Because you're special.

The 2nd Annual September Special

There's a delightful tradition in Key West where every September the local businesses thank the year-round island residents and loyal customers by offering all kinds of wonderful specials on their products. 

We look forward to it every year.  I jumped on the bandwagon last year. I mean, now that I have my own location, it's only right, right?

But I don't want to extend it to just the local customers. I think you should be included too! Many of you have been readers of this blog for years and years. And sweeties, God Bless You for that!

So with that said, (drum roll please) I want to announce my second Annual September Special. 

I'll be starting it here in Key West on Friday, but you are special, so you are getting a little sneak peek.

Click THE LINK to see all the deals.  And to see my new website if you haven't see that yet, it's pretty.

as always big hugs,
Maggie

P.S. And if you have any friends who enjoy a good discount pass this on along to them.
P.P.S. And yes, more new pottery is coming soon!

Note to Key West Artists:
I'm unveiling a new class in my studio in September.

The Art Sales Starter Kit Class: an easy 4 week class guide to help you get your artwork seen and appreciated.
The complete class description IS HERE.

If you are reading this is your inbox thank you for being a subscriber.  If you want to read it in the original blog format which can connect to other fascinating blog posts click here.

Maggie Ruley is a studio artist living in Key West, Florida. 

Her colorful paintings and tropical pottery are collected world wide and can be found in many island homes. She has been featured in the Key West Citizen,

the New York Daily News , and other publications.

Her handmade ceramic flip flops have been sold in gift shops all along the east coast and in California and Hawaii.

 Her studio and gallery is located in the historic Seaport area of Old Town Key West.

Maggie Ruley~Island Inspirations

933b Fleming St.

Key West Florida 33042

www.maggieruley.com

The first batch of pottery in over a YEAR is out of the kiln.

In other exciting news!

I said last week that there was new pottery in the works and now the first load is out of the kiln.  It really is enjoyable spending Mondays and Tuesdays in my pottery studio with my hands in the clay.

It's been so long since I made pottery I had to refresh my memory by looking at older blog posts like THIS ONE.

My first load had to include flip flops because I have been getting mucho requests for them.  And in fact, most of the pairs sold right away, but there are still 4 pairs left.  And some of the really cute fish flops. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the small pairs of flip flops anymore, but then I looked at ALL THESE cute designs and I think I will do some small ones.  They are so cute in kids rooms.

The next round of firing is going to include platters and serving pieces.  :)

There's not a lot to say, I just want to show you the pics.

Hugs,
Maggie

What all these cuties look like before they get the glaze.

The first batch of flip flops in really, really a long time!

What I like about the fish flops is you can hang them vertical or horizontal. They'll fit in any space.

These fun fish hang on the wall.  I think next batch I'll have to make some swimming the other way.

Mermaids for the wall as well as spoon rests.  The little fish are spoon rests too for those beachy kitchens.

Note to Key West Artists:

I'm unveiling a new class in my studio in September.

The Art Sales Starter Kit Class: an easy 4 week class guide to help you get your artwork seen and appreciated.
The complete class description IS HERE.

Other ways to connect: I'm just a click away

Facebook

My website

If you are reading this is your inbox thank you for being a subscriber.  If you want to read it in the original blog format which can connect to other fascinating blog posts click here.

Maggie Ruley is a studio artist living in Key West, Florida. 

Her colorful paintings and tropical pottery are collected world wide and can be found in many island homes. She has been featured in the Key West Citizen,

the New York Daily News , and other publications.

Her handmade ceramic flip flops have been sold in gift shops all along the east coast and in California and Hawaii.

 Her studio and gallery is located in the historic Seaport area of Old Town Key West.

Maggie Ruley~Island Inspirations

933b Fleming St.

Key West Florida 33042

www.maggieruley.com

Olivia Street Cottage, from en plein air to commission

I encourage my painting students to paint from life as much as possible.  It really accelerates their learning speed. Painting from photos is fun and easy, but you see everything in 2D and there are a few other challenges.

To keep up my painting skills I like to go and paint en plein air (fancy French term for painting outside) occasionally. The lovely lanes and cottages that abound here in Key West make great painting subjects.

Plein air painting sessions tend to be shorter than indoor sessions. Not only is the light always changing, but wind, bugs, heat, and other elements can work your last nerve.  In order to complete, or get close to completion in a short amount of time, plein air paintings tend to be on the small size.  But not always.

Many artists use these smaller, quicker paintings as studies for larger works.  I recently turned a small 11" x 14" plein air painting into a larger work because a customer liked the painting but needed something larger to fill her space. 

A studio piece is never going to be exactly the same as the outdoor study. What I like is that it gives the painter a chance to make some changes.  I changed the light and shadow under the porch because I wanted to. (I think slashing diagonal light is more interesting)  And I changed focus to the front door and the plantings along the fence line because the customer said that was what she liked about the original painting, the color she saw in the plants.

Lovely on Olivia

SOLD

16 x 20"

Lovely on Oliva Street - Study

acrylic, 11' x 14"

$345

Painting in the works

In other exciting news.................

I have a new gallery assistant and now I am able to get into my pottery studio 2 days a week and there are new pieces ready to go into the kiln. 

It was so much fun to make the pottery, I can't wait until it's finished. 

If you are reading this is your inbox thank you for being a subscriber.  If you want to read it in the original blog format which can connect to other fascinating blog posts click here.

Maggie Ruley is a studio artist living in Key West, Florida. 

Her colorful paintings and tropical pottery are collected world wide and can be found in many island homes. She has been featured in the Key West Citizen,

the New York Daily News , and other publications.

Her handmade ceramic flip flops have been sold in gift shops all along the east coast and in California and Hawaii.

 Her studio and gallery is located in the historic Seaport area of Old Town Key West.

Maggie Ruley~Island Inspirations

933b Fleming St.

Key West Florida 33042

www.maggieruley.com

About the paints I use....my thoughts on different paint brands.

This post was first written in December of 2013.  A lot has changed since then.  I've updated this post by writing my current thoughts in red ink.

Very often when I show photos of my work table with its jumble of assorted paints, in this blog I get e-mails or comments with questions about the paints I use.  So I thought it would be good for me to collect my thoughts on the paints I choose and tell you why I like them, or in some cases don't.

I paint in lots of thin layers.  I like what happens when the colors interact with each other and my paint choices are based on that. Also let me say that these are my opinions based on what I want my paints to do. this is all still true.

What I want from my paint.

I  want the paint to just flow off my brush, almost like ink.  I want as little drag as possible.  I like all different surfaces, canvas, paper, primed board.  They each bring their own personality to the finished piece and the paint has to work with all those surfaces. this is still true
I want to be able to put out big piles of paint without,  "OMG! What is this costing me?" This has changed, I now realize what some of the inexpensive paints have cost me in terms of time and vibrancy. I don't hesitate when it comes to buy the best. 


 Above is my diagramed photo (kind of like the photos in the Arlo Guthrie song Alice's Restaurant) of the paints I am currently using.  I have circled and number the paints and they correspond to the list below.

So in descending order of least favorite to most favorite they are...

• #6 Liquitex Brand Paints    Don't look too hard, you won't  see many on my work table.  The heavy body paints get snotty in the tubes and almost impossible to mix.  The soft body paints aren't worth the price.   Except for........... 
• #5 Liquitex Gesso which I use for white.  It flows great and has good coverage.  If you use a lot of white this is a very easy on the budget alternative to Titanium white in tubes.  I now use Golden acrylic gesso, I think it has more pigment.
• #4 Lukas acrylics in the big squeeze bottles.  The blues are good,  the reds and yellows, not so much, too transparent and un-pretty color, except I did like the vermillion red and the Indian yellow.  The price is good. I don't buy these any more except for the vermillion and the Prussian blue.
• #3 Amsterdam Standard acrylics.  These are the student grade of the line. The price is similar to the Liquitex Basics, but they are much better.  The white is worthless, the pale tints aren't good by themselves but they are great to mix with other colors.  You get a lighter value of the color that isn't the same old boring blue + white = pale blue. You get some really interesting colors. I still use some of these.  The turquoise, the pinks, the grays, but never the yellows, reds, or oranges.
• #2 Amsterdam Expert acrylics.  Really good paint for the money. Lots of pigment in the colors.  A little stiffer than the standard but still okay.
• #1  Totally Awesome Holbein Acryla.  But they are really really spendy and look how tiny the tubes are!  But there are some must have colors, Compose Rose and Opera. 

I know I didn't mention a lot of brands, Golden for example, but these are the brands that are working for me now.  Maybe next year will be different, we'll just have to see what the next year brings. I now use a number of  Golden paints, I use the cadmium yellows, oranges, reds, and their magentas. And the titanium white

A day of rememberance

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you

There's still time to sign up for the on-line class

If you are reading this is your inbox thank you for being a subscriber.  If you want to read it in the original blog format which can connect to other fascinating blog posts click here.

Maggie Ruley is a studio artist living in Key West, Florida. 

Her colorful paintings and tropical pottery are collected world wide and can be found in many island homes. She has been featured in the Key West Citizen,

the New York Daily News , and other publications.

Her handmade ceramic flip flops have been sold in gift shops all along the east coast and in California and Hawaii.

 Her studio and gallery is located in the historic Seaport area of Old Town Key West.

Maggie Ruley~Island Inspirations

933b Fleming St.

Key West Florida 33042

www.maggieruley.com

Taking Names

What's been bothering me.

During the winter months my classes get a big influx of students who only spend a few months here.  When they arrive back in town in January I always ask them how their painting went during our time apart. 

Most of the time (seriously 97%) the answer I get is, "I wanted to paint, or take a class or something, but it just didn't happen."

That got me to thinking, if that's happening to the majority of my students, I bet it's happening to other painters too.  Makes sense to me.

I'm working on a free on-line class to help with that.

The class isn't finished and ready to roll out yet, but I'm starting to take names for it and I'm pleased by the response I've gotten so far.

If you're interested leave a comment, or if you get this via email, hit reply and I'll add your name to my list.

If you know someone else who might be interested please feel free to share this with them.

if you are reading this is your inbox thank you for being a subscriber.  If you want to read it in the original blog format which can connect to other fascinating blog posts click here.

Maggie Ruley is a studio artist living in Key West, Florida. 

Her colorful paintings and tropical pottery are collected world wide and can be found in many island homes. She has been featured in the Key West Citizen,

the New York Daily News , and other publications.

Her handmade ceramic flip flops have been sold in gift shops all along the east coast and in California and Hawaii.

 Her studio and gallery is located in the historic Seaport area of Old Town Key West.

Maggie Ruley~Island Inspirations

933b Fleming St.

Key West Florida 33042

www.maggieruley.com

Well that was a bust!

Seriously!

I had the bright idea (artists have a lot of those) that I had the tech savvy to make the "What's New" section of my website function as my blog and feed it out to the world like I do with this blog.

Short version, it ain't happening.

But the good news is this blog is dependable (thank goodness) and can chug along just fine with only an occasional tune up. And as a bonus I now have 2 places where friends can see what's going on in my studio: good old blogger and a brand new website.

So the news is I have a New Website

Yes, I've dragged myself into 21st century by updating my website, finally......................... 

The new site is sleek and makes me feel cool and hip. (you're supposed to giggle here) 

I'd love it if you'd look. If anything is not working or you see problems please let me know.

The web address is the same as the old one, but the new site is much prettier and easier to navigate.

www.maggieruley.com

And now on to fun stuff.

There's a great group of Plein Air painters here in Key West that go out and paint every Wednesday.  Now that the town has gotten a little quieter I don't feel so bad about playing hooky and joining them for a few hours of outdoor painting.  I've really enjoyed it.  One week we painted Tennessee William's House. Not his anymore of course, but we all still call it that. The next week we painted in the section of town called "The Meadows".  It's crammed with extremely lovely houses and cottages that are a joy to paint. 

1431 Duncan Street,  oil, 11 x 14"  SOLD
Tennessee Williams' House

Lovely on Olivia 

acrylic, $345, 11 x 14"

Maggie Ruley, 2017

Thank goodness I had a shady spot to paint in.

I like the way the fence comes up to the tree.

Everyone have a good day,

hugs,

Maggie

If you are reading this is your inbox thank you for being a subscriber.  If you want to read it in the original blog format which can connect to other fascinating blog posts click here.

Maggie Ruley is a studio artist living in Key West, Florida. 

Her colorful paintings and tropical pottery are collected world wide and can be found in many island homes. She has been featured in the Key West Citizen,

the New York Daily News , and other publications.

Her handmade ceramic flip flops have been sold in gift shops all along the east coast and in California and Hawaii.

 Her studio and gallery is located in the historic Seaport area of Old Town Key West.

Maggie Ruley~Island Inspirations

933b Fleming St.

Key West Florida 33042

www.maggieruley.com

Welcome spring!

Pineapples, the official symbol of welcome.

I know in other parts of the country, tulips, and daffodils and violets welcome spring, but here in Key West we can't grow those amazing bulbs.  So it's orchids and bougainvillea and pineapples that say welcome.

My Thursday painting class did such an amazing job on their pineapple paintings last week, they inspired me to do one of my own.  I love it when that happens.

A wonderful group of pineapples! I love the variety they got!

Pineapple Moon

acrylic 24 x 20"

copyright 2017

In other news:

My show "Conchtown" at the Studios of Key West is still hanging in the upstairs XOJ Gallery.  The opening was lots of fun and thanks for the loads of you who turned out for it.

Larry Blackburn of Konklife took some wonderful photos.

Click here to see them.

If you are reading this is your inbox and want to read it in the original blog format which can connect to other fascinating blog posts click here

Maggie Ruley is a studio artist living in Key West, Florida. 

Her colorful paintings and tropical pottery are collected world wide and can be found in many island homes. She has been featured in the Key West Citizen,

the New York Daily News , and other publications.

Her handmade ceramic flip flops have been sold in gift shops all along the east coast and in California and Hawaii.

 Her studio and gallery is located in the historic Seaport area of Old Town Key West.

Maggie Ruley~Island Inspirations

933b Fleming St.

Key West Florida 33042

www.maggieruley.com

  

If you are reading this is your inbox and want to read it in the original blog format which can connect to other fascinating blog posts click

Maggie Ruley is a studio artist living in Key West, Florida. 

Her colorful paintings and tropical pottery are collected world wide and can be found in many island homes. She has been featured in the Key West Citizen,

the New York Daily News , and other publications.

Her handmade ceramic flip flops have been sold in gift shops all along the east coast and in California and Hawaii.

 Her studio and gallery is located in the historic Seaport area of Old Town Key West.

Maggie Ruley~Island Inspirations

933b Fleming St.

Key West Florida 33042

www.maggieruley.com

You're Invited!

I've been painting like crazy for my March show with my good friend Pam Hobbs.  It's a two-sided romp through Key West.  The show will be filled with color, (all of them), critters, (Key West is filled with them) and artistic license, (lots of it).

The show is going to be super fun and I'd love to see you at the opening.

Here's a sneak peek

Beachside
acrylic, 16 x 20"
©Maggie Ruley 2017

Consider this cute pillow for your beachside cottage. This photo shows the two sides of the pillow

 

 

Sisters of the Sea
acrylic, 24 x 20"
©Maggie Ruley 2017

 

 

For all you sisters of the sea!

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