Following Your Heart

I have been an artist my entire life. Ever since I remember I've drawn. I made drawings of my pregnant mom when I was four. I made paper doll castles with my sister because we had just seen Queen Elizabeth's dollhouse in National Geographic Magazine. 

It had not occurred to me that this was my calling. That I was meant to do this. That every single cell in my body was programmed to be an artist. My Dad always told us to never be an artist (he was an artist). He said that we should go into business or real estate. Never be an artist. This was drilled into me. So I went to Law School. Two years in, I couldn't take it anymore and I dropped out. 

I had jobs throughout my life in which I would spend the day waiting for lunch and then the rest of the day waiting for 5 pm and the entire week waiting for Friday and the whole year waiting for my vacation. Those days were miserable. It was like being forced to eat something you hate everyday until you become numb. 

A few years ago I decided that I was going to follow my heart. I was like fuck it, I'm living in regret, what's worse than that? I'm going to follow my dream. I signed up to get my Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts. I was terrified. Excited but scared. This was the first time I was going to put myself first. My dream was becoming a reality. Fast forward to today. I finished my career and became a full time artist. Hours go by like minutes when I'm working. Weeks pass like a breeze and my heart is happy. Still terrified but amazingly joyful. Here's to following your heart. Doesn't matter how scary it is, it's worth it. Your soul will thank you. 

I Want to Protect You

This painting has come from deep within my heart. It is the very first painting I have completed this year. It's a very personal piece. I hope you enjoy it!

Close up of the bear and girl.

Look at all of those stars!

You can see a dark forest in the distance.

It all started with a rough sketch.

Thanks for stopping by! xoxo

The Reading

I'm learning the Tarot and decided to do a personal reading. There are many types of readings one can do. I decided on a simple past, present and future. I would do three paintings of this reading, not an exact copy of the card, but instead, an interpretation of the meaning. In another post I showed you the painting of the "Present" which was a wolf in sheep's clothing. I have now completed the "Past" piece. It is of a woman who cannot see because she is blindfolded and her body is a cage that holds her bleeding heart that has been punctured by sharp arrows. Take a look...

This is the final piece. 

Detail of the heart. 

My process, she initially had eyes that you could see. I decided to cover them. 

The covered eyes. 

Blocking in the color at the beginning. 

Thanks for stopping by! I have also updated my website www.marybelmartin.com check it out!

A Day In the Life of Marybel Martin

A Day in the Life of Marybel Martin is a group of very personal watercolors dedicated to illustrating where my mind is on any given day. Enjoy!

"A Garden in Her Hair" is my dream state, this is when I'm sleeping and recharging. The banner says: Los sueños se hacen realidad si crees en ellos… siempre" - Dreams come true if you believe in them… always.

"The Cleanse" is the daily ritualistic bath and grooming, it's not only physical, it's a mental and spiritual cleanse as well.

"Staying Grounded" Is the balanced, grounded and unattached state that is best for making major decisions. If you look closely, there are two little birds… those are my boys.

"Vipassana" Is meditation, where one is in observation and peace.

Have You Visited My Website?

I've had a website for years now. Unlike a blog, a website is more difficult to update. I've recently had Pop Studios update the site to reflect more of the current work I've been doing. Why don't you stop by when you have a moment?

http://www.marybelmartin.com

Angel With Devil Eyes

I am working on a series of portraits of women with their favorite animal and flower. This one is of my friend Caroline. Here is a series of photos of the progress. The title comes from a strange experience Caroline and I shared. Caroline and I were doing some community work years ago. A man stopped Caroline and grabbed her by the arm, "you've got devil eyes" he sneered, then he let her go. "That's not the first time someone tells me that", she said, and we laughed. 

This is the rough sketch/idea.

Working on the underpainting

A daffodil field

Baby elephant, work in progress

One of the birds holding the banner

Face detail

The finished painting!

Finals! Again...

Just two more weeks of craziness and this too shall pass... Here are three finals I'm working on, I'll show you the final pieces soon! Wish me luck!

The Inner Child: You Choose

In my latest piece I address the inner child. Everyday I have a choice. I can choose the dead inner child or I can choose the live one. The live one is when I feel joy, playfulness and love. The dead one is fear and sadness. It's difficult to be aware and make the choice but it's always there. Click on the images for a better view!

Let It Go

We are complete as we are. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. Sometimes our human experience is too much and we freeze up in fear. What happens? The fear we are holding on to blocks the flow of energy and more and more negativity builds up. As soon as we release, open up, stop resisting and just feel, the flow begins again. Inside we are love. With this piece I am creating a representation of you, me. We are a beautiful vessel filled with love and light. 

The Journey

So many things happen in a day, in a week, in a month. Moments of awareness, moments of fear, moments of pure joy. The journey of life is one filled with learning from all of these experiences. I've been working on two very personal pieces. These are the studies that will later become paintings. Take a look!

Finding My Self

After being married for nineteen years, and suddenly divorced, I realized that I had lost myself. I know a lot of people say the same thing after being in a long relationship, but it's very true. I morphed into someone that when removed from the relationship was completely lost. I have been doing a lot of personal work in order to find my Self again. It has not been easy. It's been pretty much an uphill battle. Although, I, my self, have always been here, I had to peel back so many layers to find ME. It's a beautiful, wonderful, magical feeling to feel the way I did when I was a child. I painted this piece of me finding and loving myself. Enjoy!

Paintings From The Last Year

Here is a sampler of some paintings I have done. It's fun to experiment with different styles and palettes. I feel that I have come a long way since I've started painting but I still have a lot to learn. I will be taking a portrait class in the coming weeks and I am very excited to start learning!

Woodcarving and Printmaking Galore!

The assignment was to create a print using a block. We were to use a minimum of two colors. The catch was that we had to use the same block for all layers. I could not understand for the life of me... until I started working. It finally dawned on me how it was going to work. The theme was to make a statement. Here's mine.