These Hands...

I'm going to tell you a secret.

Not many people outside of my family know this, but I have had pretty awful arthritis in my hands since I was fourteen. In my hands.

Painting for me is breathing. It's a heartbeat. I have no idea who on earth I will be when I can't do it any more.

This year, it has gotten worse. When it rains my joints get so bad that I can't grip. I can't pick up a glass of water or hold a fork.

It's moved up from my hands and is spreading.

There is a little clock in the back of my mind. It's counting down to a little ball of pink terror.

I know I can't do this forever. I know this. These poor little hands won't hold out.

I am so grateful for every minute that I have to paint.

Why do I tell you this?

I decide it was time to write this aloud, because even though every minute of my passion hurts me, I couldn't possibly be happier when I paint. I am complete.

A lot of us have complications. Restrictions. People who tell us that we have unrealistic career choices.

There is no dream you shouldn't follow.

Ignore the odds.

Even if you have only a few fleeting moments before it's gone

you will always be proud that you did it anyway.

We need to unite. Let's tell our stories.

Cameo Creation

I am not a jewelry wearing kind of girl. I never have been. My ears were have never been pierced. Even when I was little, Playing Pretty Pretty Princess with my sisters- I always wanted the BLACK ring.

So. Why do I paint cameos? Why do I now as an adult, make jewelry?

I wanted to find a way to paint original pieces that real people could afford.

When I started showing, I had so many sweet people love my creations, but I spend hundreds of hours on my bigger pieces. I wanted to find a way to paint my little girls (without mass producing) in a price range that anyone could reach.

I also love to take my toys with me. Everywhere. And I have imaginary friends. They come with me too.

When I paint I fall in love. I really truly do. I go to run errands and walk out the door with a painting under my arm. I strap her into the passenger seat and we would go.

Painting cameos is a happy medium.

There is an utterly magical element in wearing something with it’s own little soul and personality. I’m serious. Take it from a girl who never even wears necklaces.

When I wear one of the girls, I find myself periodically throughout the day just placing my hand over her. Just to feel her there. Just to know she’s there. It’s not like wearing a little chain and bauble that you forget. She’s the only one in the world. I feel so pretty.

That’s why I do it. Because every girl should feel that special. Like she can have something beautiful and unique to wear. Something that no other girl can have. Something real.

I’m not a jewelry wearing kind of girl. But sometimes, I make an exception.

Coming from Studio Mab in November

The Fairytale Collection

“One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.”

-Oscar Wilde

There is no reason to not wear beautiful art. There is no reason to not love beautiful stories. There is a fairytale in all of us.

There is no reason your neck can't be a gallery.

Each piece is unique. There will only be one. In most cases each piece involves vintage charms and one of a kind findings that can not be reproduced.

The Fairytale Collection includes pieces inspired by the stories of

Hansel and Gretel

Goldilocks

Little Red Riding Hood

Alice in Wonderland

The Wizard of Oz

Beauty and the Beast

Snow White

The Frog Princess

The Little Mermaid

Cinderella

Rapunzel

Sleeping Beauty

The Princess and the Pea

Jack and the Beanstalk

Peter and the Wolf

and others

These pieces and more will be available on http://www.etsy.com/shop/mabgraves 11-13-2010

Coming from Studio Mab in November

The Fairytale Collection

“One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.”

-Oscar Wilde

There is no reason to not wear beautiful art. There is no reason to not love beautiful stories. There is a fairytale in all of us.

There is no reason your neck can't be a gallery.

Each piece is unique. There will only be one. In most cases each piece involves vintage charms and one of a kind findings that can not be reproduced.

The Fairytale Collection includes pieces inspired by the stories of

Hansel and Gretel

Goldilocks

Little Red Riding Hood

Alice in Wonderland

The Wizard of Oz

Beauty and the Beast

Snow White

The Frog Princess

The Little Mermaid

Cinderella

Rapunzel

Sleeping Beauty

The Princess and the Pea

Jack and the Beanstalk

Peter and the Wolf

and others

These pieces and more will be available on http://www.etsy.com/shop/mabgraves 11-13-2010

These Walls of my Soul...

The strangest feeling. This Limbo lostness. My walls are empty.

For the past 7 moths, the walls of my studio have been filling floor to ceiling with my soul.

I come home every night and paint. Six, ten, twelve hours.

Time is meaningless when it is meaningless.

Last week, we emptied my walls to take all my work to a studio to be photographed.

Call it preoccupation, call it denial, but I had not even contemplated the fact that when I took these paintings down from my walls, they would not be coming back.

I have been living these beautiful months, in a cave of the creatures and faces of my mind.

And they were there. Every time I looked up or turned my head.

Watching me.

Waiting in a cacophony of anticipation for the birth of my next creation.

My new silence echoes.

Let's Start a Revolution.

Okay. I think you are smart. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt.

I think you may even be a bit brilliant.

I don't think you really need to see blood, or knives, or penises to get the message.

For centuries, good art has always been a bit shocking. Even the Great Masters got the ol' eyebrow from time to time.

The problem? As our society becomes more and more desensitized, our art becomes more and more vulgar. While it may be amusing now and then, so often beauty is replaced by creepiness and that's a hard thing to have living on your wall. And face it; if we continue to include organs, fetuses, and killer Barbies in our art, eventually no one will take us seriously.

Let's start a revolution.

Let's make things beautiful. Let's keep it subtle. Adopt irony. Let's make it about the mood, not the blood. I think we would be surprised at how many people still get the message.

For me? The greatest compliment is when someone comes up to me and tells me there is something slightly creepy about my painting but they just can't put their finger on it. My job is done.

From the desk of Mab....

Harlow and the Raven King

So delayed in updating my posts! Painting 10 hours a day, plus working my lovely day job in children's books.

Here's some snapshots from a couple paintings for my upcoming show, a fairytale series titled "The Adventures of Harlow and the Raven King". It will be this September at Harrison Gallery.

More info and pics to come!