Melissa's Broken Pen

2022-02-27T20:07:00.002-05:00

I have three aquariums.

When we were setting them up and it was time to decide on a backdrop, I didn't want just any backdrop that could be had by anyone. I wanted one that was unique and totally mine.

Since I'm an artist I decided to paint my own for each of my aquariums.

It started with the first, where else would you start? (Duh) Anyway...here is a picture of the first backdrop I did...

And this is what it looked like inside the tank after it was filled and had fish in it.

Unfortunately, the dragon is blocking most of the view of the backdrop. We have since had to change the tank out completely. The paint on the dragon was poisoning the water and killing the fish. Yeah, thats a thing. It can happen. Be careful what you put in your tank with your fish. I learned the hard way. It's only natural rock and live plants for now on for me.

My second tank is a nano tank. I also painted a cave entrance backdrop for it.

I didn't get a picture of it before we put it on the back of the tank.

Then came the 20 gallon...

We decided to go with a sunken ship for this one.

We have since changed this tank too. It now looks like this

My husband moved the tubes from the under gravel filter and put natural stone and live plants in.

We also had to do a redo on the larger Aquarium that was our first. It now also has live plants, natural stone and driftwood in it. I also painted a new backdrop for it.( Sorry about the reflection from the TV.)

This is the backdrop before we put it on the back of the aquarium.

As you can see, the water in the tank and the reflections can subdue the colors and contrast in the backdrop. I have learned that I have to be intense with the color and contrast if I want it to be noticed at all. The trick, I think, is to make it blend in with what you have going on in the tank. You want the fish to be what is noticed in your aquarium. Everything else should be to make the fish comfortable and happy but still appealing to the eye.

I think it looks pretty good. My husband loves them but he is kinda bias. He has always loved my work and he does give a lot of input into the painting I do that ends up on a shared work which our aquariums are. I love my little fishes.

Anyway, if I can find a place that can print my work to any size that someone may desire to fit an aquarium I will be making available prints to sell of some select works that can be used for aquarium backdrops. If I can't find one well, maybe I'll just have to figure out how to do it myself..

Until then, wish me luck and come back for updates.

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time,

Melissa

art and dad

2022-02-07T17:44:00.002-05:00

A month ago today my father died.

He and my mother had lived in Venice, Florida for 25 years before they moved back to Chicago to live with my sister back in 2020 because of Covid.

He developed dementia several years back. He and mom were by themselves down there in Florida. Mom realized that if something happened to her ..well...Dad was screwed and she is and was at that time not in the best of health herself.

It was time for them to go back North closer to family.

My sister helped them immensely and still to this day she does. I am grateful. More than she realizes. I know it has been stressful for her. That too more than she realizes.

I had Covid when my father passed and no, he didn't die of Covid. He died of dementia, old age. He was 93. He broke his hip back in April, it was down hill from there. I was warned by people who had been through similar with their folks. He had been under hospice care since August so it was not unexpected but you never are truly prepared to loss someone.

Anyway, because of my parents living in Venice Florida I have a lot of pictures and paintings of Casperson Beach and Supply Beach. The Pier at Sharkey's. Even Venice Beach and the North Jetty.

Some are just the beginnings of paintings. Paintings I started but never finished. Maybe I have enough.

Maybe I'm just tired of painting pretty pictures.

Art isn't supposed to just be pretty. It should stir the soul. It should make a statement and shed light on social conditions and injustices. It should have an opinion. I'm tired of boring, coffee table art. I want to do work that means something.

Dad and me. Central Park, New York, NY
1962

My Dad was an artist. A technical illustrator, graphic designer and a photographer. My mother is also an artist. She worked as an illustrator and is a painter. They were married for 63 years before my father passed away. He worked for major companies like Herf Jones, RCA, Magnavox, IBM and General Dynamics. He even played some minor league Baseball for a small stint back in the late 40's.

We are missing him. He was a good man. Gentle and kind but what a man is supposed to be when it came to his family. He was one of those people who jumped in to help when there was a crisis. My mother says that one of the things she loved about him was how guileless he was. I don't think I have meet a more honest person than my father was.

Thanks for indulging me as I sort all this shit out. I miss this man. I didn't get to say a proper good bye to him. This Covid shit really sucks. Still haven't been able to go visit with my family because of it.

Melissa

2021-09-22T15:23:00.003-04:00

visit my store at www.melissablackhill.com. There is a link beside this blog.

2021-09-22T10:39:00.002-04:00

I recently started using pan pastels. Back a few years ago I had gotten a couple of pans threw an art subscription box and had liked the medium but with all the other stuff I already had to work with I just never did delve into their use, until recently.I must say, once I got a few more colors I really like them a lot. What impresses me is the versatility of them as well as the lack of dust. The colors are translucent like a water color and can be layered.

I watched a few you tube videos on how to use them and even with very little practice I've been able to create some stuff with pretty good results.

I used no reference with the above picture. Just played around a little and got this.

With the second I still didn't have any real reference.

My mother had given me some 6 x 6 gessobord(yeah, that's how it's spelled on the back of the board) several years back. I really had no idea what I was going to do with it except maybe some textured work.

I finally got myself some acrylic modeling paste and after watching a video where an artist used some along with pan pastels I decided to try out the technique and this is the result.

It also requires stencils that I was able to make using my die cut machine. I had fun and I learned some stuff. Neither are great works of art or anything to particularly write home about but they were fun experiments.

All in all it's been a pretty fun experience experimenting with the pan pastels.

Happy creating!

Love,