Layered Imagery Workshop

I had a great time at Bentley Village this week holding another of my workshops. And the students were so entertaining and it was such a joy for me to spend time with them. They all created a piece of art in their own way. I love seeing the personality come out in each of their individual pieces! Two people can be working on a pelican piece and one turns out completely different then the other!

They all had fun at the one day 3 hour workshop and they were so determined to finish their piece that they asked me to come back another day next week.

layered Imagery

This is a photo of me that was taken by a talented photographer, John Sciarrino at Giovanni Photography (www.giophoto.com), who donated his time to photo the event for the Canine Companion's Dinner and fundraiser at the Bamboo Cafe in Naples last Thursday where proceeds went to The Brody Project for Animal Assisted Therapy. Visit their website to see all the wonderful things they do with these incredible dogs to help people get through a difficult time in their lives.
www.thebrodyproject.org

I loved being able to contribute to this project by donating a print of one of my dog images and I also gave a gift certificate towards a personal commissioned dog portrait. Both items where part of the raffle that everyone who attended participated in and those who won where really excited!

The evening was a great success and over 50 people made reservations and came to the event to eat dinner with their dogs at their side. It was so refreshing to see the love everyone has for their dogs and the love their dogs give back unconditionally. As we know Dog is God spelled backwards.

layered Imagery

http://www.youtube.com/user/MarjoriePesekFineArt#p/u/0/c5a3wXLCYwA

I just completed this time-lapse video (the YouTube link is above) of a portrait I did of a young girl. It commemorates her golden birthday which was when she turned 10 years old on the 10th of April. The photos that frame her are photos of that day.

I have always wanted to have a time-lapse video of me creating a piece because of the hundreds of hours it takes me to complete a portrait. It is like watching a flower grow from bud to full bloom. Technology allows the common person without filming and editing skills to now be able to do this thanks to my Flip digital recorder and my Mac computer! And, of course, the help of all the brilliant people at the Apple store!

It is really cool for me to see myself working also for once in 23 years. I can see clearly now the amount of time I take in the details. I filmed only short portions of me working and it still took hours of film and tons of editing to get it down to only 2 minutes long!

Layered Imagery

I am very proud of the booth we had at the Licensing Show, Surtex, in New York City in May. Thanks to the brilliant planning
and designing of my business partner, Patrice Shields! Most of the exhibitors were showing floral or geometric patterns and cartoon-like characters which makes sense at a show where companies such as Hallmark where looking for images to use on their greeting cards or for wallpaper and gift wrap.

So you can imagine how it stopped people in their tracks! The reaction was the same each time. They would stop in amazement at these stunning large images, squint their eyes, lean to one side, and stick their necks out trying to figure out what they were looking at. Then they would suddenly get it and would say things like "Wow that is incredible!" "You are a genius!" "Cool!" I even got a few hugs! It helped me remember why I do what I do and know I am creating something special to share with others. 500 commissioned images to be exact that I was smart enough to archive (photos and transparencies) throughout the years!

The show was a huge success and we made some really great contacts. I am really grateful that my sister, Kate Sackman, also a business partner, helped us decide to get a booth at the last minute.

Layered Imagery

I wanted to share this image with everyone of a piece that one of my students finished at my workshop I had last month at Shell Point in Fort Myers. It took my breath away because she was so reluctant to start gluing the paper down during the class because it seemed so overwhelming to try to make this look like a sailboat with only pieces of magazine paper. So I was determined that she will be will be proud of this piece once she finishes it and I helped her get started one piece at a time. That is the way I to approach creating my Layered Imagery.

She emailed me later and asked a few questions about how to finish the background and the only thing I advised was to select a dark blue sky to make the sails pop out. She said she was not sure she got the Layered Imagery technique down even though I knew she had based on the work she did during the class. The next email I got from her was this beautiful finished sailboat! (she laid the photo I gave her to work from above her piece). And she asked me if she passed the class.

My response was A++. She should be proud.

This is a great example of how my students get so involved and excited about their Layered Imagery pieces they are creating at my 3 hour workshops. This student finished this masterpiece and look how wonderful it turned out and I know that my goal that she would be proud of what she did that day came true! That is only one example of what my students and I experience in the workshops.

If you are interested in coming to my next workshop and creating something you are proud of, I am having a workshop at Moorings Park July 20, 2010 from 9AM - 12PM. I am also scheduling workshops for private parties and I am giving one for a family reunion next fall. So if you would like to have your own Layered Imagery party please call me 239-293-4167.

Layered Imagery Workshop

I just downloaded to my new video about my workshops to my YouTube page. I had to delete the old ones I put on YouTube 2 years ago because they could not compare to this one. This year I purchased a Mac computer and a Flip video camera. I love Apple. I have been taking classes at the Apple store to teach me how to edit and make my own movies. It has been a long process but I have loved ever minute of it and the video looks sort of professional.

The next video I am going to create is a time lapse of a portrait I just finished that took me over 150 hours to complete which will show the process from start to finish in less then 2 minutes! I have wanted to do this for years and now I have the ability to do it on my own! Look for it in a few weeks on my my blog.

To see a the video of my workshop please visit my YouTube page
http://www.youtube.com/user/MarjoriePesekFineArt

Layered Imagery

These are photos from my last two shows. One was at Pure Design in Naples where the setting was picturesque among the yachts in the marina and the sun shining bright on a spring afternoon. Right next door is Bonefish restaurant which brought even more festivity to the art show and they also catered it--yum! Thanks to all who came and made it a fun event.

The other show was at Big Arts on Sanibel in the courtyard. Also a beautiful setting because Sanibel has so much of the feeling of shells and beach you can't help but feel like you are on vacation even though you may not be! The only downside was the constant fight of the wind! You can see my sign never really made it up! I am very grateful that my art is so durable having fallen about 10 times throughout the show. But it was a great success and many people came to admire the eight different artists exhibiting there that day before they all proceeded to other artists' studios on the island. I met some wonderful people. I look forward to next season where I plan on holding another workshop and seeing the snowbirds I met there again.

The top photo is a bunch of us shelling on Sanibel. You can get an idea of what I mean by the feel of Sanibel and the beach vacation.

I forgot to let you know that I am going to be showing my work in a group show at Big Arts on Sanibel along side the Annual Artists' Studio Tour this Friday April 16, 9AM-12PM. Please come by, bring friends, and see my original artwork and learn about my workshops. I look forward to seeing you there! The address is Big Arts, 900 Dunlop Rd, Sanibel. FL 33957, 239-395-0900.

Layered Imagery

I held a workshop at Big Arts on Sanibel Island a few weeks ago. I live in Naples and it takes me about an hour and a half to get to Sanibel in good weather but, as luck would have it, there were torrential rains that morning on my drive up. I am a slow driver as it is but that morning I drove like a turtle and it took me 2 hours +. At times I could not see out my front windshield!
By the time I got on the island I felt as if it was sinking into the ocean.

I had never been to Big Arts before but I soon realized that not only was my car's tires underwater in the unpaved and muddy driveway, but the building has no loading zone that is covered. And I needed to carry in my "paper" artwork and all the "paper" for the class from my car! I was panicked. The rain kept coming down in buckets!

But I was saved by the nice women there who helped me carry in everything under umbrellas. Everyone managed to show up to the class, all of us dripping wet. But it was a perfect day for doing a workshop since no one was going to play golf! We all had such a great time and everyone got deeply into creating their layered imagery, paper mosaic artwork. They were all so proud of what they created (as was I proud of them) that day as you can see from there big smiles. And I got a few emails of the photos of the pieces they finished once they got home. It was well worth the long and hair raising drive!

I'm having a Trunk Show of my Art on Thursday and Friday in Naples

If you are in Naples, please come visit me this Thursday or Friday at my Spring Fine Art Trunk Show at Pure Design at Naples Bay Resort. It should be great fun and while you are looking at my new Layered Imagery pieces, you can admire the amazing view from Laura Parson's stunning storefront on Naples Bay. Laura is one of Naple's most sought after designers and her storefront is full of amazing items that she has hand picked as her favorites.

Naples Bay Resort is where you will find one of Naples newer dining gems, Bonefish Grill. The people at Bonefish Grill are amazing and are providing horderves for my show Thursday afternoon and Friday evening. There will be wine, art, great people and the best view in Naples.

Here are the specifics. I look forward to seeing you there.

Marjorie Pesek Fine Art’s Spring Trunk Show
Thursday March 25, 2010
9am-6pm
Friday March 26, 2010
4pm-9pm
At Naples Bay Resort

1500 5th Avenue South
Suite 111, Naples

call: 239-564-3019

Marjorie Pesek Fine Art

I have not added to my blog in a while so I thought I would share what I did last week while my sister, Julia, was in town from Chicago. The weather was not a hit with her because the temperature here in Naples, FL never got above 60 degrees the entire week (and 60 was rare--mostly 50's).

But we had tons of fun. We went up to Sanibel Island where our friend Pam lives and we went "shelling". There is no shelling in Naples because there are only broken shells on the beaches. So this was a treat! Here are a few photos of us shelling and of the shell arrangement I had fun putting together of these shells I got obsessed with because they remind me of guitar picks and mother of pearl. I think they are from an oyster shell. You all need to check out Pam's website www.iLoveShelling.com especially if you love shells!!!

The other photo was taken at the new Botanical Gardens in Naples. Also a great place to go if you don't want to get your feet wet.

Marjorie Pesek Fine Art

I have been asked by a few of my collectors and fans to also show the photos of the steps I took creating this portrait. This piece took me around 150 hours to create as you might guess from viewing these photos. I used hundreds of little pieces of paper to create her face, eyes and the tiniest pieces for her eyelashes.

Marjorie Pesek Fine Art

This is my latest portrait I just finished. I love this piece because it is a portrait of a much loved daughter and 3 cherished dogs. All are very important to this family. And the background includes hidden photos of friends and activities of the girl's semester in Switzerland this past year, which of course, was a memorable time for her.

Marjorie Pesek Fine Art

I have been meaning to show everyone the final cover art I did for Futures Magazine which is on newsstands now. You can find a copy at your local Barnes and Noble and see how the art director, Jeremy Werling, used the artwork in the interior of the magazine. Jeremy was great to work with because he had a good vision of what should be on this month's cover in order to portray what the cover article is about and he communicated his ideas with me clearly which helped me create the image for the January 2010 cover.