Since I just mentioned Christmas: Mine was amazing and I am always blessed and thankful. I received a couple of art related gifts from my loving wife. I received a Masterson wet palette. I got the large yellow one. For anyone not in the know, it’s a large low flat plastic container with an airtight lid on it. It reminds me of Tupperware. It has a large flat sponge that sits in the bottom of the tray, over which you place a thick tough palette paper which holds paint but doesn’t tear easily even when wet. You wet the sponge with water, wring out the excess water, and lay it in the bottom of the tray. You want the sponge more than just damp, but less than saturated. You don’t want water to pool in the tray. You then wet your palette paper and after letting the excess water drip from that (again you don’t want water pooling in the tray), you lay that on top of your sponge. So the sponge and paper are not swimming in water, but they are moist. You then would squeeze or scoop out your paints onto the palette paper.

The water in the sponge and paper, combined with the airtight lid, keeps my acrylic paints moist and workable for longer periods of time. In the past I’ve always had a tendency to dispense too much paint onto my palettes, and then I will step away for long periods, and my paints would dry out. Using this wet palette, I’ve stepped away for 3-4 days, opened the tray and found my paint still workable. It’s been working out great so far and I think it will eliminate a lot of wasted paint.

The other art supply that I received for Christmas was a small travel watercolor set that I can carry in a backpack or in a pocket. It’s a tiny palette box, that came with paints and little water brushes (the clear plastic kind that you fill with water). I think it’s really neat and fun and I’m eager to use it. It came with a 1.5 inch square book of blank watercolor-paper (like a micro journal), to paint in. The book is about a half inch thick. The palette box is two magnetized lids and that’s what holds it closed, and also what holds it open and together when you put the lids together. On one lid are 8 paint pans, which you can fill with the colors of your choice, and the other lid acts as a tiny mixing tray, A little metal clip helps keep it all together and acts as a small handle to hold the palette box as you paint. I’ve attached a photo to show better what I am talking about.

I’ve not blogged about any of this, obviously, but I have completed several paintings over the last half of 2025. So, I’ve been keeping busy.

The first painting I’ll talk about is a study in gray scale values. It’s a painted rendition of a sculpted rendition of Jesus Christ that stands in a cemetery, not far from my home. The full statue is of a standing Jesus with outstretched arms; his hands pierced with wounds. The statue is painted completely white, so it details light and shadow really well. I chose to paint a closeup of only the face.

The small Jesus painting was so quick, that I did another painting right after it, and then realized I had a small stack of these 5 x7 panels and I wanted to use them all up to make a series.

So the paintings that followed were a great horned owl, and a couple of my garden friends – a bumblebee, and an orb weaver spider. For the spider painting I tried using the edge of a piece of white card stock to create the webs. With a brush I would apply white paint to the edge of small piece of card stock and then press the cardstock edge to the painting, much like you would a rubber stamp, It worked out well, but I could practice it some more.

After I created this small series of gouache paintings, I got back into the larger acrylic paintings. I completed three more paintings, one of them on a round canvas, because I wanted to try something new. The round painting is of a bumblebee feeding from a bright marigold. Obviously, the round shape of the flower head filled the round canvas very nicely, and that was the catalyst for painting that particular subject. The bee was icing on the cake.

I then tried another odd-shaped canvas, this time an arc shape, painting a gardening scene which I titled “Springtime Planting” (a favorite time of the year, therefore it’s a self-portrait). Those are pepper plants, bells and jalapenos.

I then got back into rectangular canvases (I ran out of odd-shaped ones), with a scene of a rocky stream in an Autumn forest (which is The Smoky Mountains, in The Sugarlands, to be exact), which I aptly titled “Mountain Stream”. I found this one to be a challenging piece, with all of the foliage detail.

I have another new painting on the easel right now. It’s acrylic on an 18 by 24 inch stretched canvas. The subject is chess. That’s all I got. You’ll see that painting later.

Currently, it’s freezing cold where I am. It was 12 degrees yesterday, and zero the day before that, so I’m spending my days making art, peppered with moments of clearing snow.

I should wrap this entry up and get back to the painting. Until next time… which will be who knows when? It could be soon. It could be later. I wish that you, my readers, will have a great day! Thank you for coming by and checking on me. I appreciate your interest in my artwork.

The second drawing I named “Fiddle and Washboard”. The washboard is like a busker’s washboard, in which you’d rake your bare fingernails or thimbles up and down its ribbed surface to make percussive sounds. Around the washboard, in various locations, are attached various recycled bits of metal to bang on and achieve different noises. A tiny cat food tin, a ribbed metal soup can, a metal mayonnaise jar lid, the end off of a metal coffee can, a metal sink strainer, and a couple of bells. The smallest bell if from an old alarm clock. I don’t know where the larger bell came from or what it was previously used for – I just know it makes a deep ringing bell sound when struck.

I constructed the fiddle many years ago using a Pirate’s Gold cigar box, that I picked up at a flea market/yard sale, and I used a wooden flagpole for the neck. The box is trapezoid shape, and I carved f-shape sound holes in it with a Dremel tool. I carved the fretboard, tailpiece, tuning pegs, and the bridge, by hand, from scraps of wood. I ran the pole through the entire body of the instrument and attached the carved fret board to it. I wanted to install violin fine tuners, proper tuning pegs and a professionally carved bridge on it, but that has not yet happened. Perhaps someday. Proper violin strings might be an improvement as well. I installed a set of four old used mandolin strings on it, because that’s what I had around. Mandolins and violins use the same tuning, so I figured the gauge of the strings would work. The bow came from a small music shop near me, which no longer exists. I asked the owner if he had a bow around, and he told me that in fact he did have one in the back room, but the frog was broken. I gave him a couple of bucks for it, then took it home and zipped tied the frog in place, in true DIY form, and it kinda-sorta works. It was a fun project, anyway. The instrument sounds like a cheap fiddle. Now to learn how to play it! I’d probably play that washboard or one of those tambourines better.

I decided to draw these displays on sight – no photo, no grid. I would view the objects in real-time and freehand each scene as I saw it in front of me. This is a great exercise in honing your observation skills. There must be a name for it, but I don’t believe the word “plein air” is it. But that is what I did. The subject was 4-5 feet away from me and I sketched it out. It’s also a great exercise in keeping things moving along. I would be limited on time with each drawing, as the lighting in the room changes every few minutes. Therefore, the position of shadows changes quickly as do the tones.

I created the drawings on 11 x 17 white smooth Bristol cardstock. I used 2-3 different graphite pencils, along with a cardboard blender stick to smudge the graphite, for blending and creating shadows. I also use a kneaded eraser and a white polymer plastic eraser to remove graphite when I need to. I find that a metal eraser shield is a very useful drawing tool also. A softy brush is useful for brushing away eraser boogers and graphite dust. I also used a strip of sand paper during one of these drawings, to break down tsome graphite (utilizing some smudging techniques).

I try to freehand straight lines most of the time simply because I’m too lazy to line up a straight edge – I like to be free and keep moving mostly – but if a line i’m trying to make is fairly long, and must be accurately straight (such as the neck of a fiddle, or the long legs of the washboard), I will use a straight edge to achieve that. Sometimes a line needs to be accurate or points may not line up or the position of objects won’t look right. I prefer a clear plastic straigh-edge, so that I can see my drawing through it. To freehand a straight line, I find that pulling the pencil (rather than pushing it) gets me a much straighter line. I’ll add here that that goes for paintbrushes as well. Circular shapes I try to freehand, using the natural arc of my wrist to help me get a nicer line. Turning the paper different directions can also help to achieve the proper arc you’re going for.

I began working the drawing out with a hard lead pencil (I believe I used the 6H pencil), as the harder lead leaves a lighter mark. I use the 6H to create a faint skeleton of my drawing on the paper. Once the objects are lightly and very roughly sketched out to scale and positioned where they look right to me I start fleshing things out with the softer pencils. I partticularly like using ebony pencils. I believe it’s the darkest of the soft lead pencils. It lays down, responds well to different pressures, and blends nicely, and leaves a dark contrasty mark.

I videoed the creation of both drawings and you can watch them on both Rumble and my YouTube channel, to see how I use the tool I have mentioned. The YouTube links are directly below.

Timelapse Drawing: “The Tambourines”
Timelapse Drawing: “Fiddle and Washboard”

Both drawings are available as prints in my webstore.

I plan to draw more in the immediate future, in combination with my painting. The variety of mediums keeps things interesting for me.

Thanks for reading this! I hope you found this interesting and that you’ll go check out the videos. Some folks have told me that they find the videos to be relaxing, as well as inspiring. Subscribe to my YouTube channel (it’s free) to receive notifications when I post new art videos.

This bench might be a comfortable place to cast a fishing line. Maybe it’s THE fishing spot. Or it might be a quiet place to read a book or to pray. Or a place to sit privately for a cry, remembering yet another friend or family member that recently passed away. Or maybe one might sit here and ponder what their own life has been, what their future holds, or even wonder about their own mortality. Or perhaps one might solve some current problem in their life right here or ponder about the world’s problems in general. One could sit here with a beloved dog, or a girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, husband, or child, to tell stories or jokes, make big plans, share some beef jerky, or simply enjoy each other’s presence. It could be a great place to commune with nature, watching the herons land and feed in the water, or the ducks and geese floating down the river with a trail of their babies following behind them. Of course, these woods are filled with all kinds of birds to watch. You might even see the occasional ermine scurrying in and out of the large rocks on the riverbank. I’ve seen all of these things down by the river. To some this bench might be an oasis in the middle of a busy city… one of the few places to escape the steel and concrete, the noise, and the litter. That might mean a lot to someone who needs that.

I created this painting about a week after a friend of mine unexpectedly passed away. I mostly thought of him as I painted it. He appreciated nature and places such as this. He even once helped save a beautiful natural place much like this from being sold and paved over by developers. Perhaps the empty bench symbolizes the void he has left. Because I know he would have told me that he liked the painting. He was always a supportive friend like that, and he enjoyed my art. Or, on the contrary, the empty bench might remind us to continue enjoying life, to keep pondering and planning and enjoying our blessings. To use the bench – to accept the ebb and flow and be grateful for the different seasons of our life.

In my painting the sky is gray, and the dormant woods are bare and colorless and struggle to shake off the final days of another cold winter. Here and there, snow still lies within tiny patches of shade, where the sun doesn’t reach it, but the river is running high and fast from the thaw. The trout and salmon are running upstream to spawn and create more life. Spring is here. The daylight will stick around longer each day throughout the coming months and the air will get warmer. Soon the woods will be green again and rife with life. The sunshiny days of Summer always return and that is when the bench is empty a lot less.

You can watch a time lapse video of the creation of this painting on my youtube channel. Here’s a link to that. If you enjoy the video, you can subscribe to my channel so that you will receive notifications of when I post more art videos.

Thank you for reading this. I hope the painting does something for you.

I’ve named the painting (simply) “Dryad’s Saddle”. For anyone not in the know, “Dryad’s Saddle” is an edible shelf mushroom that grows on dead decaying trees. You will easily find them in wooded areas (obviously). They’re also known as “Pheasant Back”, because the pattern on them resembles the feathers on a pheasant’s back.

The small young Dryad’s Saddle are tender and the most edible. My wife and I harvest Dryad’s Saddle from a decaying tree stump in our own back yard, every Spring and Summer, and she cooks them up in a frying pan. The larger they are, the tougher and woodier they are, so you want the small young ones which are softer. Freshly picked, they smell like cucumber or watermelon rind, and when chopped up and cooked in a skillet with some butter, garlic, and a dash of salt they fry up much like any mushroom does. Its texture reminds me very much of cooked chicken (the tender dark meat) and it has an earthy flavor. I’ve read that they are high in vitamins, protein, and anti-oxidents and are very healthy to eat. There is a lot of information on the internet about Dryad’s Saddle and how to prepare them.

Also in my painting are hosta plants. Did you know that hostas are also edible? You can eat the shoots, the leaves, and the flowers. There’s lots of info about that online as well. Perhaps I should have named the painting “Forager’s Delight”.

This painting has gotten my creativity going again and reminds me that Spring is just around the corner. We’ll be seeing lots of “Dryad’s Saddle” soon, and I have already started working on another painting! I hope we’ll be seeing more of those on a regular basis too!

Prints of my new painting “Dryad’s Saddle” are now available in my store. This open edition hand-signed giclee print is digitally printed in high resolution with waterproof archival pigment inks on 19 mil, 260 g/m2, archival textured matte velvet fine art paper, 100% cotton fiber and acid free.

Thanks for reading my blog post!

I painted the other piece, “Burger Friends”, in the weeks before the 4th of July (Independence Day, in the USA). I had to step away from the painting many times to work on projects around the house, so it took longer than it should have to complete it. ”Burger Friends” is evocative of summertime grilling and the toppings we put on a burger around here. I enjoy smoking and grilling food and I do a lot of it for my household in the summertime. Aside from brisket, ribs, kabobs, chicken, grilled hot dogs and hamburgers are a common staple food during the summer months. It’s easy and delicious. Who doesn’t love hand patted quarter pound “Dad burgers”? I particularly like lettuce, tomato, red onion, cheese, and mayo, on mine. I can’t help but admire the beauty of freshly sliced vegetables, brightly colored, crisp, and juicy, just before I destroy the presentation by piling up my cheeseburger.

I’ve already started a timelapse video of another new painting, in between painting my bathroom and garage (different kind of “painting”). The projects keep coming.

Prints of “Early-Autumn Zinnias” and “Burger Friends” can be purchased in my online store. Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog!

I’ve made several new paintings over the past few weeks. I began filming timelapse videos showing the creation of these paintings. My first painting was a garden gnome standing next to some black eyed susans. I painted it with gouache paints on paper and named the piece “The Gardener”.

The next one, also gouache on paper, was a grasshopper.

And the painting after that was some bleeding heart flowers, which I painted on a larger stretched canvas with acrylic paints.

The bleeding hearts was a painting that I had started about a year ago, but I lost interest in it as I instead got into a different painting. So I decided to break it out and finish it finally, and I made a timelapse video of it, and started a YouTube channel to collect the footage and more timelapse videos of my paintings, for people that like that sort of thing. I think it’s interesting to watch a piece develop and morph in fast motion. I try to put nice music to the videos or some pleasant ambient background noise. You can watch the full videos from beginning to end on my youtube channel at www.youtube.com/@marjasallproductions. Subscribe to my channel and you’ll receive notifications of when I post new videos.

These new paintings I just mentioned, “The Gardener”, “A Grasshopper”, and “Bleeding Hearts” are now available as archival prints in my store.

I put together a slide show several weeks ago of most of my current collection of artworks. I think it’s an entertaining way to view the collection quickly in one place. Enjoy!

I’m about to begin work on another yet-unfinished painting and time-lapse video. I want to keep the creative momentum going. It’s another painting that I started about a year ago and I’ll reveal what it is when I release the video.

April is the time when nature gets creative. It’s planting season and nature comes back to life. Summer will be here before we know it. The warm weather gets me outdoors more, which means more energy, and that I will be surrounded by inspiration and new things to paint.

That’s all the news I have for the month of April. Peace to you and have a blessed day! Thank you for reading my blog!

Over the summer I attended some really great art events in Racine, Wisconsin. The 16^th Street Studios held another open house event which was just as fun, interesting, and inspiring as the first time my wife and I went, back in April of 2023. I saw several new studio spaces which I did not see before. I even came home with a free book. One artist was making room for fresh books on her studio shelves by telling her visitors to take one. So I selected a hardcover biography about J.R.R. Tolkien and thanked her.

Not only are there artists’ studios and shops at the 16^th Street Studios, but there is a museum. In suite 2500 is the “Spirit of Racine Entrepreneurs” exhibit, which is a museum dedicated to “the innovative spirit and business acumen of those who contributed to Racine’s economic growth and development”. I saw many interesting items, like old world carriages manufactured in Racine, steamer trunks, a vintage Golden Books collection, and many other products and items that were manufactured in Racine. There were turn of the century maps displayed, showing the neighborhoods and street names in Racine in those times. Much has changed, and much has stayed the same. I learned something about my house. It was all very interesting stuff. Another open house event will take place on April 27, 2024.

My wife and I also attended the 58^th Racine Starving Artist Fair at the DeKoven Center, near the lakefront, in Racine. It was a really fun and inspiring event. The weather cooperated with overcast skies and pleasant temperatures. The grounds there are really beautiful.

The DeKoven Center website describes the grounds best: “Set along Lake Michigan’s bluffs in Racine, Wisconsin, The DeKoven Center’s 11-acre campus is a unique and versatile setting offering nationally-recognized architectural treasures, gorgeous gardens, serene wooded areas and distinctive spaces — ideal for everything from personal reflection to community celebration”.

It was my first time attending this art fair and I could not believe the size of this event. I had no idea it was so large. There were over 120 artists displaying and selling their work, live music (I saw an acoustic performer and a cellist), the aroma of different foods, and all kinds of colorful art – paintings, woodwork, metalwork, jewelry, clothing, sculpture, glass-work… you name it. All of this in the midst of the beautiful gardens of DeKoven Center. I bought a stained glass piece from an artist, and my wife purchased a blown glass piece. The event inspired me to paint Kings Way Gardens, at St. John’s Chapel, which is on the DeKoven grounds. You can view the painting in my gallery. The Fair was impressive and has made me consider trying to rent a space there, possibly next year. The 59th Racine Starving Artist Fair is August 4, 2024.

I’ve created a lot of new art over the past several months. I completed eight paintings and have three other new paintings started as I type this. I jump around between pieces, and work on whichever one excites me at the moment.

The eight paintings that I completed are called:

• “Moon Peeking Around A Chimney”
• “Looking At You”
• “Halloween Tree”
• “Autumn Trail”
• “Morning Light”
• “At The Easel”
• “Danny”
• “October Snow”

They are all displayed in my gallery.

I painted “Danny” after a childhood friend of mine passed away unexpectedly in November 2023. He was a year older than me and we used to play music together when we were teenagers. We started out together, you could say, me getting my first electric guitar and amplifier at the same time he acquired a set of drums. His Dad allowed us to make our noise in their garage, and we started learning songs together. We lost touch with each other in the early-1990s and reconnected only two or three years ago on social media. We never managed to hook up face-to-face though. And then one day he passed away. I painted “Danny” how I remember him – young, long ago in the 1980s, in that garage. We had many great times. I think my painting reflects the fuzziness of those increasingly distant memories.

I will discuss other paintings in future blog entries.

I’m starting to print in-house, rather than outsourcing. We bought a large printer, and it prints with water resistant archival pigment inks. I’ve also been researching and testing out new archival fine art papers. I worked professionally in the printing industry for 15 years, before I began taking my artwork more seriously, and the knowledge and experience I gained from those jobs has paid off. I am not intimidated by printing in-house. I like the control that it gives me over the quality of my prints.

That is all that I can think to report, for now. I’m working on new paintings and I will share them here soon. Thank you for reading this. I will seriously try to write more often.

~ Mark Allen