Maggie Parr Art & Design

Cruising the Bahamas with Mickey

Maggie — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 20:25:48 +0000

"Madame D" after Sargent's "Madame X", currently available in the Art of Disney store in Downtown Disney, Fla.

This summer I was asked to come on board the Disney Dream as a featured artist — and I’m finally getting around to posting photos! I met a lot of GREAT people onboard. The gallery had a show of my work, including 4 new character paintings — and I finished a 5th in front of guests. I aso gave a presentation, met with people, and had a fabulous time chatting with everyone who came through the gallery. I also got to see the paintings I created for the interactive Enchanted Art game. What a beautiful ship!

This is a view of the Vista Gallery on board the Dream

Their Buena Vista Theater is huge! I got to try out a hands-free headset for my presentation.

I finished "Madame D" in front of guests, that was fun.

One of my new friends, Cayley, in front of the interactive "Minnie Lisa."

This is where I got to spend my free time. Bummer!

Happy 2011

Maggie — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 20:33:35 +0000

I can’t believe it’s 2011 already. What happened to 2010? I haven’t painted outdoors since July, and haven’t posted new work since October. The months are flying by. Well, here are two small landscapes I did last summer with my friend Ann Malmlund. They remind me of sunnier days …

New Disney graphics

Maggie — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 20:20:51 +0000

I just finished creating character photo op graphics for construction fences in Disney’s California Adventure/Paradise Pier. It’s rare that I get to show my work so soon after creating it — but this was a rush job, and the graphics were printed almost as soon as I delivered the files. Larry Nikolai did a wonderful job art directing these. Recently I got the chance to see the fences in place. It was so fun to see guests taking photos of themselves alongside the characters! So of course I had to do it as well.

These will be up until Spring 2011, so next time you’re in California Adventure, check them out! Here are a few of the panels:

New kitten painting

Maggie — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 00:32:34 +0000

Okay, who can resist a kitten? I know I can’t — which is partly why we have so many cats! Actually we had way more this summer, when we fostered 8 kittens through Kitten Rescue. We even managed to adopt out 7 of them — we just couldn’t let go of the last one. So we have one new addition to the family: Jasmine, a Siamese/Snowshoe. Now it’s time for Kitten Rescue’s annual fundraiser, Fur Ball at the Skirball, and I decided to donate a painting of one of our fosters for the silent auction. This one is called “Picassa”.

I’m also donating a certificate for a custom Portrait of Love. Can you tell I love animals?

If you’d like to attend, it’s at the Skirball (obviously) on Saturday, September 11. Click here to find out more about the event. Jenna Fischer is hosting it, and from what I hear, the auction always contains some interesting and valuable items that you couldn’t find anywhere else.

Happy July

Maggie — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:20:31 +0000

I can’t believe it’s July already. And it’s my birthday on Thursday! Time flies by so fast these days; especially with my crazy schedule this summer.

Here’s a photo from the signing event at Disneyland in May — they did a nice job placing my artwork. I always love signing with the other artists and meeting all the Disney fans. Some of them come to every event! I’m starting to recognize people; this last time, I noticed one guest’s children had grown. I must be getting old.

Happy July everyone!

Interview on Disney Parks Blog

Maggie — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:47:11 +0000

Michelle Harker from Disney interviewed me about my work, and it’s now posted on the Disney Parks blog:

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/05/celebrating-the-art-of-maggie-parr/

Shrek and Fiona

Maggie — Wed, 05 May 2010 23:00:03 +0000

I’ve been working for a few months on paintings for a new Dreamworks Fine Art program; it’s finally launched (Click here). They’ve posted my Kung Fu Panda paintings (click here); but here’s a sneak peek at my new Shrek piece. This was so much fun!

A Day at the Beach

Maggie — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 17:30:04 +0000

I went out painting with some friends a couple of weeks ago — we found a beautiful spot at El Pescador State Beach just north of Malibu. It was a perfect, sunny, breezy day, and I enjoyed doing this oil sketch.

Another rocky shoreline

Maggie — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:15:59 +0000

This is another plein air piece from the Jove Wang workshop I attended recently. The fog was just starting to lift and the sun was shining through. It’s still this beautiful, even on the first day of December! I love living in southern California.

Plein air paintings

Maggie — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:25:28 +0000

Two weeks ago I took a 4-day painting workshop with Jove Wang. Besides being an amazing painter, he’s an excellent teacher. I learned so much in that short amount of time. I finally know how to capture the spirit of a painting in less than an hour. Not to mention I actually understand values now; and temperature. I have so much more to learn, but that will come with practice.

On our last day, the Palos Verdes peninsula was covered in fog. At first I didn’t think there was anything to paint in that grey muck — but then I looked down at the rocky shoreline and saw all these subtleties in color and mood. With freezing fingers, and water dripping off my glasses, I whipped out a painting in an hour (1st image). Then a few days later, back in my studio, I re-did the painting from a photograph (2nd image), and came up with something slightly different. I never thought I’d care about rocks in water, but after this experience, I feel like I could paint rocky shorelines for the rest of my life and be happy!