Category Archives: Studio Glimpses

February 9, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist Posted on by

There are more tools that you need in the studio besides paint and brushes. After you finish a painting, there are additional tasks that need attending. One of them is preparing the painting for hanging on the walls. For that, one needs what’s called D hooks with screws, a ruler and marker to know where to put the screws & hooks, a drill to make holes in the wooden stretchers & tighten the. screws, wire to string from the D hooks, and a wire cutter for obvious reasons. I’m glad I found a very lightweight battery-operated drill quite a while ago, since it’s easy to handle and less dangerous around delicate artwork.

Another thing I do when I finish a painting is to write the Index # I’ve assigned to the artwork, the title, size, and medium. I also write the “© Mary Ahern” copyright insignia and sign my official signature on the wooden stretcher bars at the back of the canvas.


These daily studio notes lead toward my 2026 solo exhibitions in New York City and  Poughkeepsie, NY.

February 8, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist Posted on by

Today was a day for planning on where I was heading for a painting I’d started. I had plans in my mind about what I was imagining would work but I had some hesitation. So I decided to try a few potential solutions on my computer rather in my studio with paint. Having worked with computer graphics since the early 1980s, I’m very comfortable, let’s say, extremely comfortable, working out compositing issues and possibilities with pixels.

First I headed to my photo library on my Mac for candidates, then brought them in to Photoshop to try them out. It quickly became apparent to me that the intial vision I had for the painting wasn’t going to make me happy so I zigged and zagged into a completely different direction. By testing solutions in this way, I saved myself many hours, days and potentially weeks trying choices with canvas and paint. Now, I know what will work for me and I will just be able to move forward towards that goal.

In my photos app on my Mac, I’ve been taking photos in my garden for over 30 years so as you can imagine, I have thousands to choose from. Many of these photos are closeups. To make it easier to view them, I’ve made albums of the varieties so I can more easily make choices of candidates for my artwork.
Since I wanted to see how just the centers of the flowers would look on a circular canvas, once I made a few selections from my collections, I zoomed in and cropped them into circles. This is such a comfortable workflow for me.




These daily studio notes lead toward my 2026 solo exhibitions in New York City and  Poughkeepsie, NY.

February 7, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist Posted on by

In the studio today I painted another thin layer of oil paint on what will be the underpainting of my next painting. An assortment of blues, along with a green and an ochre, helped to add some interest to the background of the painting that will eventually be painted over by my next flower interpretation. The paint was applied by an assortment of Simmons bristle fan brushes of different sizes.

The other project in the studio has been deciding on the name for my latest painting. When I started it, I used orange Clivia flowers for inspiration. When I found them less than inspiring, I switched to some orange double hibiscus. With a mind of its own, the painting decided it would rather be shades of pink and purple. Now, I’m working on picking a name for the painting. Any ideas?

The pigments I’m using on this underpainting are, Ultramarine Deep, Thalo Blue, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Turquoise, Courbet Green & Titanium White. The inspiration for this is imagery from the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day website.
I was planning on titling this painting Cosmic Orange Hibiscus but by the time I finished the piece, it decided it wanted to be a different color. So now I’m thinking of titling the painting, Cosmic Pink Hibiscus. What do you think?


These daily studio notes lead toward my 2026 solo exhibitions in New York City and  Poughkeepsie, NY.

February 6, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist Posted on by

Busy today in the studio working on 3 different paintings. I oiled out the just completed hibiscus painting with a recipe of 50% Galgyd/Gamsol. I pour the mixture onto the flat canvas, use a large brush to spread it, and to get even, full coverage. After 5 minutes, I rub the surface of the canvas with a Viva soft paper towel to buff the extra mixture off and create a mild but even glow.

The second painting had me sketching in the outline of the flower using pastel that I’ll be painting over the initial layers on the round canvas. And the third project was unwrapping and gently sanding a fresh 30×30″ canvas. Then I began brushing on the beginning of an underpainting using an image from NASA as inspiration. I love being productive!

Three painting is different levels of completion. Left to right, hibiscus painting is nearing completion, the circular painting is drying for the next stage, and the new canvas on the easel has a first coat of underpainting.
Ready to unwrap a new 30×30″ gallery wrapped canvas. I like using the thick stretcher bars to give the paintings added strength.
Sanding the surface with a fine sandpaper block takes off just enough of the roughness to the gessoed surface of the new canvas. I always do this before I begin painting.

These daily studio notes lead toward my 2026 solo exhibitions in New York City and  Poughkeepsie, NY.

February 5, 2025

Mary Ahern Artist Posted on by

On my YouTube Channel I have a playlist titled, Take a Minute. These are short videos that offer a brief sanctuary from the rush of daily life. These short videos provide a meditative pause—a moment to breathe, reflect, and find calm amid the chaos. Let yourself settle into stillness and allow space for healing.

This is the video I made in the studio today.

Click here to visit my YouTube channel.

These daily studio notes lead toward my 2026 solo exhibitions in New York City and Poughkeepsie, NY.

February 4, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist Posted on by

February 4, 2026

Ever sign a painting, only to discover you missed a spot? That was me today. I work on gallery-wrapped canvas and paint all the edges to skip framing, but when I lay my ‘finished’ piece flat, there it was—one unpainted bottom edge staring back at me. Matching the colors and brushstrokes was trickier than expected. Good thing I keep detailed notes on each painting!

February 3, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist Posted on by

Another day in the studio working on the underpainting. Played with a variety of blues, the turquoise, the ones that lean towards green and the warmer blues. Played with the values by adding bits of white to lighten, burnt umber to darken. Muted the blues with a bit of yellow ochre and added highlight oranges with Winsor yellow deep. Worked with a variety of bristles, sable, and fan brushes to vary the mark-making.

 

February 2, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist Posted on by

Today I took delivery of a new canvas and began a new painting. There weren’t many places for me to buy a 36″ round canvas but I found this one online at Dick Blick. It came boxed very carefully, I’m glad to say. My first concern is finding the center and creating the correct proportions for the underpainting. I dug out a compass from my wayback stash and it was the perfect solution. Then I proceeded to put the first layer of oil paint down. Very productive day in the studio!

Take a peek at this short video for studio glimpse!