The Month for Hearts....

...love, flowers, candy, gifts, friends!  February is here! Heart Art is fun to create.  I love to put hearts on many things, all year, not just in February. It can express how you feel about so many things.  Plus, they are so happy.  So, during the month of February I am going to blog, quote, draw, paint, and photograph, things with hearts and things that I love and post them here.  Feel free to share what you love and add your comments about the things you 'heart' too.

♥Friendship ♥

So for the first day of February, I want to share a few of my favorite friendship quotes...

"...there is no greater gift than friendship."   Anonymous

"...a friend is someone with whom you dare to be yourself."  Frank Crane

"...how rare and wonderful is that flash of a moment when we realized we have discovered a friend."                                                                                        
                                         William Rotsler

"...it takes a long time to grow an old friend."     John Leonard

Beth  ♥

HeartHome Love...

I've been working on a custom clay Hearthome and I was excited to take it out of the kiln today! This special Hearthome is a going to Newlyweds. It has been personalized with their last name over the door (I blurred out the name for privacy and because they haven't received it yet!)  and their names and date of their wedding on the bottom.  It also can be used as a bank! It has a slot on the roof and a plug in the bottom to remove their savings, hopefully when its full!  So this house will soon be on its way to a home full of love and hope for the future. I've included photos of the progression of the hand built house bank made of clay, so you can see why the process can take a while. Lots of waiting for drying, then firing, then glazing, more firing...sometimes more glazing and more firing.

What a special wedding gift. Thanks to my customer for the story behind it and the idea and ordering such a special gift for her loved ones!

If you would like to order a custom house, you can look at this listing on Etsy:  Custom House Large

Bottom of house
with the plug for the bank. 

Beth ♥

What is Success?

"Seaside HeartHomes" SOLD

Such a simple word, with so many ways to perceive it. What is Success?
I looked up some quotes about Success and found many philosophical quotes about success. I found that  success can be many things to many people...depending on what you are trying to achieve.  I am an artist trying to succeed in making a living from my art...or at least contributing to it.  So, I should find my niche and go with it, right? If it were that easy, I would.  My goal is to do what I enjoy and love to do and hopefully the buyers will find me.  Even though I love to play with so many things.  I love to draw with colored pencils, paint with acrylics, create sculptures out of clay, draw architecture with ink, and draw whimsical illustrations with ink and watercolor and colored pencils...and whatever else I come across to explore.

"Fantasy Hearts" SOLD

I thought I would share some of the quotes that I felt spoke to me about 'success' and 'art'.  I hope that one will speak to you.

“Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.” 
― Salvador Dalí

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” 
― Leonardo da Vinci

“I've come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that's as unique as a fingerprint - and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you. ” 
― Oprah Winfrey

“If you care about what you do and work hard at it, there isn't anything you can't do if you want to.” 
― Jim Henson

"It's the rule of life that everything you have always wanted comes the very second you stop looking for it." Anonymous

"Valentine's Day" SOLD

"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong." Anonymous

"If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got." Anonymous

"No masterpiece was ever created by a lazy artist." Anonymous

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” 
― Pablo Picasso

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” 
― Pablo Picasso

“It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.” 
― Vincent van Gogh

“I dream my painting and I paint my dream.” 
― Vincent van Gogh


"May creativity find you while you are working" Unknown
Beth ♥

Greyhound Bus Station and Changes for 2013

Private Commission
Mixed Media
Watercolor, Pen & Ink, and Colored Pencil
Beth S. Macre©2012

Now that I am working on my art full time, I need to make some changes.  I am retired from teaching, but not from Art. If I want to continue to be retired from teaching, I need to take my art more seriously and do a better job at marketing.  So that will be my goal for 2013.  Taking my art more seriously .  That will involve more marketing and trying to figure out what direction I want to go with my art.  I have always loved to draw with colored pencils, paint with acrylics, play with watercolor, draw with pen and ink, and create little houses out of clay. I want to sell art from my heart and create custom art for my customers.  I am always open to ideas from customers when they want a commission, but I hope to create a more clear idea of what it is I do.  Too many directions is difficult to market.  I love whimsy and I love the more illustrative side of art. Not realism, but capturing a mood or feeling. Somehow I need to figure out how to combine the two.  I want to enjoy the process, but still appeal to my customers and find new customers.
In the photo in this post, is the last piece of 2012 that I created for a customer.  The landscaping was done by a local landscaper, Drew Bevill Lawn Care. This drawing was a custom order for a gift for him. The greyhound bus station behind it has been recently remodeled back to its original Art Deco style architecture and is being used as our Main Street Offices.  Drew Bevill Lawn Care landscaped the attached park next to the station. This piece was fun to do because it has 3 of my favorite media included in it.   They were all happy with the results, which makes me happy.

For more information about my custom art and the other artwork that I create, please visit my website here: 
Beth S. Macre Studio.
Beth ♥

Looking Forward to 2013...

Private Commission
Acrylic on Canvas
Beth S. Macre©2012

So 2012 is almost over. It has been an extremely busy year for me! There have been some ups and downs, but I want to focus on the positive.  Hoping for the power of positive thinking to work for me during 2013.  One major change for me during 2012 was my decision to retire from teaching after 29 years and start working on my art full time! That was a very hard decision for me, but it was a very much needed change. (I just hope that our politicians don't throw us off that "fiscal cliff" that they keep warning us about.  Its very difficult to be self employed when the economy is in free fall.  ...oops...I'm not supposed to dwell on the negative...) This year I was very busy with commissions, so I have been very blessed to have a good year for the first 6 months of being 'self employed'.Personally, I have had some challenges, but nothing compared to what many people have gone through.  So, I'm optimistic that this year will be even better!  I have to have faith that it will, and if that means I need to make more changes, then I will. Sometimes change is what it takes to move forward.  So, here's to the New Year and better times for us and our country. 

Private Commission
Colored Pencil on Uart Board
Beth S. Macre©2012

Beth ♥

Custom Tile Commission

Merry Christmas Eve!  I'm excited about the possibilitiy of having snow on Christmas tomorrow! That rarely happens around here!

Just wanted to share a custom tile that I created for an out of state customer.

Beth S. Macre©2012
Custom Tile

I take a photo and turn it into a custom tile that looks like your (or a loved ones) house. 

I take wet clay and create a tile and cut out pieces that create the house image. 

It's like drawing in 3D.  

If you would like to order a custom tile, you can contact me about details and we can work something out.  

Check out my Etsy listing for custom tiles here: Hearthomes 

**The tile shown here is larger than the size in my Etsy shop listing.

Beth ♥

What have I been up too?

Angela Wren Nursing and Allied Health Building
Arkansas Northeastern College
Pen and Ink

I have been working on several commissions for Christmas. Obviously I can't reveal what I'm working on until after Christmas, but I can share a commission that I worked on for several months this summer and into fall. Our local college built a new building dedicated to nursing education, thanks to a local family who helped the college with the project in honor of their daughter, who was a nurse.  The building is a memorial to her life and is named after her.  The original was presented to the family at the dedication of the building.

Beth ♥