The Lost Boys (a custom art piece)

Here is the final version of my custom Lost Boys themed watercolor painting!

My wonderful, longtime internet friend Courtney is expecting a baby boy this fall, and she asked me to make a custom piece for his nursery! She wanted it to be Peter Pan's Lost Boys themed, and the room will have a woodland theme. So that pretty much gave me the creative freedom to design whatever I dreamed up! (and I LOOOOVE Peter Pan.)

This is 11x14, and I used an amazing new smooth watercolor paper for it. Plus new water color paints= such a difference in the quality! I incorporated a quote I love from the book version of Peter Pan, in my newly-learned calligraphy (plus I know my friend Courtney loves modern calligraphy). For styling, I love it paired with this wood frame. It really completes the feeling of the piece!

Overall I love the storybook page feeling of it. I'm so thankful she asked me to do this! It was so fun. 

xo, Michelle

Follow me @maryandluna on your favorite social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. See my art in my Etsy shop or on maryandluna.com. 

if you're interested in a custom art piece like this one, please email me and we can brainstorm ideas! I absolutely love making things for a specific person in mind :)

New piece: literary tree signs!

Imagine stumbling across these wooden directional signs to classic fictional literary places, nailed to a tree… where would you go? 

I've just added this print to my Etsy shop! This watercolor & gouache painting depicts some of my most favorite places in classic literature. Neverland from "Peter Pan," Narnia from "The Chronicles of Narnia," Hogwarts from "Harry Potter," Wonderland from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," Oz from "The Wizard of Oz," the secret garden from "The Secret Garden," and a sign to mark that you are home. A little pocket watch dangles from the tree branch to symbolize the fleeting feeling of time & childhood passing.

This art print would be perfect in a child's room, any book lover's home, a library, a classroom, or any place you may want a touch of imagination and daydreams of adventure.

Details:

      -Print will not include the watermark (© Mary & Luna).       -To display: Prints can be placed in any 8x10 frame (as shown), or any larger frame with a matted 8x10 opening.       -Frame not included. 

Buy it here and visit the rest of my Etsy shop and my website to see all the art I have for sale!

xo, Michelle 

Follow me @maryandluna on your favorite social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. 

custom art for singer-songwriter Christina Perri!

I met one of my all-time favorite singer-songwriters (and human beings) on Saturday, Christina Perri! What does this have to do with art? Keep reading!  :) Christina is someone who has inspired me deeply as an artist and a person, to keep creating, to keep living, to keep loving, and to be beautifully human. She's such a light & I love her so much. It meant so much to me to finally meet her.

I wanted to make her something special as a gift & a thank you for all the music she's created that I love so much. So I made her a custom 8x10 watercolor piece of her 4 favorite places (I've learned from her many tweets about them!). I chose two of my favorite lyrics about home from her song "Miles,"  and then I made the division a compass, since she's always on the road, touring and working on music. The "LOVE" sculpture is from her hometown of Philadelphia, the "Imagine" circle is from her favorite place in New York City (the memorial for John Lennon), the "101 Coffee Shop" is her favorite place in LA (her current home), and the map of Italy pays homage to her Italian roots & her favorite place she's ever been.

Here are two of my favorite photos I took during the concert:

I really love to make custom art pieces like this for people. I get so giddy while I'm making them, and when I finish I get so excited thinking about how they will react when they see it! Christina's reaction was my favorite ever. Her jaw dropped open and stayed that way, and she didn't even say anything until finally she said "I'm trying not to cry…" She told me (like 3 times) that she was going to frame it & she loved it.

That is the reason I make art. To make people feel happy and full of love and like it's a piece of home, because art that connects with someone can bring such powerful emotions to the surface, and when it's displayed somewhere, it can serve as a source of happiness each day. That's what it does for me.

xo, Michelle

If you'd like me to do a custom piece of artwork like this for you, please don't hesitate to email me! We can brainstorm and come up with something special :)

Spring time greeting cards!

I made some new designs & put them on greeting cards! I will be releasing more new card designs in June too, for more occasions & more variety. I LOVE greeting cards. I LOVE stationary. I LOVE snail mail. and I LOVE writing notes to people I love! Having a great design on the front of a card is a unique gift- you're sending art AND love to someone! It makes me so happy. So here are some new greeting cards for this season! birthday, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Congratulations (perhaps for graduation season?), and some pretty thank you notes. Links to each card under each photo!

Buy: Happy birthday: sunflowers.

Buy: mother's day: baby snuggles.

Buy: father's day: shoulder rides.

Buy: congratulations: stepping stones.

Buy: thank you notes: classy.

I really love how these came out! Simple but sweet is my favorite, and always illustrative. I'm really into sketch style with pops of color.

You can also buy a custom set of any 4 cards right here! 

To view my art prints, visit my Etsy shop!

xo, Michelle

New print: Wanderlust!

Whew, it's been a whirlwind over here! This week I'll share my amazing adventure at a photography field trip/workshop I attended last weekend. But today I have a new print available to share with you! Wanderlust (noun): a strong, innate desire to rove or travel about.

I have a wanderlust soul; I always have. Since I was little, I liked to read about other places and states and countries; I poured over and memorized maps. I crave wandering aimlessly, new scenery, exploring places that are not much like where I live in a sunny, suburban California beach town. I LOVE landscapes and nature and staring into open land and looking up at beautiful architecture with wide-eyes and wonder.

I've played with so many ideas of how to use this word in a piece, because I'm aware that it's a common theme. I had one sketch for it about a year ago but I knew it wasn't what I wanted. Recently this illustration just sort of flowed out of me, and I think it's heavily influenced by fairytale scenery. I had a desire to paint trees and a forest.

Here's the original sketch:

Here's the final piece, available as a print in my Etsy shop! 

Hope you like it!

xo, Michelle