Maria Coryell-Martin: Expeditionary Art

Busy & Fun Week

Maria — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:18:29 +0000

I’m home in Twisp after a busy and fun week in Seattle. Polar Science Weekend was a success- I hung four framed watercolors from my new Antarctic Iceberg series and brought a number of my field sketchbooks, supplies, and some handouts to share with the visitors. I also made a “How to Draw a Penguin in 5 Steps” worksheet this year that was especially popular with younger kids.

Polar Science Weekend was a great opportunity to meet families and people of all ages as well as the local scientific community who I hope to continue collaborating with. I do truly believe that art and science overlap through making observations and cultivating curiosity. While I love my personal time out sketching and in the studio, I’m delighted to share the art of sketching and nature journaling with others to encourage awareness of the environment.

On that note, following Polar Science Weekend, I gave a presentation and series of workshops for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders at the University Child Development School in Seattle. It’s a lovely school with wonderful kids! I look forward to working with them again soon. If you’re interested in hosting a workshop or event, please learn more here and contact me with any questions.

Polar Science Weekend

Maria — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:01:26 +0000

Blocky Berg II, 19" x 15" watercolor, $625 unframed

Come by the Pacific Science Center in Seattle for Polar Science Weekend! The four day event (from Feb 25 – 28) features hands-on activities, demonstrations, and exhibits by scientists and groups around Puget Sound who study the polar regions. I’ll have new Antarctica watercolors (such as the one featured above) on exhibit for the whole event and will be there all day in person on Friday and Saturday with my field sketchbooks, prints, greeting cards, and art activities. I hope you can make it!

Update: I may also be at Polar Science Weekend Sunday afternoon

Expeditions & High Latitudes

Maria — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:40:56 +0000

I’m excited to announce the new Expeditions section of my website, featuring my past travels and my upcoming project, “High Latitudes, Science, Subsistence, and Art in the Arctic.” This summer, two scientists have invited me to join them in field camps on opposite coasts of Greenland. With the support of grants and private donations, I will have the opportunity to sketch and observe their research on narwhals and walruses, marine mammals that are both specialized to life in the Arctic and critical to Greenlandic subsistence living. The fieldwork will inspire a new portfolio of paintings and educational materials that I hope will expand awareness of science, subsistence, and climate change the in Arctic.

Learn more and consider pledging your support!

Wilco at the Paramount

Maria — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:19:52 +0000

Last week I was in Seattle for a few days and saw a great show by Wilco at the Paramount theater. While waiting in line for the doors to open, I had fun sketching with the Brushes app on my new iPod Touch (birthday present and loving it). Brushes is great fun- I learned about the app from the New Yorker magazine which has featured iPhone sketches for several covers artist Jorge Colombo. You can check out weekly sketches here.

Hut Skiing

Maria — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:54:18 +0000

Although it’s a warm winter here in the Methow Valley (thanks to El Nino), I’m loving skiing. There’s a wonderful network of groomed trails here for classic and skate skiing, and recently Darin and I explored the Rendezvous trails for the first time. The Rendezvous system includes a number of huts and we spent one night in the lovely Gardner hut with a group of friends. The hut was fantastic- a perfect mix of rustic and comfort with a wood stove and propane for cooking and lights. I woke up early in the morning and enjoyed making several watercolor sketches until my paints (and fingers) froze. Note the ice crystals in my cabin sketch sky…

Antarctic Series

Maria — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:39:17 +0000

Last week I posted color chips that I’m exploring for my new Antarctic series of watercolors. Today I’d like to share an actual painting! I’m loving large washes of subtle color, and exploring the specificity of icebergs in the vast environment of the Southern Ocean. There’s something about big, quiet spaces- deserts, really- that I love. The open skies and simple elements provide me with space to think, reflect, and to notice the world around me.

My goals is to complete 10 or so paintings and display a series at Polar Science Weekend in Seattle next month. I’d love to see you there!

Blocky Berg, watercolor, 14.5" x 14.5"

Color Chips

Maria — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:37:29 +0000

Happy new year! My life is regaining a sense of routine after the hectic (but great fun) holidays. Whew. I’m happy to be home in the beautiful Methow and back in my studio! So it’s been about a month since I last painted and I’m excited to get back to my series of Antarctic paintings. A few are already completed, but my goal is finish a number more in time for Polar Science Weekend at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle during the last weekend of February. Yesterday I sorted through my reference materials (photos and sketches) played with compositions and color. Exploring color is a particularly fun way to warm up after time away from the studio- I’m in love with mixing Daniel Smith’s Deep Scarlet (D.S.), Quinacridone Gold (Q.G.), and Indathrone blue (I.B.) and the following show some of my experimentations with warm and cool colors.

P.O.= Pyrrol Orange, N.G.= New Gamboge

C.V.= Carbizole Violet, H.Y.L= Hansa Yellow Light, H.Y.M.= Hansa Yellow Medium

R.S. = Raw Sienna, P.B.G. = Pthalo Blue (Green Shade)

Free Shipping!

Maria — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:20:02 +0000

Through December 17th, I’m offering free shipping on orders over $100 for prints, sketches, and cards. Visit my shop and check out what’s available!

New Art in my Shop

Maria — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:57:38 +0000

I’ve just matted and posted in my shop all sorts of gems of studio and field sketches! I invite you to check them out- as well as my new wood-mounted prints. Through December 17th, I’m also offering free shipping on orders for prints, sketches, and cards over $100!

Wood-Mounted Prints!

Maria — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:56:46 +0000

I’m excited to share my latest project with you! A collection of wood-mounted giclee prints are now available in my shop and are inspired by the local Methow Valley landscape, the lovely region I’ve recently moved to (tucked in the foothills of the North Cascades Mountain range.)

The prints are from a new series of paintings I’m developing. So far all of my paintings are small (5″ x 5″) watercolors and are mounted on 1″ deep cradled birch panels that can stand freely on a shelf or hang on a wall. I’m finishing the paintings with a varnish and love how saturated the watercolors become. The prints are mounted and finished identically to the originals (which I’m saving for the moment for a show… but will be available soon!) and every print is hand-signed. Check them out and let me know what you think of them!