Melissa Mary Jenkins

Toronto based Prop Stylist and buyer Krystin Leigh Smith created @shophacienda to help you make your home into your personal haven. We both share a similar passion for seeking beauty in the everyday and I am tickled pink (a fav colour of Hacienda) to debut three 12 x 12 landscape digital art prints in her online shop. #mmjdigitalart... [image description: An abstract landscape painting in peach, blue, brown and green is framed with a white frame. The frame is leaning against a pink wall on a white floor.] @ Toronto, Ontario

BIG NEWS: Some of you have asked what I mean when I say that I created a digital art painting? I wrote a blog post answering this question and sharing with you the DEBUT of my digital art prints in my Etsy shop! Follow the link in my profile to learn about my process, my inspiration and the local print company @posterjack that I am partnering with. #mmjdigitalartprints [image description: A blush pink wall is the backdrop to two hands holding a white iPad. On the iPad screen is a landscape painting with luscious white clouds in an aqua blue sky above a green and brown landscape.]

To wish was to hope, and to hope was to expect -Jane Austen- The moment that I begin to unwrap my prints from @posterjack is a moment where my hope teeters on the precipice of expectations. My expectations were exceeded with this digital painting. I get lost in the texture and the soft colours in the distant fields. I am yet to name it. Any suggestions?... Available soon... [image description: A white wall and a rustic table are the backdrop to this vignette. A white frame holds an abstract landscape painting in muted pastels. Three small baskets sit beside the frame.] #mmjdigitalartprint

Big Sky You may be wondering what a digital painting is? What do I mean when I say that I created a digital art painting? Digital painting is the process of painting on a tablet, a smart phone or a computer. This is done through painting software that recreates the experience of paint brushes, pens, pencils, and paint on paper. An Apple Pencil, stylus or simply a finger can be used to draw, sketch or paint on a touch screen.... http://melissamaryjenkins.com//an-new-creative-venture-di/

If an apple blossom or a ripe apple could tell its own story, it would be, still more than its own, the story of the sunshine that smiled upon it, of the winds that whispered to it, of the birds that sang around it, of the storms that visited it, and of the motherly tree that held it and fed it until its petals were unfolded and its form developed. Lucy Larcom [image description: Apple blossom branches are in a large glass cider jug. The jug is on a wooden table in front of an old stone wall.]

raw materials [image description: Two yellow marigold flowers are close up on a white backdrop. A wooden bowl holds orange and yellow marigolds in the distance on the right.] #natureswildink

m u l t i - p a s s i o n a t e y e t a n c o r e d i n i n n a t u r e On any given day I move from project to project but all my creative ventures are linked to the natural world. Yesterday I bottled and experimented with natural ink, worked on a new idea of natural ink-stamping with dried milk weed pods and I sat by our pond and worked on painting a landscape on my iPad. #morethanonething... [image description: A basket of dyed fabric, a wooden bowl of dried wild cucumber, a paint rag, a jar of ink with a paint brush in it, a jar of ink and a painting using walnut ink all sit on a white desk top.]

Thirty spokes meet in the hub, but the empty space between them is the essence of the wheel. Pots are formed from clay,... but the empty space within it is the essence of the pot. Walls with windows and doors form the house, but the empty space within it is the essence of the home. Laozi [image description: A white wall is the backdrop for a modern media piece. A light wood floating frame surrounds a tri-colour square wood panel in a textured beige, a white fabric and a natural fabric. Raffia separates the top two colours in the left side of the panel and on the bottom two colours on the right side.] #mmjtextureseries

Most days I head outside and cross country ski in the rolling fields surrounding my studio. The skies are vast and the views expansive, which serves as a form of therapy in lockdown conditions. So naturally landscapes have been emerging in my studio. Today I am transposing this concept into a larger piece for a commission. Materials used (all crafted by nature & my hands) -walnut ink -acorn ink... -avocado ink (the sky) -copper oxide -iron lake pigment paint -white paint from rocks #natureswildink @ Erin, Ontario

Today is the last day to shop at @rugandweave before the staff take a well deserved break until Jan 4th. My botanical line drawings have been restocked if you are local and looking for a last minute gift of wild minimalism.

Holiday tag making with spruce cone ink... #natureswildink

If you are looking for an outdoor family activity during the holidays, I will be hosting outdoor, socially distanced ink-making workshops December 19 until December 23. Some morning and afternoon workshops are still available through @airbnbexperiences (follow the link in my profile) Be sure to wear your thermal underwear, winter gear and adventurous spirit! *Workshops will only be open to those who live in the same household and only for those who DON’T live in the grey lock...down areas. Workshops will begin again in 2021 on January 6 and would make a great Christmas gift!

A huge thank you to Home Of Wool for sharing a few of my zero-waste holiday decorations on their recent blog post! https://homeofwool.com/holidays-go-zero-waste/