Merry Christmas .......

No Painting Today

 For those who know us, it is a sad, sad day at our house. We've just lost the Best Dog EVER......our beloved family friend, always with a smile on her face. She was beautiful, intimidating to those who didn't know her, and a 100 lb lap dog to us. She walked with my husband through some of his most difficult times, played hide and seek at the park, and would play tag with Gabe. We are ever grateful for the time she got to spend with us and we lost her much too soon. She was never "just a dog," she was part of our family and we will mourn her loss.

K

A Painting A Day.....Gratitude

Blessings are all around and for that I am ever grateful.

K

The Girls giving thanks.

And then there are the Dancing Queens at the barr.

A Painting A Day - Girls Gone Wild!

I don't know quite what to name these girls. When I started my first thought was Black Friday and the little hens are running to hit the stores early....but I have no reference to stores in the drawing.......so now they're just busy little hens running around, wildly, like hens do. I added the little cape, the purses, and coins aflying just for fun. It's not like I don't have 10 other things to be doing but these chicks just would not stop talking until I finished them. Sheesh...... oh.....and look..... they had a pedicure before they went out. They're SO funny!

It's fun to try a challenge - I didn't know that I could even draw a chicken until one of my sisters asked me to do a rooster. They're a little whimsical, a little funny sort of cartoony bit of fun. I think I'm leaning toward "Girls Gone Wild." What do you think?

The piece is 7 x 12 inches and will need to have a mat custom cut before framing.  More later.   ~K

Waiting on Thanksgiving.......and a little art

 

















My sister wanted a drawing of a rooster so I did these.......and of course there's things we both really like about BOTH of them......now I want to do another couple of them just to see how different they come out.  A little charcoal sketch, some water color and then a once over with black ink to accentuate a little bit and we're in the barn yard.
We think they're girl roosters - even though I know that THAT isn't right.  Anyway - HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

K

Two New Things

I'm trying to discipline myself. I'll post a little more often, and talk less! I won't get behind and I won't take up a bunch of your time. It's Show-and-Tell with less commentary. If you're interested in a piece please don't hesitate to message me at DreamrKate@yahoo.com.


Two things - 1)   A New Street in Town, a new clay piece for sale. It's about 8 inches long, 5 inches high.

2) Fabric patch or Tiny Art Quilt? You can frame it or wear it. You decide. The piece is sewn to a 7.5 inch square piece of lovely, nubby muslin. The patch itself is 4.5 x 5.5 inches.

Thanks for looking.

K

Art of the Day - or the last few anyway

A few years ago I became really interested in art quilts. I had some time and sat down with my sewing machine and a pile of pieces and came up with several fun pieces. This is one of them. It sat, neglected, for the last couple of years and I've recently picked it back up to add embellishment. The piece is 29" x 21". I think it's going to be really nice when I'm finished.

Above is the whole piece. Below are close-ups showing the French knots and beads I've been adding to the vines and the sky.
It's a nice change from the other things I've been doing. Hand work is always relaxing to me. When I've finished embellishing this piece I'll add  strips of solid color and a hanging sleeve so it will probably be a wall hanging.

That's all for now.

K

Keeping Busy - If It's Not One Thing, Certainly It Will Be Another

On to the sharing. I'll be putting these things up on Etsy soon.

This is a tiny dish, 3 inches only. It's perfectly suitable for rings or other tiny treasures. Fired twice with a blue stain and clear glaze that makes it dishwasher and food safe. I would suppose you could put tiny cupcakes in
here.....but why? Great stocking stuffer!

$8, tiny LOVE dish.

These are my two blocks.. one seems more city the other seems a little more suburban. The top street is about 12 inches long, and almost 5 inches high at the tallest building.

$35, foot long city block.

 The next one is a road. It heads out to the woods as you can see by the growing number of trees and quaint small houses. Both are glazed once to bisque 04, and then underglazed, glazed and fired again. I think the next ones I do I'll give street names... like Prosperity Drive.... or Hope Road .... and Happiness Circle. Yes.

I think I like those names. Check back.

$30, road to the woods.

I've Been A Bit AWOL

It's not that I've not been painting because I sure have, in fact, I'll show you a few pieces of what I've been doing. T-shirts of different varieties have consumed my time and it's been fun, but I think I'm starting to wind out of that and back to working on paper and canvas. Painting on fabric is a bit more tedious because the paint really needs to be "in" the fabric and you lose some of the freedom that you have with painting on a regular surface. So... there's a season for everything. This one may be slowing down.

Here are some things I've been working on and some pieces that are for sale and may or may not be going with me to the Art &Wine Festival this Saturday in Modesto. Email me at DreamrKate@yahoo.com for purchase information.

This is a 4x10" watercolor in a glass clip frame.

And this is a

4x10" watercolor,

again, in a glass clip

frame.

This - same thing, different picture.

I love these glass frames. They're very different and add just a little bit of a pop to a shelf or a small wall.

Another 4x10" watercolor, 140 lb paper, glass frame. These will be for sale for $18 each. They're perfect gifts - the flowers that stay fresh forever! How perfect is that?  And they aren't JUST watercolors, they're watercolor, ink and oil pastels. Just so you know.

So.... here are a couple of watercolors that I just love.  They reminded me of ballerinas for some reason....

The paintings are 5x7" in 8x10" mats - which means you would want to get a frame that accomodates an 8x10" picture. I would have made them bigger on the page but for some reason when I do that everything gets out of whack.  These will be for sale at $25 each.

And last - are a few pictures of the t-shirts that I've been having fun painting.  No time for the ceramics right now but I'll post those after they've had their kiln time.

Last, and certainly not least - one of my favorite kids shirts.  Thank you so much for looking!

Kate

Painting Each Day

My newest favorite! 10 x 10, acrylic on canvas. Sold, $55. More art below.

There are only so many hours in a day, but I can seriously spend 20 of those creating something. I rarely run out of ideas that I want to try - I'm wondering if it's an addiction....if it's my little way of controlling my environment. My studio is my coffee table, which my family has pretty much given up seeing, and since my children are pretty much grown and busy with their own thing, I've laid claim to the dining room table as well. In my defense, if I should need one, they weren't using it anyway, and when the whole family converges, I put everything away for a day and we look like the Cleavers having dinner..... sort of.

CLASSES -

I will be offering a couple of three-session classes, for children and maybe adults should there be an interest. The first one will be "Mixed Media Sunflowers" - and will consist of three two-hour sessions and will cost $55 which includes supplies. One session will be watercolor and we'll cover some basics there before we begin, another will be acrylics, and the next will be either oil pastels or paper mosaic - we'll see. We'll cover design and composition and turn out three wonderful pieces of art.

Another class will be "Creating a Handbuilt Clay Treasure Container."  Just like it sounds, we'll take regular stoneware clay, get a little bit messy, and form, measure and fashion with our hands a small container and lid. This class will need to be one session per week to assure enough time for our containers to dry, be glazed and fired. Sessions will be two hours, one day per week for four sessions, and will cost $60.

"Christmas Craftiness" - will begin mid-September. The two hour sessions will be offered each week and last until December. Each session will be $15 and we'll create something different each week. I'm still working on a list of things, but we'll paint shirts, create holiday cards and gift wrap, make paper beads and maybe even clay ones........like I said, I'm still working on the list but it will be fun, and it's a great time for parents to think about doing some shopping or just going out to have a lunch without kids for a bit. I'm a mom of four - I know!

If there is interest I may hold after school arts/crafts sessions from 3-5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday.
For more information, days and location, email me at DreamrKate@yahoo.com and I'll give you my number and more information.

In the meantime here's what I've been creating.

Kate

I just finished this yesterday, it flew into someones arms today. Sold, $20, Orangish roses.

This was a fun little project, completely recycled. Sold, $35.

This is a piece of canvas that screamed, "Add hippy beads to MEeeeeee." And so I did. It's going to be upcycled into a tote bag.

A very special order that seems to spur other orders, for which I am very grateful, both for the order and for the opportunity to tell this woman's testimony!  Sold, $20.

Large, 100% cotton t-shirt. $20. Beautiful blue sunflower/daisies. "CityGirl" is sold, sorry.

Large, 100 % cotton t-shirt, $20.

She's sold.......I have no more faces........I have to dig inside my brain to find out who else is in there.....more to come.

I actually still paint on canvas too! I'm very prolific. The top painting, an 18 x 24, was purchased with a companion piece. SOLD, $150.

"WipeOut" girl barely got hung up this morning before she was snatched up. I love that people LOVE the ladies!

Tomorrow I'm going to share with you some of the other wonderful sites and things I've found online!

Kate

I'm Still Painting Every Day - just not what you'd think

I'll be doing some work on this website because it's been brought to my attention that some of the links don't function properly. I apologize and I'll be working to correct it in the next few days.

In the meantime I'll leave you with a few pictures of things I've been doing. I'll be going back to the painting on paper and/or canvas very soon.

Kate

Hmmm......I wonder if I've timed out.....some days it seems like everything I do takes forever.

This is one side of what will become a canvas tote bag... I think. It's 14" x 17" and I've got two panels so I've not been able to decide if the bag should have two painted sides or just one with blank canvas on the other side. Any thoughts? I can't decide.

The next little piece is a close up of the flower, followed by the other panel.

Here are a couple of the shirts I've been painting. One of them is for my friend Connie who wanted "God Still Does Miracles" on the front - she and her husband survived a horrible, horrible car accident a couple of years ago and she was told many, many times that her husband had no possibility of making it - but he did and it's a wonderful testimony!  The others are just girls in my head - BIG Surprise, huh?

I just put her up on my Etsy Shop for sale for $24. Size 14/16.  

Another tank top, going up on Etsy at some point hopefully today. It's a woman's size small, $18.

I've got so much more that I've done but while I was taking these pictures my cameras memory card hit it's peak so I'll have to go back and delete tons of photos before I can begin again, and that's just not on the agenda today. So.......happy looking!

Kate

Hello.....LOOK...

Today I post an actual painting, a real one, on canvas........it felt good to do it.
Not that I'm ending the shirts - I've got some solid ideas for those too but I've got a couple of canvas things to do and it's nice to switch it up a bit.  Posting a couple of pictures. This painting just screams "Joyful" to me. It measures 16" x 20". I love it. One of the other artists with me at the Farmers Market today told me that it's "my" colors. I wouldn't have thought so, but it's happy and so am I so if the colors fit - here I am!

Now, a couple of things from the Farmer's Market...... first, here is Kim. She's a great 'market' supporter and is there almost every day the market is open AND she snatches up almost all the faces I do before anyone gets to see them, but she loves them, loves the uniqueness, and people love to ask her where she gets them so I think she's my own personal walking bilboard!

And a couple of shirts that I did recently. I've done lots more but they're kind of flying off the pop-up right now, so yippee!

More at a later point. I just wanted to check in.

New Painting A Day - Wearable Art

Three Irises......color saturated. And two of my version of Gloriosa Daisies.

"Why NOT," I say.  When discretionary income falls under daily budget-smart scrutiny why not make art more available, more affordable and more useful?

Why NOT wear it? Why NOT make a statement?

I cannot think of one good reason. So, I'm embracing this
little niche in my own way. Take a look. I'm selling
these tees and tanks at the Farmers Market and
I've even been painting on clothes that people
are bringing to me. Again I say, "why not?"
Why not give just a little more life to a
favorite worn shirt or pair of jeans?

How fun!

Prices from $12 - $20; 100 % cotton or 50% cotton/50% polyblend; prewashed, comes to you ready to wear.

Contact me at DreamrKate@yahoo.com
if you'd like something done.

"Rocker Kid", kids large

"Back to the 70s," adult large

Olive Tank with Stars

Orange Flower, kids shirt

Adults Large Tank Top

Adults Small Tank Top