Ria's Fine Art Studio

The Hunt

Maria Spencer — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 07:06:11 +0000

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Tags: fantasy, new art, original artwork, painting of wolves, painting of wolves with fiery red background, red and yellow, red painting, Ria, swirls, wolves hunting, wolves running

New painting of one of our kittens

Maria Spencer — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:55:10 +0000

This is our sweet little Fred kitty. She has such a fun personality. She loves to run(that’s her favorite thing to do!), she likes to pounce grasshoppers and birds. She also loves to climb up the window screen and catch flies. And then when she’s sleepy she likes to curl up on one of our laps and purr herself to sleep while we pet her. She’s such a love. This painting is about 22″x29″. Mark just made a beautiful frame for it that has kitty paw prints wandering all over it. It’s wonderful! I’m going to enter this one into the Utah State Fair.

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Tags: art, artwork by Ria, brilliant colored pencil drawing, cat painting, colored pencil, drawing fur, fair entries, Fred, kitten, kitty, original painting, painting of a cat, Ria, Utah State Fair

Oh my goodness

Maria Spencer — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:45:48 +0000

So as I mentioned before Mark and I are training Lola, well, we’re trying to. What we’re trying to do is teach her that Mark and I are the alpha pair so she doesn’t have to act like such a spaz all the time trying to figure out how to be the alpha herself. We’re using Jan Fennell’s method. She has a book called The Dog Listener that we’re reading and trying to follow.

So one of the things you’re supposed to do is make sure the dog always sees you eat before she gets to eat. It’s supposed to be like the alpha who always eats first and then gives the subordinates what’s left. What we’ve been doing is having a couple of little minnie ritz crackers in our hands when we’re about to hand her her bowl and then we pretend to be eating some of her food, get satisfied and then give her the rest. So this morning I did that. I didn’t realize however that the neighbor lady was standing about 15 feet away watching me. Oh my goodness. Now the neighbors think I eat dog food. Oh yeah, I rock.

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Tags: alpha, alpha pair, difficult, dog training, embarrassing moment, funny, Jan Fennell, Lola, neighbor, The Dog Listener

We’ve decided to train Lola.

Maria Spencer — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:09:38 +0000

Mark and I have decided that in order for Lola (and us) to really be happy and at peace with the world she’s going to have to be trained. The other thing we realize is that we have absolutely no money at all. This means Mark and I have to do the training. We got started today. It was actually quite fun. We started by taking her for a walk. We had our pockets full of treats and every time we’d call her and she’d come we’d give her a treat. She did really well! Once she figured out that she’d get a treat if she came, she came almost every time. The only time she had difficulty was when we were passing by a yard with 2 dogs, 2 kids on bicycles and some adults standing around talking. A truck was driving by at the same moment and she just got over stimulated and started chasing dogs and kids all over the place. She did come after a few calls though and that NEVER happens so it was good!

The thing we’ve decided is that the only kind of training we’re going to be able to do is positive reinforcement training. I just can’t bring my self to discipline her for bad behavior. The only discipline we’ll give her is to ignore bad behavior. I can do that. We reward good behavior and ignore bad behavior. We’ve bought a couple of books and I’m really excited about this. I’m going to do 2 15 minute training sessions a day at least and her regular 4 mile run. We want to get to the point where she can be a regular family dog, mingling with the cats and ferrets. No killing of small animals, no breaking front doors, no stealing our food or art projects….etc. I’m excited about this!

Lately I’ve been working on some new paintings that are about stories

Maria Spencer — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 01:24:46 +0000

These new paintings I’ve finished are about stories. Each one has it’s own story. I have ideas in my mind of what the stories are but the viewer is free and welcome to come up with stories of his/her own for each of these. I’ll post each one and kind of tell you about what I was thinking.

This one is called Transitory Beauty. It’s not realism at all because I just wanted to portray an idea. I wanted to do a painting about change and how beautiful change can be. Sometimes we get a little scared of change I think but I’ve noticed that every time life changes there’s a new kind of beauty to be discovered. Summer turns to Autumn, flowers die and leaves fall but before we have time to mourn the loss of these beauties our eyes are dazzled by crimsons, oranges, and yellows that take our breath away.

The Treefairy Poem

Maria Spencer — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 04:10:26 +0000

The Treefairy

When the sun has set in the assure sky

and the birds have ceased their song,

When the owl and bat rise in the night

when the white moths dance in throng

Wings that flutter in hummingbird down

hair the color of prairie fire flowers

eyes as keen as the white wolf’s moan

the tree fairy guards her bowers

Mischief plays in her unrefined heart

the games that laugh in her mind

a spell to be cast a soul to be caught

will you be the next one entwined?

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Tags: fairy, fairy painting, fairy poetry, fantasy art, fantasy painting of a fairy, fantasy poem, fantasy poetry, fantasy themed poetry, poem, poem about a fairy, poem about art

Watching the Rain

Maria Spencer — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 22:16:57 +0000

She sits in the doorway gazing at the summer rain, seeing, hearing, smelling it for the first time. Her eyes sparkle like the falling drops of water that bounce and splash on the front porch. What are these little balls of movement? Why do they vanish instead of run away? She wants to explore, to go out there… but she’s not sure. And then the thunder! The mighty booming in the sky! Where does that terrible monstrous noise come from? She wants to go out but she’s too small, too young. Momma knows best. Momma is inside. That’s where she’ll stay, safe inside. But her eyes still sparkle like the falling drops of water.

camping

Maria Spencer — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 07:16:49 +0000

I haven’t posted for a little while cuz I’ve been doing a lot of camping. I love camping. It’s my favorite thing to do in the world. It has been since I was a little kid. I don’t know what it is that is so pleasing to me. I don’t think it’s any one thing. It’s gotta be the whole experience. Being out there in the mountains, outside all day and all night (sleeping under the stars is the best), listening to the wind blowing through the trees, the smell of the campfire mixed with sage and pine, the sound of the river lulling you to sleep at night, mountains towering all around you. It’s just the best. We’re going again the day after tomorrow. I can’t wait!

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Tags: a night in the mountains, being outside, campfire, camping, experiencing the mountains, going camping, I love camping, listening to the wind in trees, mountain, mountains, night, overnighter, pine, recreation, river, rivers, sage, Self Portrait, sleeping under the stars, the great outdoors, the sound of the river, trees, wind, wind blowing through trees

Seeking the Light

Maria Spencer — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 07:11:10 +0000

My new favorite. Yep. Definitely. I call it Seeking the Light. It’s really about seeking wisdom, truth. Light and truth are synonymous. D&C 88

6 He that ^aascended up on high, as also he ^bdescended below all things, in that he ^ccomprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the ^dlight of truth;

7 Which truth shineth. This is the ^alight of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was ^bmade.

8 As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made;

9 As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made;

11 And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your ^aunderstandings;

12 Which ^alight proceedeth forth from the presence of God to ^bfill the immensity of space—

13 The ^alight which is in all things, which giveth ^blife to all things, which is the ^claw by which all things are governed, even the ^dpower of God who ^esitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.

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Tags: american indian, art, Christ, Christ is the Light of the world, cliff, Doctrine and Covenants, indian art, indian woman, LDS artwork, light, Maria Hathaway Spencer, native, Native American, native american woman, new art by Maria Hathaway Spencer, original art, painting, painting with a lot of light, painting with yellow, reaching out, religion, seeking Christ, seeking light, seeking wisdom, sun, sunlight, truth, wisdom, woman facing sunlight, woman on a cliff, woman standing in the sun, woman watching the sunrise, yellow

Shawl Dancer,

Maria Spencer — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 07:06:28 +0000

Another dancer!! Woohoo!!!

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Tags: american indian, art, colored pencil, dance art, dancing, indian, indian art, Native American, painting of a Native American girl, painting of a woman dancing, painting of an indian, painting with purples and reds, purples and reds, red, Shawl dancer, woman dancing, woman dancing in a shawl