions. It is riddled. A puzzle of meaning and pain.

I need to get over it. If there is something my painting can teach my writing, this is it.