One of the methods I use to visualize my Art is to take snapshots of my models and modify them on my computer. Since I’m not a photographer I only have a small point and shoot camera that I use to take photos in my garden or in my studio.

I took this snapshot of these orange tulips using natural light in my studio

I import these snapshots onto my computer and using Photoshop I delete the backgrounds, modify the colors and otherwise play around with the image. I print the images from my Epson printers onto matte cardstock papers.

Using Photoshop on my Mac, I play around with colors and composition

In this particular Art work, after making a completed tonal drawing which I discussed in my previous post, I traced the outline of the tulip onto 300lb hot press paper using a lightbox and a 2H pencil.

Then, using Winsor Newton watercolors, I put down my first layer of paint. Once dry I used my set of Prismacolor colored pencils to draw over the watercolor.

In this Mixed Media Art work I used colored pencil over watercolor

For some reason I find this process to be very relaxing and meditative for me. If I need some calmness in my life, I can go to my studio at any time and pick up right where I left off. No fuss, no muss, no bother.

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There are so many ways to create paintings. As an Artist who has been creating for over 35 years I have developed a variety of methods to arrive at my finished work. Sometimes it is interesting to get a peek behind the process, so here is one style I enjoy.

Snapshot of some Orange Tulips I used as the basis of this series of Art works

Since I’m not a photographer, I take snapshot of flowers I either buy or grow. I usually select them for color or just for form. I find myself attracted to large bold shapes rather than the more frilly inflorescences. I then decide what mediums I will work in and whether there will be one finished Art work in one or more mediums or whether the work will be part of a series.

I love creating tonal drawings so I often do a finished piece in graphite before I start a painting just because I like the feel of drawing. It also is a great way to work out values of highlights and shading.

Tonal drawing of a tulip. I use a pair of magnifying lenses which I hook onto my bifocals to help me see the details

If the work is part of a series, I need to imagine the size of each piece and the total overall impression I’m looking for. This ups the level of complexity considerably and actually makes for quite a nice challenge to my visual imagination and my technical consistency.

For a series of work I need to choose the size of each work and the size of the overall series.

I also need to create a composition that stands alone as well as works for the series.

I used my altered snapshots to help me come up with my composition in this series

My work must not only be accomplished to my own standards for each piece but it must be consistent across all the work. This can be tricky if you don’t create all the work during the same or close to the same period of time.

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Another Type of Canvas

Mary Ahern is an artist member of the Huntington Arts Council. Much of her art is inspired by her garden, a piece of art in its own right that is constantly changing. Her husband, Dave, often comments that her plants seem to be on wheels since Mary is constantly moving her plants from flowerbed to flowerbed. She uses the texture and color of the plants to create beautiful works of art in her garden.

In Northport NY the peonies bloom in June

Walking through Mary’s garden and listening to her speak about it reveals how much thought was put behind each and every placement. Mary uses her plants to create artwork just as she uses oil paint. Each plant has specific colors or textures that can be used to compliment or contrast the other plants it is put with. Certain beds of flowers are based on the color of those certain plants, i.e., mixing deep reds with frosted greens. Others are based on the texture of the plant, i.e. small leaves, low ground covering, etc.

However it doesn’t stop there. Each of these flowerbeds is incorporated into the garden as a whole and even the pathways that flow between each have been carefully laid out. The flowers that Ahern cultivates influence her artwork greatly. She likes to have samples of the subjects she is working on around her. “I’m not trying to duplicate what a camera can do. I’m interpreting in a realistic style how I see the subject.”

The Krinkled White is a single peony prized for its simplicity

When you step into Mary’s home and studio, it is as though the garden is continuing inside as well. Her art work adorns the walls and upstairs in the studio her love for the garden is transformed into pieces of art.

Mary was first introduced to gardening by her Uncle Teddy who was a gardener himself. “Every time we visited, I loved to help him in the garden and when I acquired my first plant at around the age of five, I made it very clear to everyone in my family that I was the only one allowed to care for it. Since I have always held a passion for the garden, it was only natural that it showed up in my artwork.”

Mary uses many different mediums to create her works of art. They include oils, watercolors, and digital painting. The amount of care and detail incorporated in each piece is absolutely astounding. She creates Digital Flower and Shell Paintings as well as  paintings using Traditional media.

Mary has been digitally designing for over 25 years now. She first started at Chyron Corporation, located in Melville, working in Sales and Marketing Positions. Later, Mary began her own graphic design company called Online Design which, at that time, was one of the few to be 100% digital.

Although Mary Ahern has been painting for over 30 years now, as a young child she never really became interested in the arts. Music was a large influence during her high school years: she was in the band and even conducted, which was rare for a women to do during that time.

It wasn’t until Mary was in her 20’s that she became interested in art, when one of her friends gave her a book about the work of the artist, Georgia O’Keeffe  This influenced her to take a class at the local Y and when she picked up the paintbrush she knew it was her calling. “The paintbrush seemed like an extension of my arm. Since then art has never been a hobby but a part of my life.” She went on from there and got a degree in Fine Arts from Queens College and has been creating ever since.

Four different background treatments of the Krinkled White Peony

For those interested in pursuing a career in the arts Mary’s advice is to develop business and marketing skills in addition to the skills you develop to create your Art.   The web and social networking sites make marketing available  to everyone. “Whether it’s a website, a blog and alsoTwitter, Facebook or a combination, it is important for potential buyers to see the artist behind the paintings because that also helps to sell your art.”

She believes that a career in the arts is a very tough “glamour” business and you must have entrepreneurial skills as well as lots of determination to be successful. Mary Ahern also states that there are not many things more rewarding then to have someone who has purchased one of her Fine Art pieces tell her how much pleasure they have received every day from seeing her work hanging in their home  It makes her smile.

• To see some of her beautiful artwork, head over to her website,

http://MaryAhernArtist.com.

• Visit her Garden at her blog

The Garden Artist – My Garden, My Art, Where Passions Merge

http://MaryAhernArtist.com/garden-blog/

• View behind the scenes of an Artist on her Art Blog

Art Naturally – Musings Of My Life As An Artist

http://MaryAhernArtist.com/art-blog/

• Mary’s step-daughter Sharon Ruedeman made a video about her garden which you can view on YouTube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJTAh3dBrps

This article was derived from an interview with Mary Ahern, The Garden-Artist by Diane Brown and produced by Dianne Matus of the Huntington Arts Council.

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The historic use of limiting editions of prints was during a time when prints were made from art carved or drawn onto stone, wood or other surfaces that degraded with use. As more impressions were made the surface wore out and the image became less crisp. Limiting the quantity of the printing run helped to control the quality of the print and of course the value.

Digital printing does not suffer from this problem since there is no degradation in resolution, or crispness, from one print to the next. In fact, what can happen as technology evolves and equipment gets better and faster, later prints may be of higher quality then original prints made years earlier in the cycle.

New Technology Offers New Forms of Creativity

So how do I offer my customers a solution to their desire for a unique piece of my Art rather then the Open Edition pieces I generally offer?

Custom Art Work Created Just For You

Custom Editions brings my customers into a collaborative effort in the artistic process of helping me to create a unique Art Work specific for their home or office design ideas.

Here’s how:

You select a piece of Art from my array of Standard Digital or Traditional Paintings.

1. I can print your selection on different surfaces like Fine Arts Paper or Canvas.
2. I can put different finishes on each canvas print, i.e. Matte, Semi-Gloss or Gloss.
3. My standard work is designed in a 3×4 aspect ratio, i.e. the height to width relationship. I can customize the composition to fulfill specific sizing.
4. I can print at any size that would work for the space you have in mind. Super-size up to 64 inches and mini-sizes for grouping.
5. I can customize the colors, most particularly, the backgrounds, to suit your design ideas.
6. I can combine traditional paint with your digital print to make a truly one-of-a-kind Art Work.
7. I can customize framing or do away with framing altogether using the Gallery Wrapped canvas style.

If you can think of it I can probably do it.

Let’s get started on your Custom Editions collaboration. Visit my website for additional information.

Call me, Mary Ahern at 631-757-9459

Or email me at mary@MaryAhernArtist.com

Let’s make Art together!

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I have pledged to donate 20% of the sales of my Digital Paintings, “Bleeding Heart”, and “Kansas Peonies”, to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization supporting breast cancer research.

Why I am making this offer.

First of all, I have too many girlfriends who have been affected by this disease.

Secondly, as I traveled to various states doing Fine Arts Festivals, I realized that an unusual number of women were buying these pretty pink flower prints for themselves, their sisters, mothers or girlfriends.

“Bleeding Heart” – Designer Print – 8×10 or 11×14

During conversations with these women, I began to be aware of how many of my Pink Botanical Prints were being given as gifts to women struggling with Breast Cancer.

I decided to do something about it.

So I’m donating 20% of the Sale of these two Flower Prints to Susan G. Korman For the Cure.

Designer Print Pricing

8×10 Designer Print – $29.95
11×14 Designer Print – $54.95.

Quantity pricing is available.

“Kansas Peonies” Designer Prints 8×10 or 11×14. Larger sizes available.

These Kansas Peonies are available in larger sizes, framed and unframed and with custom color backgrounds.

Email me for pricing information for the larger pieces.

20% of the Price of any size of these Digital Paintings will be donated to Susan G. Korman For the Cure.

One woman came to tell me that she had bought a large framed Kansas Peony piece from me previously and that she had hung it opposite her bed so it would be the first thing she saw each  morning. I was so moved by this. I was proud to be part of her struggle.

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Sales are processed securely on my website by PayPal. Click here to view.

If you prefer to order from me directly please feel free to call me at: 631-757-9459. I accept MasterCard & Visa by phone. For security purposes do not send me your credit card information by email.

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I’ve just created a series of digital paintings of a Krinkled White Peony that was blooming in my garden this past June.

For my inspiration I chose an herbaceous white single peony that was introduced into cultivation in 1928. The plant grows to about 3 feet tall and wide. This year with all the rain it grew so very tall that I had to add a peony cage to one of them since it was so heavy due to the huge amount of flowers that it produced.

A single white “Krinkled Peony” which grew in my garden this June.

The petals are so delicate they remind me of crepe paper that I used to use when I made my paper flowers as a child. The golden yellow stamens add a dramatic accent.

One of the very rare sunny spots in my garden hosts the peonies.

I’ve been tending this plant for over a decade and a few years ago moved it from a rather shady location where it bloomed each year but didn’t flourish. Though most of my garden is in some percentage of shade I decided to divide and transplant this perennial into the sunniest part of my garden. Since then it has more than tripled the amount of flowers it produces.

In this series of work I’ve decided to augment the dramatic simplicity of the single peony with different colored backgrounds. Each of these pieces will work individually but they also work as a group.

Single White Peony series of digital paintings.

As with many of my other works, I offer these digital paintings in a variety of sizes and framing treatments. These Fine Art works are available on Fine Art paper and also on UV treated canvas either framed or gallery wrapped.

If a specific design plan comes to mind, I can also customize the color backgrounds to suit the creative intent.

I will be showing these Art Works for the first time at the Northport Art in the Park, Saturday, July 25, 2009 from noon until 5pm.

Hope you can stop by the show and say hello. If you can’t and you would like to find out more about my work, you can contact me on Facebook, Twitter, my website MaryAhernArtist.com and here on my blog by posting a comment.

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Join us this Saturday, July 25, 2009 for another exciting event in the picturesque Village of Northport, NY. This multi-disciplinary annual event will be held in the Village Park surrounded by the lush tableau of water, boats, trees, playgrounds and the old time Village feel of another, calmer and genteel era.

There will be music, dance, poetry and of course, near and dear to my heart, Fine Artists and Artisans.

I will be showing my Digital Paintings with a few additional surprises!

Mary Ahern Artist booth in The Northport Art in the Park annual event

Come to see these exciting events and enjoy a visual feast of The Arts.

Location: Northport Village Park
When: Saturday, July 25, 20009
Time: 10:00AM – 5:00PM

For additional information visit: The Northport Arts Coalition website.

Garden Tour, Sunday June 14, 2009 from Noon until 4 pm.

(Copy of Newsletter sent to my emailing list.)

Newsletter Highlights:

Art, Blogging, Facebook and a Garden Tour

Bridge over the dry stream bed

I am really excited about the upcoming Garden Tour sponsored by the Northport Historical Society this coming Sunday, June 14, 2009 from Noon until 4 pm.

I am doing a comprehensive redesign of much of my garden this year and I’m really looking forward to showing and talking about this work-in-progress. I’ve been gardening on this little piece of ground for twenty years and I finally bit the bullet to tackle some real challenging gardening issues that develop as a garden ages.

Since my garden is such an integral part of my life as an Artist, this redesign and rethinking plays itself out over many of my artistic endeavors.

To see my garden and the other six magnificent gardens on this Tour please visit the Northport Historical Society home page to get your tickets, tour guide and map.

Social Networking

Stand out in a crowd

I have joined the millions of people who have embraced Facebook as a means of staying connected with friends from the past, present and future. As an Artist and a Garden Designer, I enjoy showing my Garden and my Art. If I don’t share it in words and pictures with the many friends I have from afar, I will only have me as an audience. All that beauty just for my eyes? Far too selfish for my taste. So please visit me either on Facebook and/or on my Blogs.

For my Blog enthusiasts I’m made some changes.

Since I found that different folks enjoy different subjects, I’ve split my Blog into 2 different entities.

For those who enjoy reading about Art I have this blog.

Art Naturally – Musings of My Life as an Artist.

This Blog talks about Art Shows, Influences, Reviews, New Work, Education and more.

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For my http://www.northporthistorical.org friends I have

The Garden-Artist – My Garden, My Art, Where Passions Merge.

http://maryahernartist.com/garden-blog

My Garden Blog shows where I grow the inspiration for my Art.

It also follows in words and photos the Garden Design projects I’ve created and worked on in the Garden I’ve enjoyed for the last 20 years.

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I hope to see you in my garden or if you can’t visit, I hope to share with you online.
Keep smiling!
…mary

Mary Ahern with her Digital Mixed Media Paintings

As an added bonus I will be showing some of my Digital and Traditional Mixed Media Paintings during the Garden Tour. Orders may be placed for pick-up after the Garden Tour ends at 4PM.

If you’d like to call to ask me questions about my work or would like to place an order for pick up please email me with your name and phone #.

The North Shoreian has just published their April Home and Garden issue with my “Single Yellow Daffodil” on the front cover.
A delightful article about my work is featured inside this publication which is a magazine covering the North Shore (of Long Island) Arts, Culture & Politics.

The Column is called  “The Creatives”

Mary Ahern: Capturing a Moment in Art

by Shaughnessy Anne McKenna Dusling

If you’d like to read the whole article please click here and visit the Press section of my website.

If you’d like to see an online version of The North Shoreian  magazine please click here.

The North Shoreian.  April 2009 Home & Garden Issue

This is an exerpt of the article:

Classically trained painter, and Northport native, Mary Ahern, has spent the past twenty-five years studying and mastering digital painting and design. Mary’s interest in digital painting was stimulated when she was working for a company that created graphic technology for use in the television and production industry. Beginning as a salesperson in the early 1980’s, Mary began learning about the newest advances in this medium. As technology progressed, these high-tech digital systems became a practical expense for the small business owner and were readily available. In the early 1990’s, Mary invested in her own system and created her own graphic design company, Online Design. Her company was 100% digital which was unique at a time when paste-ups and mechanicals were still the norm in graphics.

Champagne Poppies on a Brown Background

In addition to graphic design, Mary has combined her interests and talent in painting to create her own style and method of art. Her digital paintings are created by using the computer as her medium. Mary trades in her paintbrushes and paints for a pressure sensitive stylus and graphic tablet…
Mary’s abilities as an artist are not limited to digital painting. As a traditional painter, Mary is very talented. Mary mixes mediums, such as watercolor, oil paints, pastels, colored pencils and graphite, to create her works of art. She has been doing traditional painting and drawing for over thirty years and her work reflects many hours of time and commitment to the art.
In addition to art, Mary is very devoted to growing a private garden. She spends many hours cultivating the soil, planting, pruning and nurturing her flowers. Not surprisingly either, she adds a degree in Ornamental Horticulture to her already impressive resume.

The Artist Mary Ahern with some of her Digital Paintings

Finding something that inspires is one of the most important steps for Mary as an artist. Mary states, “It is very important that I really like the subject that I choose because I spend so much time with it…

Mary’s clear dedication to her garden transpires into her devotion to her art. On Mary’s impressive and self designed website, you can visit her two blogs. One is devoted to art in general, touching on her visits to various locations, book reviews and her journey as an artist. Mary also has a blog devoted to gardening, in which she posts photographs of her beautiful plants as they grow and transform, and even shows the plants alongside her art that she has created in homage to the specific bloom…

If you would like to learn more about North Shoreian Artist Mary Ahern, her garden, her masterpieces or to purchase her work, visit her website: http://www.MaryAhernArtist.com

The Art League of Long Island has a show titled, “Double Take” from January 10 through February 1, 2009 in Huntington Township, NY.