Day 23/30

Day 23/30


 Hello! I hope that you've been chasing down those dreams of yours and prospering from your creativity, this week!

This week, we've been going on several mini-excursions (via the internet). These excursions have been all about traveling and exploring new land and letting go of any negativity within ourselves.
To summarize the concept of this week, I created a small 'destination booklet' that signified my own, personal travel goals. Inside, there will be empty pages where I can journal about this challenge, decorate and use as a small scrapbook for my mini-excursion memories.

Cover of booklet

Title: "Book of Destinations"
Media: graphite, pen, white gel pen, watercolors, print out of map, pattern tissue paper on Rives BFK paper
Size: 14 1/2 inches by 7 1/4 inches
© 2013 by Martice Smith II.

booklet detail of faux stamp

Booklet detail; check out that texture!

Well, that's the END OF WEEK 3!!!! Eeekkk! Just one more week to go ;-)

Creatively yours,

Oh, if you haven't done so already, ENTER MY GIVEAWAY for a complimentary artwork from ME!

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Day 22/30: Oklahoma

Day 22/30

"There is vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost." ~Martha Graham

Title: "Let us go back..."
Media: graphite, oil pastels, organza fabric, mini safety pin, red and black ink, photocopy of vintage photo, image transfer and embroidery floss on watercolor paper
Size: 14 inches by 7 inches
© 2013 by Martice Smith II.
*my maternal grandmother is the one on the far right. Circa 1960, New Year's. Couldn't get her to drink any booze! My mother told me grandma was, most likely, drinking tea, coffee, or hot chocolate. Yum!

 These are a few of the details: embroidery floss, a safety pin attached to a swatch of organza fabric.

Grandma Vivian ALWAYS kept a safety pin on her! This is one of them she used to pin the hem of my dress.

I often think about how life probably was for my Grandma while she was just a child, living on the Indian reservation in Oklahoma. Being as private as she was, she hardly ever spoke about what her life was like there. So, today's mini-excursion will be in Oklahoma; where it all began.

Many times, I'd ask her to tell me a story from her childhood. Her countenance would immediately change- eyes open up, reflecting shimmers of light, those high cheekbones round out and flush with a slight pink color, and her feet starts tapping like she's about to re-enact the entire episode of her memory. She had a voice that would stop you in your tracks, just to listen to her! During the story, grandma would bellow out into unstoppable fits of laughter, talking to me as if I was actually there, witnessing every bit of detail with her. Oh how I wish I could've asked her the questions I have now!

Even though she and her sister (the one in the middle) have made their 'transition into that higher place', where we are all trying to get to, I can still feel the strong touch of her hand, hear her contagious laughter, and the hint of perfume still lingers in her favorite scarf that I have. Ahhh, the memories... :-)

Her sisters were her joy; that's one reason why I chose this picture. I only have a handful of photographs of my Grandma and I cherish each one with my whole heart. I'm so thankful that my Mama passed the photos that she had of her, down to me and my brother. I am blessed to know, at least something, of my heritage and history, on my mother's side. I'm so glad to share these moments I shared with my maternal grandma with you. Thank you so much for reading!

Peace and love, my friends,

Day 20/30 + ANOTHER GIVEAWAY

I have decided to have another giveaway during my 30 day art challenge! Woohoo!!! I hope you take the time to enter, if you haven't already done so. Super thank you to those who already took advantage of the early notice via my free, mixed-media newsletter.

Go ahead and snag your entries for a chance to win! If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to ask me.

Day 20/30: London

take a closer look, with these detail shots...

I like to simplify things with a nice, fluid contour line drawing. It really helps train the eye to see the major shapes that make up the overall object. No over-complicating, here! Just go with the flow...and NO erasing!

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Day 17/30: Brazil

Day 17/30

Today's mini-excursion will be in BRAZIL!! I'm so excited because I've been studying Brazilian Portuguese for nearly 2 years now and I really wish to practice with a native speaker. I have met another artist who has been helping me along the way. Maybe, just maybe, I'll be taking an actual trip there, in the future!

I've always been in awe of Brazil's eclectic mix of culture and friendly personality.  Oh, I would love to witness the annual, 5 day Rio de Janeiro Carnival ('Carnaval' in Portuguese) that will be held next year on February 28th, watch the 2014 Olympic games, walk the Ipanema beach, visit the 'Christ the Redeemer' statue- which is considered the world's largest Art Deco statue IN THE WORLD, standing at a tremendous height of 130 feet!! The list could, easily, go on and on...

So, let's move on to today's project. Today, I was intuitively working- painting, tearing paper left and right, gluing and stitching images together, when a message started to emerge and manifest its reason for being. I will tell you what it was, but see if you can figure it out first.

Title: "Be alive, prosper!"

Media: decorative scrapbook papers, fabric scraps, colored tissue paper, embroidery floss, thread, stencils, hand-written text, rhinestones, modeling paste, acrylic paints and tracing paper on wood panel. 

Size: 5 inches by 4 1/2 inches

© 2013 by Martice Smith II. 

Ahhhh....paper ephemera heaven...LOVE IT! This is my stash of decorative and scrapbook paper. Gotta find the 'right' papers to express the exuberance of Brazil!  

 New color combinations, patterns, and imagery all mixed up in unexpected ways to create sparks of imagination on my wood panel. I like to be messy at time, like with this project. I believe in following my impulse...it has never led me wrong!

Instead of trying to fit each inch of paper on the rectangular shape of wooden panel, I just let them spill over freely and carefully ran a sharp craft knife to trim each side edge.

See how nice the edges turned out?! Trimming makes a very neat edge that brings contrast to the free-form collage. This pic shows you a step where I used sandpaper to round off the corners...to have more control over the sandpaper, I created my own hand-held sandpaper tool by gluing a piece to a spray can top! Clever, clever, yeah I know!

Here's a close up- there are many layers on this panel. Cut-outs, stencils, hand-torn papers, tissue and acrylic paints.

It wasn't until after I finished this project that a message revealed itself to me. It read 'Be alive, PROSPER'. Wow, such profound words for me, right now!!
It will serve as a reminder to keep looking forward, be totally in the moment of creating and boldly make artwork that's authentic to me.


I hope you enjoyed inspiration from Brazil in all its rich, luscious colors and magical culture!

Até amanhã (ah-TAY a-MUN-yah),

"See you tomorrow",

Day 16/30 {WEEK 3/THEME: Travel}

Day 16/30

Welcome to WEEK 3 of my 30 day art challenge!

If there was any place in the world you'd want to travel to, where would you go?

I have a very loooong list of places I want to explore. Just because I may not have the money to go right now, why would that stop me?! I believe that God will make a way for me to travel around the world, someday. Wouldn't it be great if my art took me there? HECK YEAH! Let's go now...come along with me!

Today, I've packed my imagination and I'm heading out. Here's a quick, little illustration I did today:

This illustration is packed with contour line drawings, to give a sense of dynamic movement. Photography (the cityscape in the background) has also been incorporated. I experimented with the value scale and decided to have the majority of the work in values of gray and the burst of colors from the personality of the figure. I really like how you can see the city through her tank top and through the windows of the bus!

Title: "Are We There Yet?!"
Media: graphite, colored pencils, cut paper collage, vellum, photography, watercolors and ink pen on watercolor paper and digital collage.
Size: 4 inches by 6 inches
© 2013 by Martice Smith II.


I L♥VE traveling- and I especially love road trips. When I was growing up, my mother, twin brother and I would travel often, just for our "family fun time" (as we call it). Although I've never been outside of the USA, it has been a dream of mine's to do so. I know, without a doubt, that I get my "traveling bug" from my Mama!

During WEEK 3, we'll be taking our very own, mini excursions via internet! This means, we're simply going, WHEREVER we want to go on a ticket from the world wide web! Oh, and the best part? IT'S TOTALLY FREE!

"If you see it {your dreams} in your mind, the hardest part has already been done. The second hardest, for most people, is to say 'I'm going'." ~ Martice Smith II


What about you, my friend? Where do you see yourself going? When you get there, what things will you do? (Don't tell me any negative stuff- 'cause I'm not having it!)

Peace,