D. M. Perry – Artist

New Studio

Dmperryartist — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 15:44:54 +0000

Relocating the art studio was a royal pain. I think I have more room though it doesn’t seem like it. Everything is along one wall now which is convenient.

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People are people so why should it be….I make them look like huh?

Dmperryartist — Sun, 02 Apr 2017 21:09:04 +0000

This is my first post from my new computer, back to using a desktop which I swore I’d never use again. Ye Olde Laptop is beside me, resting, tis 5 years ancient after all. I’ve not gotten my photoshop transferred so I’m still limited on this new all-in-one. The purpose of which is to take really great pictures of the artwork and hopefully sell prints. Of course that would require a SLR camera to fall from the sky and land in my lap. Hey, one can dream! It could happen! I wanted a Bichon Frise and look….he’s right next to me, sleeping while standing up (I have yet to figure out how he manages that) and I wanted to learn how to draw people….who actually resemble people and….well we’re still working on it but MUCH progress has been made. In about two months of not much practice I’ve managed to draw people who, I think, more resemble people than cartoons, you can be the judge.

I mean so what if the portrait is of my father and his brother and my father asked who these people were 😉 They’re still people. I typically ONLY paint/draw flowers and animals and lately some abstracts, people aren’t really my thing. People are rather difficult to draw, kind of like in real life, they’re a pain. Animals, flowers, much easier. Well okay orchids are not easy. Nor are they easy to grow and maintain…I’m seeing a correlation here. I seem to do okay with dogs, dogs are generally pretty nice creatures, cats on the other hand, yikes! I enjoy drawing and painting them but they are a bit high maintenance to create…they give me lots of trouble. Fish, no problem…easy, elephants, simple, cows….do them in my sleep….then there’s the GOAT…ugh. Just like in life…they’re adorable but they are a royal pain. Ha ha, and hugely difficult to paint/draw, at least for me.

It goes without saying….Sloths are simple 🙂

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Works in Progress, Feb 2017

Dmperryartist — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 22:34:46 +0000

Stuff I’m working on as of Feb 2017. I have two more but they are not pictured. Two of these have been on going since the summer of 2016 and the other two are more current. That’s the plus and downside to oil painting. It allows you to work on multiple pieces at once since you often have to wait for a piece to dry before continuing, so you may as well start on another or go back and work on one in progress. But since oils dry a bit slower, you find you have multiple projects going at once while waiting for others to dry and some projects seem to get lost or forgotten. Then a new idea pops in your head and you want to get started on that and the others just sit there…waiting for some love. But they’ll get done at some point…I’m sure this year 😉

Below is a wooden cube I started a few weeks ago. Since it’s a cube there’s no real way to work on it all at once. One side must dry and then I can start another and so on…I have most of the under-paintings done on it but still have one side to go, plus the base, which I just gesso’d today. Then of course all of the paintings, plus my ‘Blue Sphere’ and “Key West” which are not pictured need to be completed. I also have a concept drawing for a new one I want to start after “Isabel Del Mar” is completed. I hope to finish that painting in a week, with the hopes of shipping it out in another 2-3 weeks. The Big Foot and Flornado have been taking the longest, and I just started on the Sunflowers.

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Red Ball

Dmperryartist — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 22:23:29 +0000

Red Ball drawing by D. M. Perry

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Looking Glass

Dmperryartist — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 22:00:17 +0000

Looking Glass Drawing by D. M. Perry • Colored Pencil

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Painting

Dmperryartist — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 18:08:42 +0000

I began painting in the fall of 2015. I started with acrylic and quickly switched to oils by January of 2016. I worked with canvas, canvas paper and canvas board. During that first year I painted on pieces as small as 6X8 and as large as 30X40. I was told by my teacher I had a tendency to be an Impressionist, and another teacher said my work showed whimsy. It was also brought to my attention that nearly all, if not all of my work displayed animals, flowers, or animals and flowers. I suppose I am still trying to decide what kind of artist I am. I have dabbled with the surreal, the fantastical, the photo-realistic and abstract. Maybe I’ll never settle on just one style…maybe it’ll always just speak for itself.

Smelling a Rose painting by D. M. Perry

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Runs in the family

Dmperryartist — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 17:24:27 +0000

I guess you could say art is in the blood…it runs in families. I’m the fourth generation to have this ability. It started with my great-grandfather, Leo, then his son, also named Leo. His son as well. My grandmother too, and her son, my uncle, and then there’s me. My great-grandfather was a professional artist, as was my great uncle, as is his son (my cousin). My great-grandfathers brother was also a professional artist, as was his son, and currently, his son. I guess I could go on and on. That could explain why my logo is a tree, but I also love trees so don’t read too deeply into it.

Now one may assume since art has been the ‘family business’ for 100 years, and still is, that I’d be giving a crayon at birth and sent to study with the Masters as soon as I could walk. Well not so much. Yeah I was given a crayon but the last thing the forces that be were going to do was send me anywhere to study anything regarding any kind of art. Maybe it’s because I was a pretty bad artist as kid, maybe they thought the family business needed to take a different route, maybe they thought the women’s movement applied to all other women, except the one writing this blog because I was going to be….a hygienist! Or a physical therapist! Or…well, any kind of profession that utilized the least of my natural abilities, the absolute least of my desires, but pretty much guaranteed me a recession proof job and decent pay.

So….so long crayon, embrace this….toothbrush. Ick. I don’t like mouths. I don’t like tongues, spit, breath…just no. Feet, I don’t like feet, and I thought maybe being a physical therapist I might have to touch a foot. Hell I don’t even want to draw a foot! It seems like I spent my youth trying to convince my family that I could make a living doing something with my natural creative talents, by morphing them into some kind of marketable job that I really didn’t even want, graphic artist? No, doesn’t pay enough. Illustrator? No, doesn’t pay enough. Journalist? (I’m sadly also a writer) No, doesn’t pay enough. Copy writer at an ad agency? No.

Of course I also wanted to be an Ichthyologist, Archaeologist, History Professor, and comedy writer for David Letterman, so yeah the aspirations I had for my future may have been a tad….lofty. And hold on there feminists, I also really wanted to be …..a housewife. Yup, I said it…well at least that came true. Still holding out for Archaeologist or Ichthyologist though….hey a girl can dream.

I guess around age 21 I just gave up on the whole art thing. I mean you can only be told NO so many times….I mean not by galleries, art schools, the public at large, I mean family of course. They were not going to pay for art school and man did I need it because I really wasn’t very good. Passion-check, ability….eh. Sure I had slightly more natural ability than the average shmo who can draw the stick dude to play a game of hangman. I could very easily draw good animations. Monsters, caricatures, really, really goofy looking…things, nailed it. I’d never painted, at least not since a paint-by-number when I was a kid or maybe since camp or elementary school. I’d never used chalk or charcoal. My family seemed to come out of the womb able to paint, draw, and make money! Maybe that’s why I was discouraged by them. Maybe they just looked at my ‘art’ and thought….yeah uh she just doesn’t have it like the rest did/do.

Being a Gen-X female I’m the first generation to be born after the woman’s movement, so of course they expected me to have a good career and take care of my self and art was too risky, I understand that. The irony is, despite $100,000 of post high school education….I never had a good career. I never had a job that utilized ANY of my natural skills and talents. I hated every job I ever had, and barely brought home a paycheck on top of that. $100k invested into years of miserable jobs I was horrible at. I don’t regret the education I received at all. Not one cent 😉 but now that I’m ‘middle aged’ it’s time to continue in the family business. Don’t worry, my art has vastly improved after just one year of taking classes (as of Jan 2017 I’ve taken 5 classes, 3 painting & 2 drawing) at art school. My six year old son also enjoys art. It’s his favorite subject at school. Will he be the fifth generation? Who knows, maybe, maybe not…but it runs in the family.

Great Grandfather, Great Uncle, Uncle and Me

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Kaleidoscope

Dmperryartist — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 16:34:49 +0000

Kaleidoscope illustration by D. M. Perry

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Flowers in a Vase

Dmperryartist — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 16:33:18 +0000

Flowers in a Vase illustration by D. M. Perry

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Little Butterfly

Dmperryartist — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 16:30:03 +0000

Little Butterfly drawing by D. M. Perry

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