A PAINTING!?

Savannah Summer, 20x24 Oil on Canvas...There was a day awhile back when I didn't feel like getting my fingers dirty with pastels. The kids were squirrelly, the baby wasn't "self-entertained," shall we say, but I wanted to do some art. I like working in most art media...except for oil paints. I steer clear of the slow drying, "have to wait" kind of stuff, and jump right to "I can finish fast if I want to" type of stuff (i.e. pastels!!!) But on this particular day, I thought, "What the heck, let's paint!" I sat on the floor with my canvas propped up, and started painting one of the beautiful trees near my sister's home in Savannah, using my pretty much unopened tubes of oil paint. Given the nature of that day, I ended up completing the piece more quickly than intended, with a baby on my lap (angled AWAY from wet paint!) and my son busily creating his own art on the floor next to me (a little too close to the painting for my comfort!). So it may not have been the most reflective, or the most tranquil painting experience, but hey, I PAINTED! IN OILS! This painting will be at the BAA Juried Show this weekend! Join us tonight for the reception, 5:00-8:00, at Christopher House Antiques near Pepper Place, downtown Birmingham.

Ready to go...

All set up and ready to go for the Annual Mountain Brook Art Association Holiday Show. Join me this Friday, 4:00-8:00 for the opening reception at Brookwood Mall, hosted by Cocina! There are 80 artists with a huge variety of art for sale. My panels are towards the back next to the work of my great friend and awesome artist, Cecily Hill Lowe!

Upcoming Events

There are two great art events this week!

Join me at Christopher House Antiques this Thursday, Nov. 15th, 5:00-8:00 for the opening reception of the Birmingham Art Association 2012 Juried Show (3205 2nd Ave South, Birmingham, AL 35233) Christopher House will be open Friday and Sat. 10-5. There is plenty of parking across the street from Christopher House

This Friday opens the Annual Mountain Brook Art Association Holiday Show at Brookwood Village. November 16th come join us for the Opening Reception 4:00-8:00pm hosted my Cocina Superior. November 30th join us for our Grand Finale Party 5:00 - 8:00 pm hosted by Brio. The show will be open for the rest of November, and is a great place to shop for some unique Christmas gifts! I will have 2 panels with large and small pastel paintings.

My current website www.marylizingramart.com is still on the fritz! I am building a brand new site that will also include my blog, so stay tuned. Also, join my Facebook page for news and updates at Mary Liz Ingram Art !

Eclectic Cool was a Success!

This past Friday was "The Eclectic Art Social Club's" second group show: "Eclectic Cool: the Colors of Calm." Let me pause and give you a little insight/explanation into our name...we are a group of 7 "young women," shall we say, who are serious about art, but we don't take ourselves to seriously. We began meeting several years ago to help each other in our art careers, but mostly ended up brunching, drinking coffee and having a good time together at each other's homes (hence "social club). We all have very different styles, from thoughtful and careful collage, to intricate and meaningful acrylic "drawings," to abstract acrylics, realistic and reflective oils, jewelry, pastels...you get the idea. We dubbed our interesting mix "eclectic." For this show, we chose to link our styles with cool, calming colors. The show was upstairs at Parkside Bar in Avondale and it was amazing. We had a packed house from 4:30-9:00 and had a blast together, selling and enjoying art and community! Here are some images as our show began...

The crew: (left to right) Dariana Dervis, Mary Liz Ingram, Erin Hardin, Cecily Hill Lowe, Chi Roach

Cecily's large installation

Guests enjoying Chi's art

Dariana and Chi happy to open the show

Dariana's collage and jewelry, always soothing

Erin's beautiful oil paintings

Mary Liz's pastels, apologies for the bad lighting!

Upcoming Shows!

Come out to Park Lane in English Village, Mountain Brook from 4:00-8:00 this Thursday December 1st for the annual Mountain Brook Art Association's Holiday Show! This is a fun event with delicious food and drinks catered by Kathy G. Come browse great art and buy some unique holiday gifts! I hope to see you there!

For the month of December, I will have over 20 pieces on display and for sale at Brookwood Medical Center. Look for my art in the main lobby and the doctor's lounge!

Eclectic Art Escape

This Saturday July 30 from 4:30-8:00 the Eclectic Art Social Club will hold it's first art show, exhibiting a variety of unique art for sale by 7 Birmingham area artists! The show will be at Escape Day Spa in Crestline Village in Mountain Brook and will feature:

acrylic abstracts by Cecily Hill Lowe

oil paintings on metal by Erin Hardin

collage and jewelry by Dariana Dervis

unique mixed media paintings and other creative pieces by Sunny Carvalho

ceramics and paintings by Chi Roach,

jewelry by Marjorie Gilkey,

and pastel paintings by me, Mary Liz Ingram

There will definitely be art for every taste! We will have refreshments, door prizes, and spa giveaways! Spread the word and bring your friends!

The Village Art Festival

About a week ago, on that unusually cold Southern Spring weekend, I participated in the first Village Art Festival at Brookwood Mall in Birmingham, Alabama. Wonderfully organized by the Birmingham Art Association and the mall, for me the show was a success. My booth was full of art and placed outside, across from restaurants and a flowing fountain.

As "supervisor" of the Kids Zone, I have to brag on the organizers whose creativity and forethought set up the best and smoothest kid's art area I have ever seen. The families who participated had a blast, and were very excited to take home their own art supplies!

My large pastel "Shepherd's Hut" finally found a home, and I made lots of great connections to other artists and art lovers.

I also acquired a sample of pastel cloth to experiment with, courtesy of a new friend whose art will be highlighted in a post to come!

A second show is being planned for next year...I recommend participation to artists and the public!