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Friday, September 7, 2012

Paint Party Friday: Week 26, Year 2 Check In Featured Artist: Martha from Ayala Art

image courtesy of Ayala Art

Welcome to Week 26 of Paint Party Friday (Year 2) and to the next edition of our Featured Artist Series! (Would you like to be a PPF Featured Artist? Please click here for details!) This week's featured artist creates fantastic faces and inspires, motivates, and invites us to join in the fun.  Please welcome Martha from Ayala Art!

Please tell us a bit about your personal history with painting. (When did you start painting? How has your painting evolved since you first started?) All my work is under AyalaArt, which is part of my name. Ever since I can remember, I have loved drawing. That was the only way they could keep me busy and sitting down. (Except when I was drawing on the walls, I had to do that standing!) As I grew up, my artistic inclinations went more towards the performing arts and sculpting. I had also a graphic design studio, which involved a lot of drawing but no painting.

Fast forward a bunch of years, I get married, move to a different city, have babies, and I could not do clay anymore, it was too messy and kind of impossible with young kids (one was throwing clay balls up the wall, and the other one was eating it!), so I turned my attention back to drawing and as the kids grew up, I went into painting. I've been through all the mediums, sizes and substrates.

I settled for a good long time on wood with acrylics. But then I would go to oils on canvas, then watercolors... In each medium or even size, my style would be different. That's when I discovered I suffered from "Quoque plures penicullus incompositus" which is fancy Latin for "Too many styles disorder". (I actually looked for an online translator to get it in Latin hahaha...)

image courtesy of Ayala Art

What are your favorite techniques, media, and tools to use in creating your paintings? At this point, acrylics on canvas. Tomorrow, who knows! I painted with water soluble oils for years. I even have posted about the pros and cons of both acrylic and oil paints. I use speed dry mediums for oils, and slow dry medium for acrylics. Just can't deal with their normal speed I guess! :o)

Tools, well, it depends of what I'm working on. Sometimes the best tool is an old brush, and some other times a rag. I do love my filbert brushes!

image courtesy of Ayala Art

What is your favorite thing to paint? Why? I absolutely love painting portraits. I started with realism, and slowly moved to a more abstracted style, and went into everything in between. For years I painted little girls. I still love painting and drawing them. Maybe the fun part of that is all the bows and frilly things I can paint on them, since my daughter never really let me put bows on her :o)

Figurative art is what calls me. Maybe because there's always a story that you can see in the face?

image courtesy of Ayala Art

What is your proudest painting moment and/or greatest painting achievement so far? My proudest moment was when I was able to catch a bottle of red paint before it hit the carpet. Man, that made me proud Xo)

Actually, almost every time I'm working on something new, is my proudest moment. Also when my doll was published in Art Doll Quarterly. It was so much fun!

image courtesy of Ayala Art

What's next in your painting future? Classes! Always learning, and now offering online workshops. Any one can learn how to make a face, I will see to that! :o)

Also: Taking commissions again. Not too many since I can't help stressing about each of them, but it is thrilling to work on somebody else's dreams. As well as Balance work, listings and promoting... is that possible? Sometimes I paint a lot and never list... some other times, I list a lot and never find time to promote it, or worse, get stuck online and forget to paint! :oP

Plus my 29 Faces Challenge in September! It's the 3rd time around and it is so much fun!


You can find Martha and Ayala Art at:
Blog: http://ilove2paint.blogspot.com
tumblr: http://ayala-art.tumblr.com
youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AyalaArt?feature=guide
twitter: https://twitter.com/ayala_art
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AyalaArt
Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/AyalaArt

Thank you so much Martha for the wonderful interview and providing us with the motivation to create faces daily!  (Kristin is having lots of fun & EVA enjoyed the very first one!)

***
NOW IT'S YOUR TURN...
WE WANT YOU TO SUBMIT YOUR STORY!

**Would you like to be a PPF Featured Artist? Click here for details!**
Wow! What a busy and creative party last week! What wonderful paintings!

By the way, several of you have again mentioned how much they would like to reply directly to your comments on their blogs, but Blogger's default setting is "noreply-comment@blogger.com".  Jenn of "Just add Water, Silly" has a great explanation on getting replies so you are not a "no-reply blogger". (Dashboard - Edit Profile - check "show my email address" and enter it - SAVE profile.) We changed our settings when  we first realized the issue and it is great to hear back from someone who has appreciated your comment. If you are uncomfortable with sharing your personal email address then email us (link on sidebar) and we can send you an invitation to get a gmail account which you can forward to another address.

Now, here is our check-in for this week's party:

As always, please make sure to use your post URL address NOT your blog home page URL address as there are many late visitors who get confused as to which post is for PPF when they arrive (after Friday) at your website. If you are unfamiliar with Mr. Linky, an explanation of how this tool works can be found on Week 1 and Week 2 Check-Ins.

Hope you have a wonderful creative paint-filled week!

38 comments:

  1. Martha is so very talented!
    Enjoyed learning more about her in this feature.
    Great interview!

    Thank you, Kristin and Eva!

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  2. Really nice to hear more about Martha and her process, very interesting. :)

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  3. I have been enjoying your art ever since joining PPF where I first found your blog! I like your sense of humor in your interview here too! I love your Frida's and your Day of the Dead pieces too! Thanks for sharing so much of yourself with us here today! HPPF!!!

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  4. Hi Martha
    I really enjoyed reading more about you and your art journey. I wish I would have started the 29 faces challenge ..it would have really been a fun thing I plan to check it out and see what everyone comes up with faces are a big challenge for me. I like your art a lot...it is free and happy and your video on painting a face was so so interesting and a big boost to my muse.
    -KAT-

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  5. Great work from Martha, a very talented artist! Valerie

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  6. Great interview Martha, you have a great sense of art - and humour! I am so enjoying the 29 faces challenge!

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  7. I'm so happy to see the talented Martha and the so-fun Ayala Art featured this week!!!
    Rinda

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  8. I've been a fan of Martha's work since I discovered it three years ago. Her paintings have been a huge source of inspiration for me and, since I have begun to focus on pepple and faces, have taught me a great deal. I am so excited that she is the featured artist this week!

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  9. Cool to get to know her this month while participating in her 29 faces project. :) Awesome styles, all of them!

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  10. Martha is so talented! Wonderful work.

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  11. Love your art and humor! I think will adopt the "disorder" as a description of LIFE! ;-)

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  12. Martha - I love your work and am having so much fun with your 29 faces project. Thank you for your wit too! Love the disorder you've named. I live with it in so many ways! Happy PPF!

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  13. I've loved reading this interview, so fresh and positive! Lovely art work, fabulous faces!

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  14. Martha is so creative and willing to try any medium!

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  15. I love love love the Fridas and skeletons! Beautiful.

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  16. Great interview, I adore the fridas, have so many in my atc coollection- love her. Happy PPF everyone.

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  17. That's a beautiful PPF button! Loved reading through Martha's interview. I thought it interesting that she adds fast-drying to oils and slow-drying to acrylics. I've been a fan of her work for awhile now. :)

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  18. Happy PPF!!! So happy to finally have something to join in with - Have a great weekend!

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  19. Maybe I have too many tools disorder - Ha! Love your art and the funny interview. Thanks for hosting the 29 faces challenge - it is really challenging me!

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  20. I have been traveling and have missed PPF for several weeks. So glad to be back... and just in time for this great interview. Love your faces, Martha!

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  21. such wonderful creativity, beautiful talented artist!
    Thank you for hosting again, it feels good to be back , its been months since I joined in, this is the best part of my Fridays,

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  22. I really enjoyed this lighthearted interview with Martha. I love her weekly postings of interesting faces and figures. Today my favorite is the girl with the bird and sunflower!

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  23. What wonderful faces! Thanks to Martha for sharing her great art. Happy PPF!! xoxo

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  24. I loved reading about Martha! I've been curious about her for a while

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  25. I have one of her little paintings on a wood block. Love it!

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  26. Now I know what is wrong with me 'too many tools disorder'! Lovely interview, like your work and really enjoying 29 faces challenge.

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  27. Great interview.... I love Martha's style (all of them!!!!)

    Karenx

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  28. I did the 29 faces in February and loved it!!! It made me try new things and styles. Lovely.

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  29. Enjoyed the interview, checked out the website I think a face a day sounds like a good challenge! I think my post qualifies! Happy painting

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  30. I love Martha's work, so I'm glad to see here featured at PPF this week. Blessings!

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  31. Love the face challenges!! I did the Feb and the May ones and learned so many new skills. Just having energy issues for the Sept one. May jump in late though.

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  32. awesome inspiration here and love Martha's art :)

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  33. my first time participating! wonderful interview with martha! :)

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  34. wonderful interview from a wonderful artist! I love following Martha's blog!
    cheers, dana

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  35. I'm new here too - lovely interview and art ;-) Linda

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  36. Wonderful feature on an incredibly talented artist!

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