Getting ready...YEA TOAST!

     I have temporarily put away my paints, airbrushes, paint brushes, canvases, boards...and all my art clutter in preparation for my friends, David, Silvia and little Rita Naylor,  arriving from Barcelona!!They will be staying in my little cozy studio/apartment while they are here.
The thing about cleaning my studio is, now that I have the clutter put away and the space more organized and clean, I want to PAINT!!!! I am sure we'll find a speck of time to do so...

   There will be little hands in the studio that week so I had to childproof the place a bit. 
Adorable little Rita is 3years old and I am sure she would be MOST willing to help paint on some of my paintings that are laying about unfinished....in order to curtail that, I have stowed them or given them temporary residency on the walls.
I am not worried as the studio mainly will only be a place for them to sleep and have some privacy for the later evenings when they are not with us at our home or out and about. I have a busy schedule planned for us! :)
I am hoping that David and I will have a chance to paint together and I think we might manage to do that one evening. All we have to do is hook up our brushes, put on some music and fire up the silent compressor! there are plenty of things we can work on...ideas are always endless so there will be no wane in creativity while we are all together!

   I stocked all my VHS movies for my old TV and the VCR in the studio den/guest room. There is a certain amount of nostalgia that comes with firing up the VCR. I tend to gravitate towards items people no longer want or need and I give them new life! I am a thrift-shop-secondhand junkie and it serves me quite well! You should see our collection of vinyl albums! I am happy to report that we, my husband and I, are old enough that we purchased almost all of them when they we in the records stores during the 70's and 80's! :D
  My entire studio is furnished mostly with secondhand vintage items that are still fully functional or refurbished by myself. I have done this my whole life. I like making old new again. I think it's just cool to love older items. There's a certain amount of soul left in vintage things. It makes me wonder what their previous lives were like before they came into my hands.... hard to say however they have all found a great loving home with me.
  Speaking of great finds...I scored a 1950's Toastmaster toaster at Goodwill for $1.80!!!  Someone had given it a new cord which was pretty short, about 1 foot in length, so I did what love I to do and dismantled it, cleaned it all up inside and out and then I attached a new cord. My husband gave her the maiden voyage a few moments ago and she performed beautifully!!! Check her out below...

The butter dish that you see a reflection of was my Grandma Bell's butter dish. It was among things no one wanted when my Grandparents passed away. I have used it ever since and it is one of my most cherished pieces. I love things like this. I collect vintage glassware and I use these things. I especially like old jars, crock bowls and depression glass. I use these items because that's what they were meant for and you can't beat the function and utility of older wares.

I feel much the same way about the tools I paint with. I keep all my old brushes until they have no hair left. I find uses for them no matter what state they are in. i use things until their life is exhausted.
I am the same way with my airbrushes. I buy good used items and refurbish them and tune them to my liking. The thing about the airbrush is, most of the working parts are replaceable. The parts that are not warranted are the ones that break down first so to me, it's a no brainer to buy used. As long as the body is sound and functions well, I'll continue to tinker and modify my tools.
My late father, Jim Hall, taught me to tinker and fix things. My Dad was a mechanical and electrical engineer. I think, no...I KNOW,  I have done him proud!
I remember when I bought my first house and realized there was only one two functioning outlets in the garage, I decided that needed to be ratified. I wanted to build a workbench with a grinder/polisher and the ability to use my power tools so I rewired the garage and built the bench! Dad was so proud!
I am sure he is up in heaven just beaming because I am a tinkerer just like he always was! :)

Well, better get a move on and head downstairs to clean and tidy the basement. Might go for a bike ride with the husband if the weather holds out....
Have a great week all four of you followers! :D

Kath

To be INSPIRED!!

So yesterday, I was browsing at the work of realist painters...I admit, I don't know 'who's who' in the art world and my world is pretty small but I am broadening my awareness fairly quickly by looking at the works of people whom inspire me and the works os painter who inspire those I admire.
This particular painter, Serge Marshennikov, has completely blown me away with his oil paintings....speechless and dumbfounded are words that could best describe my reaction when I looked at some of his paintings online. The beauty of the subjects he paints is just amazing. His detail and subtly are just incredible!  I do have one painter friend from Moscow whom is another realist painter and extremely talented however he is not as talented in color works but this Serge fellow...my goodness!!

If your curious, just have a peek...he has a Facebook page that show alot of his work and here is one gallery link   http://www.hallmarkgallery.com/gal/artist/Serge-Marshennikov-50.html
Just have a gander and prepare to be astounded by the beauty of his work. This type of work inspires me to say the least. It is this level of detail I strive to achieve.... one day though because I am not there yet and it will be several more years before I reach this level but I will. Thats my goal! :)

  
   This week has been pretty uneventful. The boots are nearing completion but I didn't take an update photograph. I will do so later this week. It was nice painting this week without interruptions. That allows me to paint at a leisurely pace and that's always most enjoyable.
I keep staring at my Spanish Market painting and I am itching to get back on that baby!!! I can't wait to break out the oils again once I am finished with The Boots.

   I am busily planning the for the visit of my friends David, Silvia and little Rita Naylor. I have not seen them for two years. They are traveling from Barcelona to visit the States for 3 weeks. they will spend their first week in San Francisco, their second week will be visiting me and last week they head to NYC.
I plan to show them the easy pace of Northern Indiana. We'll hit Chicago for a day or two and then visit sites around here at home.
I hope that David and I will have some time to paint together at least one day so I need to get my airbrushes hyper-tuned so we can paint details!! I know all my airbrush friends know of Davids works but for those of you whom have yet to see what David does with paint, take a look at his website:
http://www.davidnaylor.net/index.php?lang=ENG

It is a pleasure to have such a wonderful artist as a friend but it is and even bigger gift to call he and Silvia 'family'.  I can't wait to go back to Barcelona next year and visit again to enjoy the family time in addition to the art, architecture, paella and I certainly can't forget JAMON!!


   Well, time to hit the bike trail and go for a nice ride with my husband on this beautiful fall day!
I hope everyone has a lovely day!


Kath

Where does the time go?

   I need to get back on my schedule of blogging while I drink my cup of coffee early Sunday morning. I have missed the past two Sundays! I can't remember why...oh yes I do...one Sunday I started doing chores around the house early and completely lost track of time and this past Sunday the Hub was frothing at the mouth to get going on our shopping trip so we could 'getter done' early-ish and get home. Once back home, the burrow in for winter mode set in and I started over hauling the downstairs panty room and organizing my winter stockpile of canned goods and dried legumes/pasta... I am starting to feel like a little squirrel running from tree to tree, burying nuts and trying to get fattened up for winter....or, to go along with the common trend, getting ready for the zombie apocalypse to take place and readying ourselves for lock-down!!!

   My good friends from Barcelona ( David, Silvia and little Rita Naylor) are coming to visit, arriving on November 10th and heading to NYC on the 18th. I am preparing for that as well. Studio is just about ready and I am planning out places to take them. I am afraid there will not be much time for painting with David but who knows. Chicago is on the menu for a day or two. Hopefully if all works out, we'll be meeting up with friends there and hitting the art museum and I would like to go to Shed Aquarium one day as well.
This is the Midwest here in north central Indiana and I live in the heartland belt...slow paced so the emphasis will be placed on that. Where I live, sleepy little town of Bristol, is so much different that Barcelona so it will be a bit of a culture shock for them. They will certainly leave relaxed. I hope they enjoy their stay.

   The Boots are coming along nicely. I am getting close to being finished. I am in the 'tweak' stage now, fine tuning details, colors and values. That's always a fun stage albeit a bit tedious and slow but fun nonetheless!  Here is a current photo of the progress. It may not seem like there has been much movement, but if you look closely, in a 'Wheres Waldo' way, you will notice the subtle changes that have taken place....

I have softened the foreground at her feet and darkened the background. I am currently adjust values and subtle color variations. I am now starting to define the stitching and the values on the boots. This is where the POP will begin. Once the values are correct, it just POPs on the canvas and no longer has a flat look to it. This takes some time because you have to build it slowly and makes adjustments along the way. This is when you are really looking intently at the details and you begin to notice 'well that isn't shaped like that' or 'that doesn't line up'...this is when you start doing corrections and all the details....
It's time consuming and tedious but rewarding at the same time.
And on that note...I believe it is time to head to the studio for the rest of the day and be the artist, at least until it's time to come home and be the domestic Goddess...that metamorphosis generally occurs around 4:00pm so I better get my butt in gear and get going....
Have a great day friends!! :)

These Boots were made for Paintin' !

My current work in progress aka WIP

     It's been a nice productive week. It seems like I am in 'burrowing down for the winter mode', which is just fine by me. I happen to enjoy winter! :)
Fall is here and I have pulled the crock pot out of the basement so that I can have dinner done when I walk in the door which allows me 2 hours of extra time painting at my studio!
Knowing that one thing, cooking dinner, is crossed off my list, I have more free time in which to dedicate to painting so that's a WIN WIN!

   This week at the studio has been fun! I finished the poppy painting and have sketched out a few more projects on canvases I have made in the last few weeks. I gave the poppy it's first coat of sealer yesterday and OMG did it POP with vibrant color and details!!!
   I really enjoy making canvases because it marks the beginning of a painting flurry and it invigorates my creative potential.
In the last few weeks I have made I think 6-7 canvases of all sizes. I made one smallish one, which is what you see on my easel above. I made this particular size for the cowboy boot painting I had planned. 
   I started the cowboy boots late last Saturday. Once I had all the preliminary sketch-work done on a couple paintings, I decided to start a fun one, The Boots.
I took the original photograph of these cowboy boots while I was at the Elkhart County 4-H fair attending a concert this summer. While sitting in the track seating close to the stage, I saw this cute little girl, whom had obviously just finished showing her horse(she was still wearing her number tag). What I noticed about her first were these AWESOME cowboy boots she was wearing! They were SO cute!! I would wear those in a heartbeat! So being an avid photographer (mainly for art references but I have sold 1 print so I guess that now sort of exempts me from amateur/hobby status), I zoomed in on the boots thinking it would make a GREAT painting and I was right!!
   I judge a painting by how much I will enjoy creating it. It has to be a subject I like and the colors have to pop, be bright and vivid. Composition has to be engaging and the subject has to be interesting. It has to be something that is important to me. This is one of those paintings!
I grew up on a farm, I have been around and loves horses, I was involved in 4-H and I occasionally wear cowboy boots! The 4H fair in Elkhart county is a BIG deal!!! Its the 2nd largest county fair in the nation, at least that's what I have heard.
   I am enjoying painting this fun little painting. Its coming together nicely and rapidly. My intent, for this one, is to place it up on Etsy and see if I can sell something. I so rarely sell anything, I believe it is time I became a working artist. My rationale is I need to start saving for next years vacations.  I have another trip to Barcelona planned so time to start banking up!
   I also had a nice visit with an old high school friend, whom I have not seen in years, and her Mother at the studio. We chatted over coffee and home made pumpkin bread. They just wanted to stop by to see where I do all my creating. It was a great time and I am quite sure it won't be the last. Its so nice to reconnect with old friends!  The Girls Pact (I'll explain that another time) has gained new members!! :D

   David and Silvia Naylor (my friends from Barcelona) are coming to visit in 6 weeks! I am going to put them up at the studio so I have been preparing for that.
I have a futon in the den which will hold two people however it will be cramped with little Rita sleeping with them so I needed to buy something portable, that I can put away and pull at in a moments notice.
I purchased an inflatable, 5 in 1 sofa! The 5 in 1 advert is a stretch but it's pretty cool nonetheless!! 
It flips out into a  queen sized bed, recliner bed, sofa....so it's perfect for guests. I have it inflated and sitting in the main studio so that it completely stretches out beforehand.
I have sat/laid on it and it is remarkably comfortable! I am sure they will be quite happy at the studio for their evenings to sleep.  I am so excited to see them all and have fun things planned!
I sure hope they enjoy their stay in the heart of the Midwest where things are a bit slower and more laid back than what they are accustomed to.

   Today looks like it is going to be a beautiful fall day! I am hoping Mark, my husband, will want to take our annual, fall color tour ride in the Jeep. It will be the perfect day for it and we always bring our cameras. Two of those outings resulted in 2 paintings for me...The Boats and The Cows were photo's I took while we were out driving around. Its a good time and we get excited when we see things that are 'photo worthy'. I might get more excited than Mark because I see potential paintings but he loves taking photo's as well.

Well, I suppose it's time to get moving along and begin this day by doing more than drinking coffee and pecking away at a keyboard... 
Hope everyone has a fantastic week! See you  all again next Sunday!

Kathy

Poppies, Poppies, Poppies!!!!

  This makes the third poppy I have painted. I am sure it won't be my last since I really LOVE painting them because they make me feel happy!
There is something about bright vibrant colors...they just make you feel good when you see them! I should know since I honestly felt like absolute garbage yesterday when I completed this beautiful gem...
Someone at work brought sickness into our little office....I suspect it was that man we call our boss!:)
Fortunately, this is the first time in roughly a year that I have have had a cold. I do have allergies but can manage those with Benedryl however that wasn't cutting this! I will say one thing about working in healthcare, your immunity tends to toughen up. My outlook on my health is this: as long as I can walk, talk and still hold a paintbrush, I am golden!

   I spent all day painting yesterday, from 9:30am until 5:00pm. It was a great day despite physically feeling like crap! That's the magical healing powers of paint!
    I just love heading to my studio in the morning. I can roll out of bed, throw on some clothes, do my chores of feeding the critters, then jump in the car and be there in 3 minutes.
My routine, once there, is this: put the coffee on, turn the lights on, put on some music, stare at my painting to size up what needs to be done, fix my coffee and get down to business!
For me, it's a perfect day. I am calm, at peace, happy in my solitude and can unwind completely from my other life...
yesterday, after completing the poppy, I sketched out 2 more canvases and have a third ready to sketch. I even started ghosting in the foundation for another fun painting...a pair of fun turquoise cowboy boots. No need to ask why I am painting cowboy boots...the answer will always be, 'because I want to! :)

   I certainly hope the Devlin's enjoy their Poppy. I know where it will be hung in their house, in their sun room.
About 6 months or so back, Jason Devlin, a fellow art friend, had seen an image of a commissioned poppy I was painting. He said he wanted me to paint one for him but not in the same composition. I happened to have a canvas that I had started and set aside because I wanted a slightly different composition at that time. So when he asked if I would be interested in an art swap, trade something sculpted for a one of a kind painting, I said yes! This is that painting! In return, he is custom sculpting an absinthe spoon for me. All I know is that I chose the theme of art deco but he added an additional theme which will make it EVEN MORE AWESOME!!!  I told him not to show it to me because I want it to be like Christmas when I see it!! I am so excited to see it!!
So our swap is near now and the excitement is palpable...I certainly hope they like their painting...I know I surely do!

   You see, that's the beauty of painting vibrant colors and beautiful subjects...it can turn an otherwise sour mood/day into something special...yesterday was proof of that. Despite feeling poorly, I still was happy and quite productive...that's the power of vibrant paint! It just makes you feel GOOD!

Have a GREAT week! See you, all 'two' of my followers, next week!

Kathy

Fall is here...seclusion, here I come!

   Saturday marked the beginning of my self imposed creative seclusion. My lines have been drawn and instructions have been given letting my friends and family(Mom) know that when I am at the studio... I am not to be disturbed, unless its emergent. I will be ignoring all calls so if you call me, leave a message...I will get back with you. To me, time spent painting is just as important as going to work. It feeds my soul just as going to work literally feeds me.
I have to do this for a couple reasons: 1) I have nothing to sell/show if I don't create it  2) I can't create it if I don't have the time to do it...

   Summer always throws a monkey wrench in my creativity because I like to do ALOT  of things such as sun by the pool, BBQ, garden...besides, there's an awful lot of house/garden upkeep in the summer. I do admit, I slack in that regard because I make time to paint so some things have become less important. I have chosen to accept a moderate amount of chaos, it just comes with the territory.
It does bother me that I cannot be Wonder Woman but I accept the reality that I am one person who needs to prioritize whats important in life...some things, really just don't matter so much in the big picture, however, being creative with paint, IS a priority for me!!

   Friday marked the end of frivolous time spent not painting but it was spent having FUN!!! Time was absolutely NOT wasted in that regard!!
I went to my first ever major league ballgame!!! What an ABSOLUTE BLAST that was!!!!
Spent the day with my best friend Rhonda and a group of people she works with. We took a chartered private bus to Chicago to go to the Cubs vs. Astros game at Wrigley field. There were many beverages involved along with non stop laughter! It was a joy to get to know some new folks (since I don't get out much),  see the game and learn a bit more about baseball (I had only ever been to minor league games and basically only to people watch). Now I know why the pitcher chooses to 'walk' certain players....makes perfect statistical sense!

I enjoyed capturing some great photo's as well...some will be turned into paintings, those I will not show yet however!  Check out the amazing shots I was able to capture: 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Watching Matt Garza throw the ball and Aramis Ramirez smack them hard made me a fan of theirs 'right off the bat'!  What a fantastic day it was!! Go Cubs!!! Oh, they won by the way....it was an exciting 12 inning game!!!

   Saturday was spent painting all day. I finished the display base for my art bra that I created for Bras Around the Bend .  I will drop my submission off at RiverBend Cancer Services this week. The charity auction is not until October 6th. Should be a fun night! I'll be there to support the event and hopefully to trump up some bids!
Worked more on my Poppy painting which is looking just AWESOME!!! I am almost done. I am at the final tweak stage now. Yesterday and the last sitting was spent doing traditionl brushwork. I may add more airbrush tweaks but I like the look of the traditional brushwork as well. I have taken to fusing both. An airbrush is incomparable for some effects just as a regular paint brush is to well chosen brush strokes. Well chosen brush strokes is an art in and of its self. Same principle applies to using an airbrush...few master it well. It's my goal in life to be one of those few however, I feel that we never truly master anything in this life, we are only merely craft practitioners at best....some are extremely GOOD ones and some, not so much! 

   On that note, time to get my busy day started....mow grass, trim weeds, work out, make dinner, tend to garden harvest....
I hope whomever reads this has a joyful day and spends part of it 'creatively'! ☺

Kathy...

Busy, busy , busy.....

  Been a busy couple weeks and have not gotten alot of painting done....which makes me ashamed in a way.
It's what I think 'should' be doing however, in the real world, life continues to revolve around my bubble of 'what I want to be doing and where I want to be'...  My art is something I am most proud of, it's like my child. It needs to be nurtured, trained, disciplined, loved and time needs to be spent with it.
Therein lies the rub because it's impossible for me to ignore my real world, the one that keeps spinning around my 'artists bubble'.

   In my real world, I am 'Martha Vila'(splice Martha Stewart with Bob Vila) and today is going to be a busy day! I have to finish the greenhouse I just built to go over my raised pepper bed in hopes that I can extend my season longer so that my Ghost Peppers (Bhut Jaloka) will actually fruit out. They are flowering now. It is up, mostly sheathed excect for the gables, I left that open for ventilation since it's still pretty warm however peppers do LOVE hot weather!
I love growing hot peppers because I make hot sauce, salsas and spice blends. I dry and grind my peppers for this. Some of my friends have become addicted to my 'Jalapeno Salt' blend which is fine by me because I intend to market that baby in the future!
  Today's 'real world' agenda: finish fixing the mower, mow the grass, clean the pool to get it ready for winter, set new sink strainer in kitchen sink, replace deadbolt and door handle at studio, clean house, work out....but, this is all going to take place after I go spend some time in my other world, my artists world, my little serene 'bubble'....

  On today's agenda at my studio: I need to replace my door locks with new ones (old ones are crappy), finish the display base for my art bra that I am donating for Riverbend Cancer Services,  'Bras Around the Bend' auction, finish up on a poppy I am painting for an art trade with an artist friend, finish final sanding the canvases I stretched and gessoed, keep looking over at at my Spanish Market painting and wishing it were done....
My Spanish Market painting is a labor of love but let me tell you, it's the ultimate time vortex...it has sucked up nearly a year of my life!! I have been working on it since last September but not consistently as I have done other projects in that time as well and let 'her' sit, waiting for me to return to 'her'. I am on the homestretch on 'her', applying oil glazes by hand and using my keen eyes to keep telling me what more needs to be done. It takes alot of time but time spent on her is time enjoyed so it's not a bad thing that this giant painting is taking so long to complete.

Spanish Market

 


  Here is where I sort of am currently on the Spanish Market piece. I have gotten some further on her before I set her aside to work on the art bra and the Devlin Poppy.



You can see there is TONS of details in this painting and still much more to do yet but I am getting much closer. I have no time frame and am NOT going to predict when i will be done because my predictions are NOT accurate! I had predicted back in March I would be done, hahaha!
That's okay though since this is not a commission and I am not on deadline. This painting is purely because I can and more of a skill polisher/honer project.

So for now, she will sit aside on one of my other easels until I can come back to her, which will be very soon.
 


                                                                                          

Devlin Poppy

Here is the 'Devlin Poppy' painting for my friend Jason Devlin as he is sculpting me something pretty cool! I am 'hopeful' that I will finish this painting this week but as my 'real world' often throws a monkey wrench into my other worlds optimistic bubble...things don't always happen that way!
At any rate, she'll be done when she is done and Jason is never  quite on time either so he does understand...
I know he certainly understands the 'real world' interfering with the 'art bubble' world you want to spend more time in...






   
   
    I have to say that I am very thankful for all I have thought. I am blessed with a good set of circumstances that allow me to have two worlds to spend time in. It does not come without some sacrifices however. Time in the real world is sacrificed to allow me to have time in my bubble..That bubble time is blissful, peaceful and a happy place to go to! (now you understand my 'Self Portrait' painting)
So on that note.....I will begin my day and spend the first portion of it blissfully in my bubble, then come back to my real world and get busy, busy, busy!!!