What’s the Big Idea? – Page 5 – One Life Fine Art Blog

12May 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Studio Life & Covid-19 Part 7

Art Sales, Covid-19 Art, Sketchbooks, The Story Behind the Painting, The Sunflower Project, What's the Big Idea?

As social (physical) distancing drags on people are dreaming of getting their lives back. I have three more drawings in the Covid-19 series, this first is inspired by a study which surveyed how the pandemic was manifesting in peoples dreams. The second is about the realities of parents, grandparents and volunteer caregivers who are now juggling the responsibilities of full time child care and full time remote work. It is a blessing of communications technology that many are able to do this and maintain income security. Some telecommuters are able to help family members who are considered front line essential services, but without child care, to maintain their income security by pulling double duty. However it needs to be recognized that of necessity neither job is going to get the…

04May 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Studio Life & Covid-19 Part 6

Art Sales, Covid-19 Art, Sketchbooks, The Story Behind the Painting, The Sunflower Project, What's the Big Idea?, Working Artist, Youtube Channel

So I feel like we have settled into a little routine or a new normal, as they are saying now, although we are all looking forward to (if not quite certain about) plans to ease restrictions and re-open businesses. There was a lot of questions about herd immunity, and whether this can be relied upon to protect us as we start going out in public again. How many would need to be immune and how long does immunity last? My thoughts are that if you are in a high risk category you should probably play it safe for a while yet, while if you are healthy you can probably have a little more faith in the ability of the medical system to take care of you should your case be…

27Apr 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Studio Life & Covid-19 Part 5

Art Sales, Covid-19 Art, Events & Announcements, What's the Big Idea?, Working Artist, Youtube Channel

It is almost a month and a half now since Covid-19 was declared a global Pandemic and our lives here in North America went topsy turvy. I think a lot of people are appreciating the warmer weather, but not sure how they are going to enjoy it this summer. All of our plans are under revision now. Amidst a whole raft of summer event cancellations, it was announced this week that the Calgary Exhibition & Stampede is officially cancelled for 2020. I anticipated this, however I know that the organizers, competitors, exhibitors and vendors were all hoping that somehow it could go ahead. The event brings millions of visitors from all over the globe to Calgary, and generates multi-millions of dollars of revenue. There are visual artists in the Artist's…

21Apr 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Studio Life & Covid-19: Part 4

Events & Announcements, Sketchbooks, Uncategorized, Working Artist, Youtube Channel

While the weather and the news had its ups and downs in the outside world, it was another busy week in the studio. As an artist who is perpetually in isolation, there is never a shortage of things to get done, even while others post about not knowing how to fill the hours suddenly vacated by their jobs. However, it can be difficult to motivate myself to actually get things done as some projects seem to be futile when their fate is currently unknown due to all the uncertainties of the Covid-19 pandemic. Such is the case with my preparations for The Calgary Exhibition and Stampede Art Show. Currently we have no news one way or the other on the fate of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede this year, so…

13Apr 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Studio Life During Covid-19 Part 3

Sketchbooks, The Story Behind the Painting, The Sunflower Project, What's the Big Idea?, Youtube Channel

We finally started getting some projections on the severity and length of the pandemic this week and have had to think about the idea that this is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. With that in mind, I moved to a schedule of doing the Covid-19 Sketchbook drawings three days per week and posting them on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings. I was interviewed on the CBC Homestretch April 2nd about the drawings however I don't see any links on their website for the segment so unfortunately I can't share that with you. However CBC Calgary shared 8 more images on their instagram account. And Ellie McIntosh also featured one of the images in her latest Vlog post on the importance of creativity in times like these. https://youtu.be/Dz0cVGRl3zQ…

06Apr 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Studio Life During Covid-19 Part 2

100 Rejections, Events & Announcements, Sketchbooks, The Sunflower Project, Uncategorized, Working Artist, Youtube Channel

So it is another interesting week as we see the progress of the Covid-19 crisis on the global stage and I have continued to document it in my Covid 19 series of drawings I uploaded the final instalment of Kathleen and Quinnton's Wedding Painting to Youtube last week, so here together for the first time are all three videos so you can see the process from start to finish! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAvrhEIE4vA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXvYwDDWsyw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmUOiHw0x5k Each video represents one day of work on the painting. So why are the lengths so different? I'm recording the time-lapse video's using my iPhone, so I need to press stop periodically to adjust the number of dropped frames per session. In the shorter ones I stopped recording less frequently. So it appears I am a super fast…

30Mar 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Studio Life During Covid-19

100 Rejections, Commissions, Events & Announcements, Sketchbooks, The Sunflower Project, Youtube Channel

This week has been intense and uncertain for a lot of people. We are all watching the news on a daily basis, and surfing social media for the interaction that we are prohibited from getting in person. In the studio, in addition to the new Covid-19 drawings I am sharing with you in this post, I had a contract cancellation as their offices are shut down for Covid-19. Kathleen & Quinnton, 16 x 20 Acrylic on Canvas I finished Kathleen and Quinton's wedding painting, and edited and uploaded the final video in the series, which will go live on Youtube this Friday (watch for it). I am still planning on doing a sketchbook tour video this week which I should upload to Youtube for next Friday. This almost couldn't happen…

23Mar 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

The Timely Sketchbook

Sketchbooks, What's the Big Idea?, Youtube Channel

I have always loved the beautiful sketchbooks of other artists, but they have never been a regular thing for me. Mine are usually decades old and half full of loose composition ideas, shopping lists, reading notes, budgets, business ideas and the odd nice drawing of a landscape or portrait. But a proper visual diary of my thoughts, observations and inspirations? Nope, I've never had much luck with those. Maybe it is because my thought process is long, but I usually respond to circumstance through my paintings, rather than in bound books of daily sketches. Covid-19 Sketchbook Drawing 1, Ink on paper, Debbie.lee Miszaniec However there is something about the need to respond quickly to the realities of the Covid-19 crisis, that has me revisiting the sketchbook as a way to…

17Feb 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Happy Family Day Alberta!

The Sunflower Project, What's the Big Idea?, Youtube Channel

Because families start with love: http://youtu.be/RD7kC2mb38Q I love that Family Day follows Valentine's Day here in Alberta! Because, as the song says, (insert name here) & (insert name here) sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G; first comes love, then comes marriage (or whatever relationship definition works for your reproductive unit), then comes (insert names here) pushing the baby carriage. So in honour of that special bond that grows between two people and then is shared with the next generation, Happy Family Day from my family to your's! I hope you will enjoy watching this Valentine's day video that I published to my youtube channel for Valentine's day, and that it inspires you to encourage your next generation to pay the love forward as well! Happy Family day from our family!

10Feb 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

A Valentine for the World

The Sunflower Project, What's the Big Idea?

I've made 6 new sunflower seed paintings remind you to share your love with the world! I've published a new video to Youtube for Valentine's day documenting the process of creating all six and I encourage you to subscribe to my Youtube channel so you don't miss that. Remember to sign up to the sunflower project if you have not already by visiting my website here.

Category: What’s the Big Idea?