Sue Monk Kidd

Another incredibly inspiring discussion on SS. "What we give our attention to becomes our God". Sue Monk Kidd discusses the how giving our full attention to something (like nature) is a form of meditation. She talks about the importance of the choices we make for these present moments, what we let into our worlds, what we surround ourselves with. "We become what we pay attention to". Some how this take a complex idea and boils it down to such a simply stated belief.
http://www.oprah.com/own-super-soul-sunday/First-Look-Oprah-and-Oprah-Book-Club-Author-Sue-Monk-Kidd-Video

Louis Schwarzman's amazing work

This interview was so inspiring too...I've been thinking about it for days...trying to take all of it in...I think it will come out in some way...art...poem maybe ...who knows...

http://www.oprah.com/own-super-soul-sunday/Louie-Schwartzberg-Discusses-Gratitude-and-Nature-Video

"Nobody ever sees me"...Amanda Palmer sees you.

I heard this on a podcast while driving...it was so profound. I loved it so much that I had to watch it today. Please, if you wonder why your making your art...please watch this. Making art is about connecting to others really...that's the long and short of it. Everything is about feeling deep, real connections.
https://www.ted.com/talks/amanda_palmer_the_art_of_asking

MOCAA show

Here's a little promotion for the MOCCA show this weekend! It's at the 69th regiment Armory in NYC. I'll be there from 11-12 Sat and 3-5 on Sunday. The FIT Table #F32.
http://www.societyillustrators.org/Mocca_Event.aspx?id=10561

My Manifesto

Uppercase had a call for entries on the theme of "Manifesto". I thought I'd give it a try. I tried to pull together some of my favorite, most inspiring thoughts...crammed them into a watercolor pattern and here's what I came up with. I put it up in my Society 6 shop too, incase anyone wants to purchase a print. http://society6.com/mariacarluccio/marias-manifesto_Print#1=45

Oil painting

Here's a painting done for Martin Whitfooth's class. He's an awesome teacher...loved working with him, what a treat. I thought I'd show the process of the painting. From sketches to finish.
I have been fascinated with the idea of books as living things. Ideas seems to feed other ideas and words connect to other words. I'm going to try and do a poster with this at some point. My love of books seems to overflow into so many things these days.

Figure drawings

Posting a few figures done in ink wash. I did these back in December. It was the culmination on many months of trying to get back in shape with figure drawing. Thanks to Melanie Reim though, who saw me through some bad stuff but just kept pushing me. Of coarse I won't post the bad ones but believe me there were quite a few. The top image is a color experiment I tried today. I wanted to see if  I could get some texture in there...not sure I like it but it's worth trying out.