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I haven't met Madelyn yet, but I'm hoping to soon. I found her while searching for other local Denton, TX artists to network with. Madelyn refers to herself as a representational painter. If she means that her work represents perfection, then this is completely accurate. When she first sent me her images, I saw the thumbnails and wondered if I had been wrong to reach out to her thinking she was an artist when in fact she is a photographer. The images looked so crisp and vibrant, I thought that they surely could not be paintings. Upon maximizing the images, the brushstrokes became evident and I was even more impressed than the first time I saw her work. It's all beautiful, but her food-themed paintings are especially mouth-watering. The way she captures the richness of the subjects is enough to make me want to make a trip to the closest bakery and stuff my face. Take a look and let me know if you feel the same.

To purchase prints of Madelyn's work, visit www.artbymadelyn.com and click “SHOP” in the upper right corner to get directed to the prints for sale. To purchase a painting or get a commission done, e-mail her at artbymadelyn@yahoo.com.

Instagram: @artworkbymadelyn

Twitter: @artbymadelyn

Facebook: Art By Madelyn

Website: www.artbymadelyn.com

Q: How long does it typically take you to complete a piece of artwork?

A: It depends on the pieces sizes and complexity, but to give you an idea it can take me as little as 1 week to complete a 12” x 16” and about 3 to 4 weeks to complete a 36” x 48.”

Q: What's your preferred medium and why? What are the best and worst things about working with this medium?

A: I enjoy working with mediums like graphite, watercolor, and color pencil, but my preference would have to be oil paint. Ever since I learned how to use oil paint in 2007 during a summer program at the Kansas City Art Institute, I fell in love with the medium. I love the smell, consistency and vibrancy from the colors.

The best thing about this medium for me is definitely how slow oil can dry, allowing me more time to move the paint when need be. The worst thing about oil paint would have to be how toxic it is. I regularly use cadmium paints, so I make sure to protect myself with gloves.

Q: What's your process for creating a new piece of art?

A: The very first thing I do before touching a paintbrush is examining the reference photo used for the painting. I literally stare at it for 5 minutes, figuring out the color palette and what parts of the painting I would start with first. I then lightly wash the image onto the canvas, mix several colors for 15-20 minutes and begin painting.

Q: What's your favorite art-related book, blog, magazine or other resource?

A: ART/WORK by Heather Darcy Bhandari and Jonathan Melber is a book that EVERY artist pursuing an art career should have. This booked helped me become more organized by creating income, expense and inventory spreadsheets, and gave me valuable information about consignments, loans, commissions, gallery representation and a plethora of other valuable information. My mother actually gifted me this book so, thanks mom!

Q: What's your favorite subject to draw or paint?

A: I LOVE painting food! I didn’t realize how abstract food could be until I painted my first food painting Vert Goodness. I think what intrigues me the most is that making food is an art form that isn’t only admired by how well the dish is plated, as if it were a painting itself, but how wonderful the smell is and how good the taste is.


For today's special, I'm posting this original watercolor painting of David Bowie titled "Bowie 5: Smoke" for half price. I was asking $150, but it can be yours this weekend only for $75 (plus applicable shipping). This is a 8.5"x11" painting on watercolor paper completed February 4, 2018. The special will end Sunday at midnight. First one to message or e-mail me at shellydenning1@gmail.com gets it.



I do a lot of stuff. In the past, I've allowed myself to get overwhelmed by the amount of things I have to do to the point that I don't even know where to begin. Being a listmaker, I decided it would be easier if I broke it down into sections. I used to break it down by time, but then my day was thrown off if I overslept or had to run an errand. My new schedule goes like this:


Monday

  • One hour to check, respond to, write and organize messages.

  • Balance my budget (however long it takes...usually around 10 minutes).

  • One hour to work on filing (this could be physical files or digital...trying to streamline my PC files).

  • Two hours to address my business to-do list (I have a Google Keep list of all outstanding tasks).

  • Four hours of writing. I use this time to write all blog/Instagram/Facebook posts for the week. I schedule them through Hootsuite unless they include more than one image.

Tuesday

  • One hour for messages.

  • One hour to work on household chores (laundry, dishes, etc.)

  • Two hours to address my personal to-do list (usually things like fixing a ripped seem or helping my daughter find scholarships).

  • Four hours for art design and production. This is where I work on current commissions.

Wednesday

  • One hour for messages.

  • One hour to follow up with potential clients.

  • Two hours to post completed work. This could include editing videos or adding items to my website.

  • Four hours of design and production.

Thursday

  • One hour for messages.

  • One hour for household tasks.

  • Two hours for personal to-do items.

  • Four hours of design and production.

Friday

  • One hour for messages.

  • Balance my budget.

  • One hour of work on my website.

  • Six hours for education. This could be reading a book or taking an online course. I'm currently taking a Udemy course on how to use Blender (3D modeling software).

Saturday and Sunday

  • One hour for messages.

  • The rest of the day is "flex" time. I can do personal stuff or do nothing at all. If there were any items that I wasn't able to finish during the week, I add it to the weekend. For instance, last week, our air conditioner broke. Because of that, I wanted to spend as little time in the house as possible. On Friday, I didn't work on my class at all. Instead, I did the entire six hours on Sunday (in my nice, cool house).

I have it printed out and laminated. I use a sharpie to check off items as they are completed (I set a timer on my phone) or to write notes. At the end of the week, a little rubbing alcohol on a paper towel cleans it all away to start fresh.


So far, this schedule has worked really well for me. I'm not much of an early riser, so I often work into the night, but that's OK. As long as I get my work done, I'm happy. This schedule keeps me from getting overwhelmed and has also led to my house and office being a little tidier. I try to be somewhat flexible with it all. I've got several commissions on the books right now, so I may have to add some more design/production work over the next few weeks, which is fine with me because that's my favorite part!


(Maybe someday, I'll be able to hire an assistant to do all the other stuff.) ;)


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