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Interview with artist anita marci

6/29/2017

I've decided to change things up a bit on my blog by doing some interviews of local artists here in Lahaina. Each one of these artists are special to me both because they are great creators of their work and because they are people I enjoy hanging out with and all of them I call friend.

For my first interview I want to introduce you to Anita Marci. Anita is an award-winning professional fine artist who began her illustrious career at the age of ten when she won her first art award and became a published artist. Originally from Pennsylvania Anita Marci graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Fine Art in Communication Design, Summa Cum Laude. After graduation and a whirlwind trip to Europe, visiting seven Countries, she took a position as an illustrator and designer in a high profile New York City design firm. 

1; When did you first become interested in art?

I began asking for paint when I was four years old. I got paints and brushes and proceeded
to paint everything including the walls and furniture. I won my first art award when I was ten
and I was hooked!!

2; What style of art do you do?

My art is Stylized, graphic, contemporary, clean, bold, and modern.
It is all about form and color. My goal is to capture the essence of my subject and portray
that with as little detail as possible. My paintings are flat and smooth and void of any texture.
And that is just the way I want them—pure and clean.

3; have you always done that style?

No, my art used to be more realistic with a lot more detail.

4; What medium do you use and why?

Acrylic is my primary medium. I began with watercolor
and I found that I could not get as high a price for paintings in that medium and it was
more difficult and less forgiving. Acrylics have much more flexibility and viscosity options.

5; Do your ideas come from life or imagination?

I work from my photos of organic life. I am most interested in nature and it’s beauty.
There may be a color, a shadow or a form that attracts me and inspires me to do the painting.

6; How much time does it take to complete a painting?

This varies quite a bit depending on the size. I can do a 4” x 6” in a day. My largest painting
was 3’ x 8’ and it took several weeks. There are at least three or more layers on every inch
of my canvases. They are not painted quickly. I often do a study on paper to work out the
editing of my complex, yet simple form and color relationships.

7; How do you work or where do you work?

I have a home studio. I have always had a separate room for my studio but living on Maui
leaves less options for large spaces.

8; What are you currently working on?

I am currently creating a series of 8” x 10” close-up florals. The colors are very bold and bright.

9; Where do you or where have you exhibited your work?

Currently, I am exhibiting primarily online. I am seeking some gallery representation now.

10; What do you do to market your art?

I post on facebook and instagram daily. I have a website that is pretty extensive. I am also
Presented on fine art America, Linkedin and Saatchi. I am in five different book publications.
I use printed post cards and email marketing, as well as my blog.

Here are links to Anita Marci's website and social media sites. Go check them out and show your support for this talented artist by following her.

Website
http://www.anitatheartist.com

Twitter
https://twitter.com/AnitaMarci

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/anita.marci

Instagram
http://instagram/anitamarci

TripAdviser
https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g60634-d10401591-i201372259-Maui_Paint_Parties-Lahaina_Maui_Hawaii.html

Maui Now
mauinow.com/tag/anita-marci-maui/

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDE6D72EeJY

Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anitamarci

Fine Art America
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/anita-marci.html

Houzz
https://www.houzz.com/pro/anitamarciart/anita-marci-studios

Saatchiart
https://www.saatchiart.com/anitamarci

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Oprah Live on maui!

6/27/2017

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Last week on the way into my studio I heard an announcement on the radio saying Oprah was going to do a live event on Maui called "Live Your Best Life". The radio show hosts, Alakai and Kevon were giving away tickets. They mentioned a website to sign up on, I jotted it down so I could check it out when I got to the studio. The website www.sharecare.com is a heath resource site. I singed up on it but didn't have time to check it out.

A few days later a Village Gallery co-worker and friend of mine strolled into the gift shop while I was working and calmly said she just won 2 tickets to see Oprah! I was so excited for her and asked how she did that and if she needed someone to go with her ( wink wink ). Her husband would be accompanying her and she sent me the link to the article about the show. In the article it said they were giving away tickets to people who singed up on the website I had already signed up on. It said free ticket winners would get an email. I checked my email and sure enough there was a winning notice from the site!

I had to act fast because the code giving me the free ticket was about to expire. Lucky for me the gallery was very slow, giving me the chance to log onto eventbrite website to process my ticket. I made it just in time! I was going to see Oprah!

Monday morning June 26th, I was up bright and early and excited to see Oprah. I wanted to get an early start because I had a feeling the line getting in was going to be huge. The drive to the Maui Arts & Cultural Center is about an hour drive from Lahaina, depending on traffic. I didn't get the half hour lead I wanted but I did leave in time to for the doors to open.....or so I thought.

By the time I decided to take pictures of the lines of cars trying to get into the event I had been in stop and go traffic for half an hour. I was getting pretty nervous and kept reminding myself to relax and be patient as I watched the car clock. Driving past all the people waiting in line as I headed to the parking area, I kept thinking I was going to have a long walk to the back of the line, and by this time I was in need of finding a restroom. I got a place to park way in the back of the parking area, the time on the car clock read 10:30.

Once I reached the back of the line it was moving pretty fast. It really didn't take very long to get into the event. The place was packed! My first mission was to find a restroom, then I could concentrate on finding a place to sit. I found a spot on the grass to the left of the stage. It was a pretty good spot as you can see from the photos above. After sitting there about ten minutes an event volunteer told us some seats just opened up, which I was happy to take advantage of. Now all I had to do is wait along with over 5,000 people for Oprah to come on stage.

There was a couple on stage playing and singing music to help calm the wild beasts. An announcer would come out every so often to assure us Oprah would soon take the stage. There was plenty of cloud cover and a nice breeze to help keep the area comfortable. I was grateful for the cloud cover because I didn't bring any sunscreen and was a bit worried about getting sun burnt.

Finally at long last, the moment in which I've been waiting for, Oprah comes on stage and is greeted with a huge round of applause. I was live streaming on Facebook, hoping to capture the moment. I did two things wrong. First I held my phone in the landscape position which doesn't work for live streaming. The video was sideways the whole time. And the second thing was I thought I was recording at the same time as live streaming. The only way to get the video here in this blog was to get the embed code from Facebook. I only videoed about seven or eight minutes because I was worried I'd run out of battery.

Oprah has long been a hero of mine. Someone I've admired and respected for over twenty years. Seeing her in person and hearing her message was a powerful moment for me. Oprah has a house and an organic farm here on Maui. She lives on Thompson Road, between Kula and Ulupalakua. Here on Maui we call this area "up country". Charlie and I enjoy going to Thompson Road a few times a year to photograph the incredible views and Jackaranda trees. Who knows, maybe one day we'll run into her while she is out walking her dogs.

I'm ending this blog with a quote from her "Your legacy is every life you touch".

Oh, and one last photo. Yep I got sun burnt!

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Studio 71

6/12/2017

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A few weeks ago I had an Instagram follower wanting to know how good Darice acrylic paints were. Darice is a craft supply company that started in 1954. No, I'm not named after them. I've used some of the products Darice sells at Michael's and Ben Franklin's craft stores, but never heard of their paints. I told my follower I didn't know they made acrylic paints. I looked up on Darice.com but didn't have much luck finding the paints. So I went to Darice Instagram page to see if they had info on it. Not seeing any, I then messaged them. While waiting for a response I did a search on Amazon. Sure enough they had them. The name of their paint is Studio 71 acrylics. I bought the set of 24 so I could to try them out and do a review on them. I wanted to know if these paints were good enough to bear my name.

When the package arrived I was excited to see all the beautiful colors sitting side by side. The tubes are made of clear plastic so you actually see the color before squeezing it out. Most acrylic paint brands have non transparent tubes or bottles with the label telling you what color it is. Normally with those brands I have to take the top off to see the color before buying a new color. With Studio 71 there is no guessing, the color of the tube is the color of the paint, I like that. Like a kid in a candy store, I couldn't decide what color to try first.

I grabbed a 5x7 canvas and began painting a Maui beach scene. I wanted to get the feel of the paint fast and there is no better way to do that then to just paint. The colors I used for this demo were Titanium white, cerulean blue, primary blue, dioxazine purple, pthalo green, cad yellow med, yellow ochre, burnt sienna and burnt umber.

I found the colors to be very similar to the brands I normally use. The color labels varied just slightly from what I'm use to. Instead of "Lemon Yellow" or "Pthalo Blue", Studio 71 calls these "Primary Yellow" and "Primary Blue", that's not to big of an issue for me.

The paints are medium bodied, not to thin and not to thick. Very similar to Winsor & Newton Galeria acrylic, the brand I use most often. In the following photos I show you what they look like when you squeeze them from the tube, how well they blend together and how well they cover the canvas. Click on each photo and read the captions.

Studio 71 preformed well for me. I found it to be very comparable to the brands I use most often. I'm happy to say this paint passes my Darice test. I can recommend this paint with confidence.

Happy painting!

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Interview with artist anita marci

Oprah Live on maui!

Studio 71

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