Tag Archives: Videos

July 27, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist

I’ve been doing more tutorials on how to use CapCut. For years I’ve edited with iMovie but found it limiting when working with vertical formats. So, on the recommendation of many friends, I decided to try this, new to me, app. I’m using the desktop version since editing on my iPhone isn’t appealing to me, although I’ve been using InShot for some social media posts. But I wanted to up my game a bit so I’m biting the bullet and working with the Pro Version of CapCut. It has too many TikTok-style effects that don’t interest me, but I’m coming up with ways to streamline my workflow around them. Here’s my first “Take a Minute Video”.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for three exhibitions. My solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, on view from June 5 – September 15, 2026, and my work that was on view in the June, 2026 group show, “Raising Women’s Voices” in Chelsea, NYC.

My next solo exhibition titled “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” will be at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, November 3 – 28, 2026.

June 26, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist

I shoot a lot of video and decided that I needed to work with a different editor than iMovie, which I’ve been using for years. That program can’t cleanly and successfully produce vertical videos, since it’s standardized on the horizontal aspect ratio, which doesn’t work for streaming & reels on social media. I downloaded CapCut and spent the day watching online tutorials. There are so many more features that I’ll probably never use since I’m not interested in doing bouncy TikTok style work. Quiet and serene is more my speed. I have a playlist on my YouTube Channel titled, Take a Minute Videos. These are, of course, one-minute videos. They offer to you the opportunity to calmly look closely at either something in nature or a painting up close. I find that we are living in a much more frantic world than I grew up in where I had many hours to spend looking at clouds floating like cotton candy, gently across the sky or the intricacies of the structure and texture of a leaf and how it differs from front to back. That slower time gave me an appreciation for minute details that I feel so many people no longer take the time observe in our hyped-up, fast-moving, frenetic culture. My videos offer an opportunity to just “Take a Minute” to slow down and relax.

Early in the morning, the oscilating sprinkler, set on a timer, went on automatically. Sitting having my coffee and looking out at the sunshine streaming through the droplets of water was mesmerizing. I had to tear myself away from the calmness I was experiencing in order to capture this video to share. Nothing however can compare with the original. I urge you to look around where you are and see what absorbs your visual interest.. I’m sure you’ll find something unexpected.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for my solo exhibition at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, from June 5 – September 15, 2026, my work for the group show at the Ceres Gallery in from June 23. to July 18, 2026, and my upcoming November 2026, solo exhibition in Chelsea, New York City

June 17, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist

I took a video in my studio while I was painting the Magnolia. Too funny, I didn’t realize my painting clothes were going to look so good. It wasn’t planned. Since I’m a right-handed painter, I sometimes have to turn my paintings in order to get a comfortable angle for painting edges. If I don’t do that, I lose control of the precision.

Visit my YouTube Channel for more videos: https://www.youtube.com/maryahernartist

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for my solo exhibition at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, from June 5 – September 15, 2026, my work for the group show at the Ceres Gallery in June 2026, and my upcoming November 2026, solo exhibition in Chelsea, New York City

June 3, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist

There are days when you realized you’ve worked so hard every day for so long, that you just need to step back and do something different. Today was one of those days. I worked in the garden for over three hours, hauling hoses and setting up sprinklers and timing devices. I didn’t manage to finish everything before my body told me to stop but I made a good dent in the project. While immersed in the garden, I was happily surrounded by the full bloom of the native Mountain Laurels in my garden. For years they failed to thrive but then I finally had nozzles installed throughout the garden and between the fertilizer and the irrigation, they’re thriving again. They are better than they’ve been since I bought the property in 1989. I’m so very pleased that I was able to bring them back from the brink. One of the things I love about the structure of the individual flower, is how the stamens arc from the center to push the petals outwards forming little arcs. If you look closely at this Take A Minute Video I put on my YouTube Channel, you can see the fascinating architecture of these tiny flowers.

This is a daily journal of my creative efforts for my solo exhibition at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, from June 5 – September 15, 2026 and my November exhibition in Chelsea, New York City.