Mary Dunn – Pittsburgh Artist

Here we are, 2010 Spring, and I am delighted that winter is behind. With the winter that we had, all the snow, and some damage, it was nice to put it all behind.   Spring has always been my idea of regenerating and new life.  Certainly, this Spring was one of beauty; however, it has not been quite so warm.

That won’t stop me though.  I have been very busy this Spring as I am now the new President of the Pittsburgh Pastel Artist League as well as a board member for the Steel Valley Artist Council where I have taken on the role of Secretary.

In addition to those two activities, my artist life has picked up a bit.  Not only have I been working on several commissions, I have also been interviewed for an upcoming article at Womple.com.  It may be a few weeks until the interview is online, but it was exciting for me to have been chosen as an artist of interest.

As I pointed out in the previous paragraph, I have had several commissions.  These came about by getting myself some new business cards.  My daughter took a few of those cards and passed them out to several of her work associates.  Through that PR, my first commission came, a birthday present for a sister.  The present was a portrait of Johnny Depp which I painted in pastels.  It turned out quite nice.

With that commission came another for the same family.  It was a bit of a challenge for me as the picture was an action shot of a young girl serving a volley ball.  The problem for this painting, for me at least, is the picture in which I had to paint from was an action shot that was blurred.

Much research went into this painting that took into consideration shoes, volleyball and  serves from the right hand/arm.  I also asked some of my pastel artists involved in the PPAL organization how they would work this painting. 

Although it took me a bit longer than I anticipated, the painting began to unfold. 

Now, I have another challenge.  Last year, an art student from a local art school asked me to do a caracature of Mel Gibson for a movie he was making for class.  This year, he needs another painting.  However, this one is a bit different as it has to be more realistic.  The painting, a famous hockey player, Alexander Ovechkin.  I did begin the painting this week and once completed, I will post it.

As before stated, my time is being consumed by my other activities.  I really enjoy both of the organizations that I am involved with, and it takes time to plan for them. 

As president of PPAL, I am putting together paintouts, newletters and exhibits.  I am seeing other people’s works and it helps me to learn.  Of course there is also a plythora of books and DVD’s that I read and view to help guide me on my quest as an artist.

Being involved in SVAC is also rewarding as the group works to bring the arts to the once booming town of Homestead.  Previously, Homestead was a part of the steel industry.  Now, as much of Pittsburgh has transitioned, so has Homestead.  More service industries have become the mainstay of employment and SVAC is working toward the art culture for the area. 

Lastly,  my creative endeavors have been to help promote my husband’s band, Big Boss Band, where I have designed a web site for the people involved in a great genre, blues.  If you have an interest in blues, one of the things that helps encourage me in my painting besides my faith, check out the website at http://www.bigbossband-pgh.com.  I still have to work out some of the kinks in the site, but it is working and some parts are functional like the form to be placed on the mailing list.

No matter how busy I become, it  is all good and truly enjoyable.  I thank God for all the people and gifts I have been blessed with in my life.  Each day I take one more step in my journey as an artist.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 4th, 2010 at 11:36 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.