Art by MeL

06/09/2026

Art talk and practice books.
My phone has a mind of its own today (Monday) and kept showing the yellow box to search for faces, tripping up my focus. Also I think it’s in cinematic mode for some reason 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

06/09/2026

Practice notebook of mostly acrylic but some oil pastels of my pup Maye that passed away recently. I’m creating a memorial piece on leftover OSB from a home improvement project. I decided to create a notebook to help hone my painting skills before placing paint on the piece I’ve been working on. I talk to my phone a lot because it kept focusing in and out and I think it might’ve been in cinematic mode, idk i don’t know much about technology and how recording works. 

06/09/2026

2026 Art goal discussion during guitar practice yesterday. This year has been a lot already and it’s raining in June lol I have had the heater on today lol. But the more i talked about it, the more do-able these 3 goals seemed even tho we are halfway through the year.

06/06/2026

06/02/2026

Edited this because I didn’t like the end result and vibes it created.

Anyway, Pulling away from the abstract landscape of Flower Mountain Falls.. it’s not what i wanted but that’s where this process is leading.
I preferred the original digital art because the abstract is supposed to be an escape for me as an artist which is why I don’t normally like to focus on the realistic side of things.
I’m too darn stubborn to let go of that first waterfall and order a new print to start over. So I’ve kept this print in the drawer while I placed the whole thing on the back burner… Silently pouting over my mistake while I busied myself with other things. This is why I get anxiety over putting paint down. Two months until the State Fair entry deadline. I can only pick 3 pieces to enter. I apologize for the background noise, my kid is a gamer and I refuse to allow the console in his bedroom so he games in the living room which is next to the art room.

05/23/2026

Sometimes I talk too much because i never fully can get out what I want/need to say 🤦🏻‍♀️ It’s a curse. Anyway, the oil pastels is thick on canvas and doesn’t spread very well. When I try it will reveal pieces of previous colors underneath. I had a lot of anxiety of painting her features because I don’t have any experience painting facial features and I was scared that I’d mess up the whole piece so I used a tool to carve through the oil pastels and then did my best to smooth it when I messed up so that way i didn’t have to just put paint down and hope for my best. Well after a couple of mess ups, I caught a glimpse of who she was meaning her eye revealed naturally. And so I just followed with that. I guess that would be the romanticized artistic version of how it came to be because I didn’t have any subject in mind. I had thought that I would paint after sculpting (not sure what else to call that technique) but I think that the softness in her features is absolutely stunning especially in combination with the display of power (wings of Fire and the Water/wind elements around her).

05/22/2026

Okay, they actually turned out better than I expected and I love how they look. I took this video this morning because I didn’t complete these until after dark.

05/22/2026

I’d display a million insecurities just to have moments like these! 🥰

05/22/2026

Yesterday. Turning rusty old yard art into fresh art. I really like the outcome and can’t wait to share (after editing tho lol).

05/21/2026

❤️❤️❤️