Well THAT first half of the year went fast .......

It seems like the last several months went by in a blur and I'm not sure what the next half of the year holds for me. I'm sure I have a million thoughts about it but I just don't feel like pondering them today. I do however want to share some of the painting I've been doing. I took a workshop from a friend of mine, Linda Knoll, the other day and she took us through the art of using masking fluid. It's kind of a fun thing - you paint white rubbery liquid onto white watercolor paper and then when it is dry, you paint color over the top of it. The idea is to protect the white bits of paper where your subject hopefully lies. After you feel there is enough color or color that you want on your paper, you wait for it to dry..... always with the drying when you're doing watercolor.......I'm amazed that I'm patient enough...... when all is dry you rub the rubbery stuff off and you're left with white spaces. Sort of a 'negative space' thing.



This is the 8 x 10 piece I worked on at the workshop.



Linda, though she starts her workshop off with "Well, I'm no expert (in watercolor) but I'll share with you some things I know..." knows a lot and it was fun and informative to work and listen and try different things. One of the things we covered was the different kinds of paper - paper is not just paper! No, no, no. Really good watercolor paper is 300 lb paper and I found that I like 'cold press' 300 lb rough watercolor paper. It's also probably the most expensive - pricing in at right around $8-10 a sheet. But it's also the paper that achieves the best results in that it offers uneven surfaces that allow more or less color saturation. I like watercolor in that it has that nice fluid, dreamy kind of feel, but I like my colors fairly saturated and intense which requires repeat layers of color with drying time between each layer. With a lesser grade of paper you can't really do that because the paper just will not hold up - and just when you think you're achieving something good the paper hits it's saturation point and from there on out you're only going to get a muddy looking mess. Really!

Did I say I wasn't going to talk much?  I hope that I wasn't snoring/boring but really, if you've not tried any of these things you really should. It's quite interesting. And for me - it's just one more thing that I cannot control but will make every effort I can to achieve some success.

This is a 5.5 x 7.5" done on 140 lb paper.



Another 5.5 x 7.5" on 140 lb paper.
I love this one!



These several paintings that I'm posting today were done after the workshop last week and are for sale. If interested just email me. They're quite affordable.

One other thing that I'm doing or attempting to do is to offer children's art classes or workshops for the summer. I've got signs out in my area of town so we'll see how that goes.

I've got another little idea up my sleeve, some tiny, self-matted greeting cards......but that's for another day. Soon. 

K



5.5 x 7.5 fun little sunflowers. Also on 140 lb paper.

The fascinating thing about watercolor is
the way the colors flow into each other
in a way you probably don't expect.
5.5 x 7.5" on 140 lb paper.

Today's Update

Completed - I'm not touching it anymore.

These pictures are of the same chair, one of the Adirondack's that we bought a few years ago. It took us months to get them all put together. Then it took me FOREVER to get them primered and start painting. I think they were like the big scary blank canvas, or the blank sheet of paper that face artists or writers. You know, we kind of circle around those things until BAM - something hits and sticks and we're fast and furious at work because we've got a thought.

With all of my frantic brain activity - between our daughter getting married, Rosie the Nut Job dog, me with my backwards de-cluttering and my crazy tutoring schedule that's winding down - I had to do something that would just help me decompress. So on Saturday and Sunday the days were so beautiful that I just had to sit and do something that would be my little 'valium' in the midst of the craziness. And now I feel so much better.

I still have to paint the underneath and then seal it all but I can't wait to get to the next chair. It will be my reward for plowing through 7 boxes when I get back home today after tutoring. Yay!!!

K



Close view



First draft - before the blue.

Busy Keeping My Hands Busy

Here are some fun things I've brought out of the kiln.
I like working small. I like being able to have a lump of clay in my hand, not too small, not too large but something that I can watch turn into something right before my eyes. Some are simple - a little bowl for rings or salt, or a tiny Barbie cake, or bracelets. Or a tiny bird. I never know. I wait for the clay to tell me.
Here is a sampling of what it was telling me a few months ago.

I don't know if I actually like persimmons but I am fascinated by their form and color AND because I was watching a Heul Howser program on PBS about a farm in Granite Bay California at Otow Orchard and I fell in love with them. The history and how this family has dried persimmons for years in this painstaking, handworked process. You'll have to look it up online and watch it. It's fascinating. Anyway, that's the story on the persimmons - so I made some and I think they turned out pretty neat. I won't talk this much about everything.

The persimmons are hollow and fit in the palm of

your hand. Ceramic stoneware. Fired twice.

And I did a couple of funny little birds...





Clown Bird















And this funny dog.



And this tiny bowl - I love little birds. This is about 3 inches across.


That's it for me for now.

K

Oh and one more - oh.....two. No three more things.
I was stuck on very small pinch pots and these a sort of a nice
creamy color. Fired with only a clear glaze and tiny handmade
flowers. Great for rings. Tiny things.



Okay......she's the last one. I'm not sure what her name is yet.



A Painting A Day - Check In

YES, HERE I AM......!

Checking in again..........here's the bits of progress I'm making on Annie. I snatch bits of time in the evening and sometimes in the morning just before I dash out. Sometimes even dropping in my chair for a couple of minutes with my arm bundled with books, the other with my purse. I wonder if I had a better plan, a more cohesive schedule if I would be any better or if that's just how I think - in layers and when one peeks through THAT'S the one that gets my attention for the moment. Thank Goodness there's just the right spot for all of us no matter how we think. Anyway - here's "Hi, my name is Annie." She's not done, she is in progress.

And......on a side note, here's the progress with our "puppy" Rosie........
Rosie is accumulating many nicknames - Rosie the Crazy Dog, which my mother cautioned me could become a self-fulfilling prophecy so I'm trying to break myself of calling her that.........
Rosie Perez (also slightly crazy connotation)
Rosie the Big Black Dog (could get us sued by Clifford for using "the" and "Big")
Rosie ConsueloGarciaTeQueiroMiPerro (I don't know why we think she's of Latin descent)
Rosie the Flightless Bird (No - we never, ever throw her)
Rosie PeeBody
Rosie PeePee     - seriously? Must I explain?  In any case, she's now six months old I believe......and she still thinks she's the puppy that sat on my lap on the way home when we went to get her - so when she jumps on our beds to sleep with us at night she still likes to sit on us until we shover her off. But that IS a way I like to wake Gabe up for school in the morning.....she is relentless in stomping on him and finding him even when he tries to hide under his blankets. Good dog !  Rosie the Good Morning Dog!

A Painting A Day - Spring Brings New Committment

     The days are beautiful, these few Spring days. Of course on the heels of these few days is SUMMER! Quite literally I'm afraid. I'm always amazed, though I've been here for years now, that in the Central Valley (of California) we do experience all four seasons, but the lovely Spring and Autumn days seem to be sandwiched between bold and aggressive taking-much-more-time-than-they-deserve Summer and Winter. In any case I love Spring and I embrace it's feeling of renewal and creativity. Off with the flannel sheets and on with the crisp feel of cotton. Off with hibernation mode and out to the potters wheel and the sunshine. I've picked up my favorite fine line pens and my wonderful colors of "stuff" that I color with.......and I'm ready !

So - I started a little girl - this is what I have so far. I drew until my eyes just got tired of seeing last night. And today is full of it's own busyness (is that a word?) so my treat, at the end of a long, four-tutoring-session day will be coming back to it... it needs much, much work.

And here's a sneak peek at something I've been working on with my clay.......very sneak peek...shhh.

Meet My Dog Spot!

And "I'm just a Party Animal."

Fun, huh? I thought so!

K

Good Morning Sun.......

A beautiful friend of mine is having a long awaited baby. The couple has found out that he'll be a boy and they're anxiously awaiting his arrival.

This is my contribution to the baby shower... is it weird to give art to celebrate the arrival rather than the normally gifted diapers, Onesies, blankie, Binkies and rattles? I wonder. I hope not. I celebrate the impractical a lot of the time. Can you tell?

Welcome Baby Renner!  You couldn't find two more wonderful, more happy parents!

Love,

Kathi

THE HAPPY SIGHTS OF SPRING!

It's almost the end of March... I've got one more day to tie up things I need to do in this month....probably not going to happen though.

I had nothing (to speak of) to do for the longest time but then in the last few months and this one in particular things have just exploded and I'm all over the place, all the time. Literally!

Classes for the Stanislaus Arts Council have been MANY!  Esther has kept me hopping with the elementary schools and I've been loving it. Just about every week I'm off to a second or third grade class to do something wonderful with the most appreciative tiny audiences ever. Today was SPRINGTIME MURAL Day at a local school ... so because this is our fourth (and final) day of doing Spring Art, I decided to take the class out to paint on the side of the school - on paper of course. Here are some of the shots I snapped while the kids worked.


Students working cooperatively - SWEET!



One student's amazing power of concentration.......... the flower

turned out black but it wasn't because he wasn't concentrating.



"Do I use THAT water?"

For the most part everyone painted with peaceful co-existence........ except when someone thought another's flower needed something more. But still..... if we haven't figured it out as adults .... ?


So ......  oh yes......and I'm still tutoring, fast and furious until May.  And...

I've got a young people's (8-12) clay class that just started yesterday which is sure to be fun for all of us.  Kids are so funny too! I had one young person tell me that she remembered SO much from her "first ceramic course," - which was in kindergarten! I'll have pictures from their work as soon as we get producing.

And the college is gearing up for Kids Summer Camps so I've got things in the works.

Kate

Oh Look! I'm Back.

I actually DO have something to share. When I had a "real" job - one that I went to every day - I played "Show and Tell" with my co-workers bringing in whatever I was crazily working on the week, day or night before. I loved getting the feedback, but now, since I work all over the place, I don't really have that much input because my audience is very limited and I can't be dragging in something I made to almost-strangers' homes. They'd think I was either crazy or seriously neurotic.

So.....all of you, (somewhere between 6 and 40 people who get this blog), you ARE my audience. You are my people.

Here is my share for the day -  This is a platter that I brought home last night from the clay class that I'm teaching. I  love the glaze I used. It's a Phoenix base glaze with Tizzy Blue glaze poured over it in some areas. It measures 14" x 12" x 2".

I am making more and have two drying even as we speak. It's shallow so it's not a spaghetti bowl, but it would be good for bread and beautiful for appetizers.... I may even make a sort of round one for a cake plate......be gone you perfectly round, perfectly normal, perfectly average cake plates!

Same large platter, different angles.

What do you think?


K

I'm Checking In While It's Still February

I cannot believe that my trees are once again in almost full blossom. A year has gone by so quickly.
Art? Not much to show, in fact, I've got nothing at the moment but I have been asked by two women close to me for 1) illustrations for her children's book; and 2) a friend of mine was so taken with the Chicken Girls that she has written a story for the gals and when she's roughed it all out she wants me to make the girls come alive. That's in the works.

Now my list. I went from puttering around last year and angsting and wringing my hands over what was to become of me if I couldn't find work and what if I can only find a boring job, and OMG there's nothing out there to a List. What do you think I've picked to do?

1.  In-home tutoring for at-risk kids in some of the poorer parts of town
2.  Teaching basic pottery to adults at the local college
3.  Sewing/putting together quilts for our church's Women's Ministry twice a month
4.  Making designer cupcakes for some music festivals in a local Gold Rush town
5.  Volunteering at our local library once or twice a month just because
6.  Going to local elementary schools to teach single art classes, one class at a time
7.  Making small and lap quilts with my friend to sell to support our annual Girl Trip
8.  Nailing down illustrations (in my head) for the Chicken Girls
9.  Making the wedding cakes for my daughter's upcoming wedding
10. Creating my own line of pottery bowls
11. Handquilting a lap quilt because I loved the geranium print that I saw on a piece of fabric and had to get it.
12. Spare time reading of "The Friday Night Knitting Club," ... I don't think it's new but it's new to me and I'm loving every page.

So...what do you think I'm involved in?

And here is a picture of "Rosie The Dog."  I think she's pretty smart but when I saw her outside my kitchen window this morning sticking her head in one of my cone shaped metal buckets and then walking around the yard with it over her face......I was seriously wondering.


And by the way......I'm doing them all.

K

Happy New Year, I Think It's Going To Be A Good One

Before I let this New Year get away from me I thought I should update everyone. It's a bit of a ramble so if you're not into self-reflection, close this email now and save yourself.

Last year was a bit of a bummer. I have been blessed with the ability to see good in most things and it was a real challenge for just about the whole year. I am always of the opinion that in every difficult thing there are things to be learned and things to be thankful for and challenges should always give us the opportunity to change our perspective - maybe we just aren't perceiving things in the correct way; maybe we're just not "getting it." Certainly we have to be open to the idea that we could just be 'wrong' sometimes - because really, we don't get to be 'right' all the time. It just doesn't work that way.

Anyway --- I spent the year trying to figure things out, trying to find work, trying to be artistic in whatever way came to me. There were some successes, some things that worked and some things that didn't - and there were even some things that worked that I didn't really want to but I'm grateful for what I learned, I think. I found out a lot about me. It was a struggle, I was broke, I had to streamline, I had to ask for help, my dog died, and after sending out what seemed like a zillion resumes (complete with attached embarrassingly good recommendations) I got less than a handful of replies. What the heck was wrong with me? Am I too old, too fat, too forward, too bossy? They couldn't possibly know these things without actually meeting me so I was perplexed.

In this I have found that it's a bit of a challenge to handle everything, every situation with grace, but I must. At the same time I must be grateful for every trial because it brings me to the realization that I'm made of strength and fortitude, kindness and compassion but at the same time I'm pretty much a no 'baloney' zone. Do not take my kindness for weakness. I have talents that I love and while I was wondering if I would ever find work that would use those I was also aware that I wasn't getting called for ANY of the office skills that I have either. So why not wait for the stuff I love? Not that there was much choice anyway.

Not knowing the future and then with the loss of our PERFECT FAMILY DOG, BEST GIRL EVER, the year seemed like it really punched me in the gut......BUT... we don't get to choose what happens around us. Things around us are always going to be out of our control for the most part.....all I can do is choose how graceful I will embrace life's circumstances and how I will allow it to affect me.

On to the new year........we've had a new puppy, Rosie, for about three weeks. She's certainly not the best dog ever yet......because she's basically an insane chewing, biting, pottying monster, but she's got potential and when she settles down she can be really sweet.        

I've been hired by a tutoring outfit out of Fresno to tutor reading/literacy and to oversee the tutors in our area and handle the administrative paperwork. Forty students in our area will receive this service in an effort to bring them up one whole grade level before the end of this school year. 

I've got a community education class that I'll be teaching - Fun with Ceramic Clay, that will be offered on Tuesday evenings for adults, and in the next session there will be two back to back clay classes for youth.

AND - I've been booked for several children's art classes by the Stanislaus Arts Council - one of the classes will be to teach Van Gogh to 100 first graders!  Not all at the same time, but I cannot wait to see the results of that class...... and Picasso to four classes of third graders. I'm over the moon!

I'm going to try to work in a couple of mornings a month to volunteer at our local library and maybe the McHenry Mansion gift store.

So.... I made it through the year and I'm looking forward to this new year that is just teeming with new prospects, new ideas, new things to challenge me. I was blessed to have found so very much love and support from my family and friends this past year, and from people I don't even know - that it really kept me uplifted while I tried my hand at many things.

Life is full and I am blessed.

More later.

K