Kath's Corner

2011-09-04T14:58:00.000-04:00

Getting ready for "Hey Day" in Princeton, MA. One of my students took me to Farm Day where she and I painted at Stimson Farm. Took lots of pictures while I was there to paint when I got home. Here are some of the results.

age 60

2011-07-20T14:31:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone:
Have been busy painting up a storm!!!! Not really a storm - just feels like it. I had a pile of paintings that just didn't quite do what I wanted them to do. 10 in fact. So last month I spent re-painting the 10 paintings. LOVE them now.
My 60th birthday was this past June. Just had to do a self-portrait. Hadn't done one since I was 49 so I thought it was time. I was more fun to paint with all my sags and wrinkles. More stories in my face now and not so self-conscious. Painting a self portrait as a 20 year old was horrific!

The hardest part about doing the painting was the setting up and getting started. I was a bit intimidated to do another self-portrait. Now, I can't wait until I'm 70!!!!! Happy Painting.

Springtime additions

2011-05-06T15:17:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone:
Happy Spring. It has come in with a vengeance! Blasts of color here and there, not to mentions blasts of pollen making everyone sneeze. I've managed to finish four paintings in the last few weeks. One is called "Forsythia in a Blue Vase" - straight from my garden, "Wisteria and Birdhouse," "Lake Champlain Shoreline #4," and "Chairs at Tower Hill."
Almost time to cut the grass!! Happy Spring! - Kathy

Some painting don'ts

2011-03-21T15:10:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone:
It's snowing. It's Spring and it's snowing. I refuse to shovel anymore! I just keep telling myself it will melt soon. I actually was enjoying the brown of dead things as opposed the constant blinding white of the snow. Ah New England. So, while I was sitting here wishing it was warmer, I thought I'd pass along some painting info that has worked for me.

For all of you painters out there, here are a couple of "don'ts" to remember in painting...
1. don't use white alone
2. don't use black alone
3. don't use a combination of white and black alone

Why? Because manufactured black and white are quite dead and flat. They need a mixture of color into them to look more natural.

I use Zinc white when I paint because it is a warmer white than Titanium. To that I add another warm color in the yellow, orange or red family, even when I am painting snow. If everything in my world is hit by sunlight and sunlight is warm, I want my paintings to reflect the light of the sun. And I find that I am attracted more to warmth in a painting than I am to cold colors.

I know that many painters refuse to use black, but I learned from my last teacher, Helen Van Wyk, that the use of a proper black adds a wonderful dimension of gray to a painting. I use Ivory Black because it is transparent and does not obliterate a color it is mixed with like Mars and Lamp Black do. Mars and Lamp Black are opaque and will simply muddy a color. Ivory Black mixes well with all the colors of my palette but doesn't muddy the color or overwhelm it.

I can always tell when one of my students has failed to mix some color into their black or white areas of a painting because the black, white or gray looks dead and flat.

I love to remember what Helen Van Wyk told us in her classes..."when in doubt, use gray." Gray, with a bit of color added is often a very good place to start. I discovered a whole new array of colors when I added the gray mixtures to my palette.

I will often mix up two opposite colors and add a touch of Ivory Black to gray and/or darken the mixture. I might use Thalo Green with Indian Red; Burnt Umber and Alizarin Crimson; Thalo Blue and Burnt Sienna and add a touch of Ivory black. It is always amazing to me the variety of shadow colors I can make.

I hope that you are all enjoying Spring and looking forward to the colors it will bring.

It's March

2011-03-11T16:21:00.000-05:00

It's March! Finally!! And I see I haven't posted since January. Must be I was busy shoveling snow. Right now it has been raining and the remaining snow is dirty with squishy mud everywhere. When I wasn't shoveling I did manage to to do a couple of paintings. One I call "Snow Flowers." There is always this sweet little clump of weeds outside my window covered with fluffs of snow. The painting ended up being more abstract but I just loved the color and the paint. I wasn't ready to stop but the painting was. I'm always amazed at how paintings end. Sometimes they take forever and sometimes they are done in the blink of an eye.

The next painting is of a collection of angels that I have in my home. I didn't realize I had so many. It was an interesting experience trying to capture the personalities of each of the five angels. Except for the tall wooded one, these were all gifts from friends. It was a lot of fun but took a bit longer than I realized. My last teacher, Helen Van Wyk, always said, "If you want to learn how to paint, do still life." I can't believe I have more angels waiting to be painted. Actually I'm looking forward to painting my garden flowers again. I'll have to keep busy and keep learning with my still life subjects for a few more weeks. Looking forward to Spring.....

Four paintings in January

2011-01-29T17:50:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone:
Winter has been dumping a ton of snow on us. Thought you might like to see my humble abode before another 10" fell.

The good news is, in spite of shoveling and snow blowing for hours, I've managed to finish a few paintings. The "mini" cardinal and rose breasted grosbeak I have painted before in a larger format. If Monet could paint something 10 times, why can't I? When complaining about our lack of skill and talent, my teacher, Helen Van Wyk would say we just needed to practice more. That's the clue. I'll get better at birds if I just paint more birds. Doesn't matter how long it takes.

I found a couple of old photos (not digitals) that I had taken back in the 90's. I've always loved these two pictures but didn't have the courage to put them into paint. Somehow, being house bound with five feet of snow around me has erased my hesitation. If I put something in front of me - I paint it! The paintings are of a house in Rockport, MA and September in Nantucket. Hope you are all well, warm and painting!

Still life for November

2010-12-20T15:09:00.008-05:00

Baby, it's cold outside!! Glad the studio is warm and toasty. The holidays are here and time is flying by at an ever increasing pace. I've managed to get this still life in. My beloved teacher, Helen Van Wyk, would say - if you want to learn how to paint, do a still life. This pot will drive me to my grave one day. I continue to struggle with "white." However, I just love the challenge of struggling and know that I will one day succeed in capturing what I want the "white" to do. However, I do love this painting and am pleased with the drama of the light. My new set up in the studio gives me a great place to work on still life for the winter.

I also managed to do a couple of little canvas commissions in November of two lovely kitties for my Mom. My Mom is my best patron at 83 years old!!

Wishing you all a very wonderful holiday season. Rest, paint, and enjoy the winter.

The Belly Dancer and The Llama

2010-11-17T16:36:00.004-05:00

Doesn't that sound like some kind of parable?!! It doesn't matter what we paint. It matters that we paint. We learn by painting. The more I paint, the more I learn about painting. When someone asked me why I was painting a llama, my answer was "why not?!!"

The last few weeks have been busy ones and I miss writing in my Blog.

Leaf collecting is a never ending process requiring hours and days in this frantic attempt to get our yards cleaned up before the first snow. There was the trip to Florida for a few days and then there was the purchase of a newer car (my old one was a Honda Civic with 189,500 miles on it). More days and hours getting everything legal.

However, I managed to continue painting - thanks to my students. These paintings are the results of the last few weeks. "The Belly Dancer" was a journey into places I had never been before as a painter. It was a very healing journey and one that I totally enjoyed. I kept hoping that I would find the answers about how to paint things in this portrait. I saw this exquisite dancer three years ago at a benefit and was transported by her dance. It has taken me three years to get up the courage to try to translate the photograph into a painting.

And then there is "Miss Bella." I don't know what it is about llamas - but I just LOVE them!!!! Miss Bella was with her friend Miss Pippa (that could be another painting down the road)at a Hey Day event in Princeton, MA. Now I have a portrait of a llama and a camel. Hmm...I wonder what's next! Right now I'm trying squash. I need to work on my still life skills and I thought a painting of squash from my garden might be a good exercise.
Enjoy painting! and Paint!!!!! - Kathy

Paintings in September

2010-10-06T21:18:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone:
Seems like forever since I've posted on my blog. I'm having a blast with my new bunch of paintings. They are: "Solo Sunflower," "Little House on Grove Street," "Rose of Sharon," "Lake Champlain Shoreline #3," and "Lake Champlain Shoreline #2. Can't wait to start a whole new bunch. The new moon is tomorrow - great time for me to start another 4 or 5. Happy Painting!

Paintings in August

2010-08-23T15:51:00.010-04:00

Hello everyone:
I hope that you all had a wonderful summer. It certainly has gone quickly. I've managed to finish five paintings this month.

The first one is a portrait of my neighbor, Jess, playing at a club in Worcester. I had such a great time playing with those colors.

Then there is "Steps at Garden in the Woods" which is located in Framingham, MA. The light was so lovely this day.

"Lucy's Nap" is another painting of my sweet girl catching some rays.

"Nantucket Number Five" is a painting I could just paint over and over again. This is the 5th rendition.

And the last painting is "Bench at Elm Park" - another place I love to visit.

Maybe now that autumn is close at hand, the rhythm of our weeks will find itself returning to normal - if there is such a word.

More portraits

2010-07-19T14:51:00.002-04:00

I have been on a portrait kick this month. "Red Coal" was done from a photo that I took of my Coal. He was romping on my duvet cover and the red light reflecting onto his fur was just a hoot. I love painting him but it is hard to get a good photo of his blackness. This turned out to be great fun to paint, though a little bit scary to look at.
The second painting is called "Socks." I have always loved the black and white photo that I took of my nephew, Nicholaus, who is now grown with a son of his own. I decided to keep the colors muted when I translated this into paint. He was telling me a very interesting story while he got dressed in his parents kitchen.

Girl with Green Sunglasses

2010-07-06T14:16:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone:
This is a great time of year to be painting in my basement. It's so nice and cool. We don't handle the heat too well here in New England.
I've been digging through my old photographs looking for fun things to paint. I've always taken photos for painting but, in the past, I couldn't quite get them onto canvas.
This painting is from a photo I took of my sister's daughter, Rebecca who is now very grown up and a lawyer. She was all dressed up for playing outdoors in Vermont. I've always found the pose so charming, especially with those sunglasses, and it was a lovely experience to translate her to paint. I'm thinking I need to dig around for some more old photos. Happy Summer!

Lake Champlain Shoreline

2010-06-28T15:32:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone:
My garden is beautiful and, at the moment, it is very hot and humid. Summer is in full swing in New England.

Lately I've been attracted to some unusual ways of looking at things. My latest painting is of the Lake Champlain Shoreline. The shoreline, where I visited in the summers of my youth, was ever changing as it was fed by the Winooski River. The river would carry the carcasses of dead trees and deposit them along the shore. This particular view is from the bicycle/footpath that travels over the mouth of the river as it meets the lake. I enjoyed replicating the light, colors and textures.

Four paintings in May

2010-06-03T16:28:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone:
Where does the time go? Spring is racing away and we are already into June. I've posted four of my new paintings. The first one, "Peonies 2010" was done in a day from the lovely peonies growing everywhere in my garden. To paint them with their perfume all around me is heaven. The second painting, "Rocks and Grape Hyacinths" is from a photo I've been debating about for some time now. I want to do more like this. It's chaos was great fun to paint. The last two,"Adirondack Chair on the Deck" and "Another Red Chair" are perhaps some psychological need for pain. Why chairs? I never know. Something about them intrigued me so - chairs. Hope that you are all having a wonderful Spring!! You can see these and all my paintings (my students' too) on my website www.artkatcards-paintings.com. - Kathy

Some more new paintings

2010-05-07T16:06:00.004-04:00

Spring really does fly quickly here in New England! I've got the yard cleaned up but then the deck needed to be stained. Just as I was sitting down for a rest the grass needed to be cut. And the weeds are laughing at me! That promises to be a two day adventure. Luckily I get to paint with my art students so I have blocks of time where I am forced to paint - a blessing that I am very grateful for.

"Butterfly" I worked from a photo that I took last summer. The rest are all still life of flowers from my garden. You can see the painting process (it took one day) that I use with the lilacs. "My Lilacs," "My Tulips," "Butterfly," and "Forsythia" can be seen on my site at www.artkatcards-paintings.com.

my minis

2010-04-16T11:25:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone:
Life seems to get away from me in the Spring. But, I have been painting and I've just finished a few "minis." They are all 5 x 7 canvas panels and there was something very healing in working on them. Because they are so small, I put them in an old brownie tin and hold them close to me while I paint them. I just noticed that I managed to put red in all but one! Maybe I should have this analyzed.
There is "Red Chair and Arbor," "Backyard Shed," "Sailboat at Bayside," "Lucy and Red Door" and "Lucy on a Blue Rug."
The garden is starting to pop so I am hoping to paint some spring flowers. It is so nice to have color in our world again.

some thoughts on doing portraits

2010-04-08T16:03:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone:
Spring just takes my breath away here in New England - and also consumes a great deal of my energy. There has been all the yard clean-up and today I did a tear around the house trying to eliminate all the crud that I can now see with all our new found light as the sun is higher in the sky. Spring is such a great time to start anew!!!

I've got a couple of students doing portraits at the moment and I thought it might be nice to blog about that. I used to do a lot of portraits and, never having had a teacher to explain things to me, I was quite blind in my attempts to do portrait. But, I am quite stubborn so I won't give up once I have decided upon the character of my painting. I tend to learn the hard way and I also tend to be very slow in my learning so many years go by before I get the AH-HA moment.

Many people think that a portrait is about the features of their subject - eyes, nose and mouth. I too was one of those people until the light dawned somehow and I learned that the best way to get a likeness was to make sure that I had the skull, neck and shoulders right before I even attempted to put in features.

There were a couple of portraits that I worked on. Hours and days went by and I could definitely see that I was close to a likeness but not quite there yet. I twiddled with 1/16" here and 1/16" there making minor adjustments to no avail. And then I discovered that the skull shape was wrong. That took me 5 minutes to fix and I just stood there in shock of how I had been going at this the wrong way. However, once I finally learn a lesson it sticks with me forever. Now when I do a portrait it is not nearly as time consuming or as painful.

If we see an acquaintance at a distance we recognize that acquaintance even though we can't see their features!!! We may not even be aware of their eye color or their nose shape but we recognize them by how they walk, how they hold themselves and by their silhouette. We do not recognize them by their features!!!! The features only occupy 1/4 of the entire skull. If we don't get the tilt of the head, the shape of the skull or the shape of the shoulders - putting features on is not going to create a likeness. Portrait is all about the outside. We should be able to recognize the portrait as the person we are painting - without the features!!! Once we have the portrait of the body, then we can add the icing on the cake.

The first thing that our eyes see in a painting is the last thing that goes into the art work. We have to build a good foundation of paint and shapes before we get to those nitty gritty details. Features are details and they are like a box of chocolates. We want to dive right in and gobble them up.

Features also trigger that nasty left brain that we all have! Portraits are especially triggering to the left brain because of all the symbol possibilities. The left brain is that part of the brain that can't draw or paint. Once it can recognize something, it wants to pop in its very limited symbol of eyes, nose and mouth. We end up with a smiley face instead of a human being.

Once we have the features added, it's a good idea to check the negative spaces around our features to keep the verbal (and sometimes nasty) left brain at bay. Look at the negative space between the nose and mouth, the negative space around the pupils, the negative space between the eye and the eyebrow, the negative space between the edge of the eye and the side of the face. These are the greatest helpers when we are positioning and correcting features. As long as we are looking at negative space (something that has no word to describe it) the nasty left brain can not become engaged.

And here is a thought - why not try a self portrait?!!!! You will certainly learn a lot. Set up a large mirror, one light to create some shadow on your face and start painting. Do a 3/4 view (full view is never very interesting and will send you to an early grave!!). I've done about 5 and it's probably time to do another as I approach 60. On that note I'm off to class! Happy discovering! And Happy Spring! - Kathy

some new paintings

2010-03-12T16:21:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone:
Spring is coming and I've managed to get out and do some yard work!! The sun felt so nice.
I am currently working on a calendar for my Mom's Auer Family Boat House. I've now got all my ducks in a row - or my months. :) Mom has a friend who supplied the last two photographs for me to work from. The first is of my uncle fixing one of the docks later in the day. The second is of the sweet but lately deceased beagles, Ben and Bridgette. I decided that I would put them in doggie heaven so I took some liberties with the photo. I also included where I started so that you could see my progress. This is in Burlington, Vermont on Lake Champlain.
The snow is melting!!!!!

There are no magical answers

2010-03-02T15:59:00.002-05:00

Hi Everyone:
Spring is around the corner and the sun is feeling like sun again. I have daffodils defying the snow! Hope abounds!!
I've been working on a couple of paintings for my Mom's boathouse. I will post them when I am finished.
Just wanted to touch again on the process of painting. Whatever kind of painting you may do - you can read about painting, you can think about painting and someone can tell you about painting - but the ONLY way that you will ever learn how to paint is by actually painting! When someone says to me "....but I don't know what to do!!!" I say back "PAINT!" Painting isn't about having all the answers. Sure, it's nice to plan out your composition and have all your colors ready but until you put your brush to the canvas you will never get any answers. I used to love when my teacher said, "You've got to do it wrong before you can do it right!" That gave me permission to make lots of mistakes. And, along the road, a lot of my mistakes worked out!
Be brave! Make some mistakes. If something doesn't look right or feel right ask yourself "why?" Sitting there whining isn't going to make the painting better. Try a different color. Use a different brush. Does it need more dark? Is it feeling too flat? Painting is a series of corrections and a series of experiments. So many times a student will ask, "If I do this will it be OK?" My answer is, "I don't know! Try it and see." Or, "If I use this color will that work?" My answer again is, "I don't know! Try it and see."
Paint is very forgiving. You can perform lots of surgery on a painting and get everything to work eventually. A lot of effort, patience and determination will give you the results that you are looking for. Painting is always better than not painting. Paint and you will find the answers.

New Little Paintings - finished

2010-02-15T20:13:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone:
I'm just back from the very cold state of Florida!!! It was good to get away but it would have been so nice to have some sun.
Here are my finished mini paintings. I'm happy with the way that they have come out. You can see them on my site ArtkatCards-Paintings.com These are all 5 x 7's - "Julia's Door," "Cat on a Chair," "Fence in Ashland," "Shed and Wagon" and "Wreath and Bell." I loved working on them. It's a new moon!! Time to start some new paintings. Happy painting!

new little works in progress

2010-01-27T17:04:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone:
Our New England weather is progressing as it usually does - lots of cold, lots of snow, lots of rain, a day of 56 degrees and then lots of cold again. I am so excited because it is still light out at 5:00pm!!!

I wanted to do some little 5 x 7's and I am having such a wonderful time with them I thought that I would share their progress. Three are from old photographs that I took years ago. I always have a camera with me and while my photographs don't work as nice photographs, they often work as nice paintings. I've always loved these pictures and have felt drawn to paint them but couldn't get myself to do them on a larger canvas. The little panels seem just perfect.

The first painting is from an old photo taken just as Spring was almost upon us. The second is of a home where I used to work. Every Spring I would fall in love with their Dogwood trees. The last two are of a Shed door with a bell and my cat Lucy. I am fascinated by the shapes in these last two paintings.

The 5 x 7 panels are so small that I use an old brownie pan to hold each panel as I paint. It's a bit more intimate as I am holding the painting instead of sitting away from it. Happy painting!

Slashing the Canvas

2010-01-19T14:36:00.002-05:00

The artist’s goal in the process of painting is to allow the artwork to grow. The attempt to perfect each part of the artwork often ends with the artwork's death.

From the very first moment that I started painting all I ever heard from any of my art teachers was to relax with the brush, try not to get to tight and keep the paint and the brush strokes flowing and free. Easier said than done. One of the constant companions of the beginning artist is often fear. And it is that fear that prevents the new artist from painting expressively. We tighten up and our brush work reflects that. And then we fall in love - with our canvas or some part of our canvas. That is the kiss of death for a painting because now we are so in love we can't change or move anything. And, as the painting grows, it must remain flexible. We have to be ready at any time to move something or take something out in order that the painting may work as a whole.

In many art schools, even in this day and age, there is a horrific custom that is practiced by some art instructors. I was visiting some friends at their summer cottage some years ago and one of their guests was an art professor. He proudly told this story about one of his students. The student had been working on his canvas for quite some time and was having a great deal of difficulty with it. As I recall the story, the student was not receptive the suggestions and comments of this art professor and the student was having a terrible time letting go of some elements of his painting. So, this art professor walked up to the student's canvas, took out a knife and slashed it!!!! Every time that I think of this story my heart just stops and I stop breathing. Better to put the knife in my heart!

While I do think this practice is extremely abusive and I want to know by whose authority this is a good and acceptable method of teaching, I also understand the concept of the exercise. I remember hearing such stories when I was in college from my roommates who were art majors. They explained to me, the fearful beginner, that you can never become so involved emotionally with your painting that you can no longer see it nor be able to make changes. We should always paint as if the painting might be slashed at any moment - always remaining just a little bit removed from the painting process, always ready to start over if the need arises. As my beloved teacher Helen Van Wyk used to say, "If you can't adjust, don't paint!!"

I learned this lesson at one of my first attempts at landscape painting. I wanted to paint outside and I wanted to paint like Monet. I had the painting skills of a web footed monster but that wasn't going to stop me!! My neighbor had a garden with a great variety of plants, shrubs and terraces. What heaven to paint there - and he let me come to paint whenever I liked! So I set up my equipment and was painting second of three paintings. My painting portrayed a house way in the background with a stepping stone walkway leading up to a thick, low brick wall which had a mailbox built into it. I spent hours on the perspective and was quite happy with how things were progressing. At one point I was painting in the brick wall and mailbox. Oh my!!! It was perfect!!! I had never painted anything perfect before!!! I couldn't stop staring this wall and mailbox that I had painted. I loved the brush work, the colors and all the shapes. I fell in love!

But then, in a shining moment of awareness, I saw that I had put the wall and the mailbox in the wrong place in the landscape. My heart stopped and I stopped breathing. How could I ever paint this again? How could I ever make these same colors and get this same effect again? For 20 minutes I was gripped with anxiety. I was paralyzed by my fear and apprehension. I couldn't paint. And then I heard the wee voice in my head - "Just move it!!!! You did it perfect once, you can do it perfect again!!!" So I did! And it did come out perfect again except for the fact that I didn't move it far enough and now I had to make it perfect 3 times in a row!! But I did it. The painting didn't blow up and I didn't dissolve into a pile of poo. Once I let go I was easily able to re-paint my wall and mailbox. I also learned that I would not wait 20 minutes to move something again. I would just do it and spare myself the pain. That moment of holding on almost lost me that painting which I did sell down the road. It was my slashing the canvas moment. I was somehow able to disconnect from my emotional attachment and make a decision that was best for the painting.

Paint is a very forgiving medium. I love to paint because the paint forgives me. I can mess up to my heart's content and then return to the painting with fresh paint, a fresh eye and apply corrections to any part that needs fixing. Nothing is every certain until my painting is signed. My day in the garden was one of the most important lessons that I could have ever learned. I don't know if I could have emotionally survived one of my teachers slashing my canvas. I didn't have the experience at that time or the emotional stability to handle such an attack. I am so grateful that I never had to go through that but every time I paint I think about how I would feel if the painting at my easel was destroyed before my eyes. If my answer is "my life is over I'm going to hell" then I am holding on to tight. If my answer is "I feel bad but I have another canvas in the other room" then I know I am good shape! Happy painting and remember to let go.

2010-01-15T15:55:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone:
We are having a 40 degree day!! What a lovely break from the 20's. Too bad that there isn't any sun! I finished "Mom at the Boat House." I made a few alterations by taking the big "minnow" sign from the right side. It didn't support the composition and now Mom can be the focal point of the painting.
It feels good to be done this last series of 4. Monday I will start a whole new bunch of paintings. The Moon is New today - time to start some new things. Happy painting!!

Mom at the Boat House

2010-01-08T12:10:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone:
It feels great to be back at classes and painting again. But, I have to admit, I did have a wonderful time "playing house" while having a few days off. Just taking some time to sweep away the cobwebs, the dust and move things here and there to give my living space a new look really uplifted my spirit.
Last night I got to work on "Mom at the Boat House." I worked on the grass and spent most of the evening working on the sliding door to the right. I wasn't happy with the first attempt so I wiped it out and started over. And, since I'm leaving out the sand bags (which were there because the waters of Lake Champlain had risen up that far)and the blue tarp in the photo, I've had to re-think about adding a bit of a shadow from the tree on the right. The sun was bright enough to make shadows under the picnic tables and benches so I'm thinking there should be a shadow from that tree as well. Now I need to fix Mom, put the over-hanging tree back in and try to put some lettering on all those signs! I'm hoping to finish this next week. Happy painting!!

Boat Ramp finished

2010-01-05T17:12:00.005-05:00

Hello everyone:
Happy New Year to you all!!! I've been cleaning and organizing and moving things around, visited the mountains of Vermont, sang "Oh Holy Night" and ate wondrous food!! So now it's back to the daily routine and I truly missed painting. I do believe that I finished "Boat Ramp" last night so I wanted to share that with you. This is where the Winooski River empties into Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont. My mother and her brother run the Auer Family Boat House there and this is their boat ramp.

At the moment there is about 36" of snow in Burlington and it is still snowing!! But, Vermonters are very capable of dealing with and enjoying snow.

Hopefully, this will be my last boat picture for a while. Boats look so simple but are endlessly difficult for that reason - they look simple. I find that anything looking "simple" will end up grinding any artist into the ground. So, of the 4 paintings that I started a few weeks ago - I just have one left to finish. Will get on to that tonight!! Off to class.......

Finished and almost finished

2009-12-23T17:11:00.005-05:00

Hello everyone:
I want to wish all of you a wonderful, peaceful and happy holiday - whatever that means to you.
I have finished "The Mouth of the Winooski River." And, I am almost done the "Boat Ramp." Here are the progressions of the last couple of sessions. I'm starting to add the details now. I like to get a good foundation before I add the bits and bobs. Will take a few days off to visit Vermont and maybe collect some winter photos to paint from. I never get tired of seeing the Lake in her many moods and disguises. My best wishes for a productive and creative 2010!!!!

almost finished

2009-12-18T18:05:00.002-05:00

This is just about done. I'm now "tweaking!" Worked on the chairs, the sky, the background trees. Now I need to tap down the flowers on the left and maybe fiddle with the greenery here and there. It's funny how I didn't feel anything about this painting and then, all of a sudden (or so it seemed) it came to life!

on-going work....

2009-12-16T14:59:00.003-05:00

I'm still fighting with the table and I now see that a chair needs tilting. I have some lumps in the background that need to be de-lumped! :) It's all part of the process. A little here. A little there. And slowly, a painting forms. I like it!!!

2009-12-15T13:17:00.002-05:00

I'm put-putting along. These two paintings are finally talking to me! I've really been struggling with getting the "values" right so that things show up. I'm feeling very challenged here - which is great because that means I'm growing some new brain cells!!!! :) Somehow I feel like I've crossed over into some new territory - it doesn't feel familiar but I am happy to be there.

2 paintings in progress

2009-12-09T12:50:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone:
Just got back in from 2 1/2 hours of shoveling wet, heavy snow. GRRRR!! Had to get it done before it starts to rain - making the snow even heavier to move.
So now I can sit at the computer and update you on my works in progress. I'm thinking that the cardinal is finished but I've got more to do on my Mom's Boat House. Sometimes I know what to do and sometimes I don't! That's why it's nice for me to have 4 paintings going at the same time.
It seems with this group of 4 paintings I feel at a loss for what to do next. The answers come eventually but it is a strange feeling. I don't think it's Alzheimer's yet! And, somehow, these paintings are teaching me something - that's why I'm not always sure what to do.
My students still think that artists have a magical connection with the Universe of Artistic Answers. They are often mystified when I am not sure of my path. I like to remember Michelangelo's statement that the figure was already in his block of marble - he just had to find it. I'm there right now with these paintings. The answers are already living in my canvas - I just have to find them. :)
I think this is a good day for knitting my sweater and watching "I Love Lucy!" Be well.

third new painting in progress part 2 - it's the process not the product!

2009-12-03T16:00:00.003-05:00

This is starting to work for me!!! I've been trying to find my way around this painting and it has not been giving me any answers. So many of my students think that they have to be perfect every time that they sit down to paint. I find this attitude to be very distressing, self-defeating and sad. Painting takes work like learning to play an instrument takes work. You don't just wake up and make magic happen.
This painting has brought a lot of challenges to me. That means I'm learning something. Always a good thing! I've done the sky three times already. Wasn't light enough. I've done the grass three times already. Wasn't light enough. It's the process that counts. It's doing it right that counts. It's OK if I do the grass 5 million more times. It's OK if I take a year to finish this. I let the painting talk to me and tell me what it wants. It is a relationship that I do not always have control over. I often feel that I don't know what I am doing! As I have learned to let go of my expectations of my paintings over the years, I have discovered that I paint much easier, much quicker and with much more joy.
I often hear "I want to paint like the great masters!" My answer is then - "you have to paint every day!!" How can we show up for one class once a week and expect to have all our ducks in a row?!!! It's OK if we can only paint once a week - that is better than not painting at all!! For that one moment during the week we suspend our everyday activities and enter the world of problem solving using our right brain (which never gets enough exercise). It's painting (or drawing) for those few hours that is the medicine and the magic. Don't take that magic and healing away by beating yourself up. If you are painting (or drawing) you are winning, you are healing and you are progressing. There is nothing wrong with that. Off to class...

fourth new painting in progress

2009-12-01T16:12:00.005-05:00

Well, I finally got to the 4th painting! The craft shows are behind me and now I can concentrate on other things. Here is the progression of painting #4 "Cardinal." Just couldn't wait to get that red in there.

And then I did some work on "Boat Ramp" last night. Things are moving right along!

third new painting in progress

2009-11-25T15:42:00.003-05:00

This is fun! Here's the 3rd painting that I have going. It's called "Mouth of the Winooski River." This is the spot where the river drains into Lake Champlain - noted to have a Loch Ness Monster called Champ! I had a devil of a time placing that table. That's what's great about doing an underpainting - I can get all the bugs worked out first. Happy Thanksgiving!

second new painting in progress

2009-11-24T15:18:00.004-05:00

Hello again:
While I'm waiting for a gas heater technician to arrive to fix my heater in the cellar (the paint isn't supposed to be peeling off!!!) I thought I'd post my 2nd of 4 paintings that I am currently working on. This one is called "Boat Ramp." It's another view of my mother's Auer Family Boat House. Summer is short in Vermont so people make the most of. Seeing Lake Champlain is one of the things that I miss the most living away from my home state of Vermont.
The water was up quite high in this picture. By the end of summer, the water would have receded beyond the end of the dock. All for now!

new painting in progress

2009-11-23T14:53:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone:
Happy autumn, Thanksgiving, etc. I've been out and about doing some craft shows, teaching some art classes, making cards, painting and trying not to get the swine flu.
Started 4 new paintings. Here's one of them.
My mother (age 82) owns and runs a boat house with her brother Charlie (age 78) at the mouth of the Winooski River where it empties into Lake Champlain, Vermont. My Mom was in a relaxed pose (she is usually very stiff in front of the camera)and I've always loved this picture of her. She sold quite a lot of my art cards and some of my paintings this summer at the Auer Family Boat House. Great work, Mom!!! :)
This is my second sitting at this painting. You didn't get to see the black and white acrylic underneath. I had some serious perspective adjusting to do today. And, I decided to leave out all the sandbags!
Lake Champlain rises in the Spring and recedes in the fall. Sometimes, if the mountains get a ton of snow and/or rain, the water level rises all the way up to the Boat House - hence the sandbags in the photo. It is amazing that the building (from the 1920's) is still standing. Mom and her brother sell penny candy, rent boats and sell bait. They enjoy customers from all over the world! I'll be posting my "New Paintings" progress in further blogs and there will be another painting of the "Boat House".
Happy painting! More later.......

Last two Belly Dancers

2009-11-13T21:30:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone!
Just finished my last 2 belly dancers making a total of 12. Just finished putting them all together to make a belly dancing calendar! What a hoot. You can check out all 12 at my site:
http://www.artkatcards-paintings.com/Belly%20Dancing%20Calendar/Belly_Dancing_Calendar.htm
Here are my last 2 installments......
I'm really going to miss doing these little paintings. Hmmm.....what will I do next
Be well - Kathy

Two more Belly Dancers

2009-11-06T15:21:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone:
I'm on a belly dancer roll!!!! I wonder if that is an actual step! :) I'm doing this series of little 5 x 7 panels of belly dancers. I've got 10 done, just need 2 more for a calendar.
Here are #'s 9 and 10:

Interesting how I've chosen to do mostly reds and pinks. I will have to analyze this further. Happy Autumn! - Kathy

Sometimes you have to let the work do what it wants

2009-10-30T14:45:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone:
Just back from a few days in the heat and humidity of Florida. I missed the cool days and wonderful sleeping weather of New England. My new students are in their 6th week of my 10 week "Beginning Art" course. They've learned about composition, color, and are now into perspective. It is so rewarding to watch everyday people discover the magic and mystery of art. At the first class everyone is timid and terrified. Now my students sit and draw with confidence. Each week they learn a few more skills that make the process of drawing less daunting and more approachable. I wish that I could teach this class everyday!!
For my more advanced students, I want to talk about their painting as an actual life form. Once something is created, it takes on a life of its own. As artists, we create drawings, paintings, sculpture. We may start off with an idea about what the art form should be but often, half way down the road to completion, we hit a snag where we feel that we cannot move forward. I believe it is at this point that the art work has come to life and is now telling us what it wants to be. If we do not hear this voice, if we do not recognize this struggle as a sign to let go of our control and communicate with our work, we may be doomed to be locked in battle with our new art/life form instead of happily creating in harmony.
I learned this valuable lesson from a fellow student in a jewelry class that I was taking many years ago. This young man drew out his design and began fashioning his creation in silver. At first the process went along fine but after a few weeks he just stalled. The bracelet that he was making would not cooperate with his attempts to shape it to his ideas. I watched him week after week locked into a motionless time warp of frustration and disappointment. He kept working and working and the piece became more and more rigid - refusing to bend to his commands. I don't think that he ever finished his piece.
At the same time, I was making a silver bracelet also. I had the basic bracelet underway, the design was going well and I was in the soldering room trying to apply the finished accents of my design. I should never be allowed to play with fire (or electricity) and I managed to melt one of the silver rods into a tiny knob!!!! I stopped breathing for several minutes and assumed that my project was now, after several weeks of grueling work, a total wreck. I returned to my work station and sat in agony staring at my bracelet with the melted knob.
At some point in my distress I saw that the "knob" made a new design on my bracelet. I returned to the soldering room, added a few more "knobs" and was elated with my finished piece even though it no longer was my original design. My finished bracelet was more beautiful than what I had anticipated and I learned that my art work, with my help, had created itself. I now apply this well-learned lesson to my painting. Sometimes we just have to let go of what we want and let the art piece create itself.
By the way, I no longer create silver jewelry. I think I must have been a weapons maker in a past life because most of my silver creations looked like they should be in a dangerous weapons kit for a ninja!!!!
May the art force be with you all. - Kathy

Roni's Teapot

2009-10-22T13:22:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone:
One of my students knows that I love teapots and thought that this would be fun for me to do!!! Just finished last night and now I've got some more belly dancers to do. I'm aiming for 12 - maybe I can make a calendar!!! This makes me 7 teapots. Hmmm...maybe this could be part of a calendar too! Have a feeling these will be for 2011! :) - Kathy

art basics - warm and cool

2009-10-16T14:46:00.005-04:00

Hi everyone:
The temperature of color is coming to mind because we had snow here in Worcester this morning. Gives me the chills. I believe I've written on this before, but sometimes it's nice to hear things again.
Warm colors are:
red, orange and yellow
Cool colors are:
blue, green and purple
In my experience as a painter of still life, portrait and landscape, I find that we are warmed and healed by the warmer colors. It is the warmer colors that draw us to the painting. That is not to say we should never use cool colors. My landscapes are drenched in greens! And my paintings of Lake Champlain are tones of blue!!! How could I live without purple in my life?!!!
Green and purple already have some warm in them. Green is made with yellow and blue. Purple is made with red and blue. But blue is cold. And, I use Thalo Blue which is the coldest and brightest of blues. But, I never use Thalo Blue without adding some warm to it. Contrary to what many believe, I can actually make all the blues from my Thalo. No, I don't recreate the chemical properties - but I make the colors. I'm not a scientist or a chemist. I'm an artist. My teacher Helen van Wyk made all blues using her Thalo and I learned from her.
Sky is warm. It's blue yet it is a warmed blue. Water is blue yet it is a warmed blue. In trying to paint realistically we have to remember that our lovely planet is only ever lit by one light source - our Sun. Anything that is touched by our Sun is warm. I add a wee bit of orange to my blue to make a warm sky. Sometimes I also add purple (which has red in it).

That means snow is warm as well!!! This makes for lots of jokes and laughter in class when I suggest to a student to add a touch of yellow to the snow. No, the snow should not be the color of dog pee!!!! We don't need to add that much yellow. But a tiny bit gives the snow life.
I learn so much from teaching. I've watched students make bluish snow and cool colored shadows. But I've seen and felt the feeling of their paintings change from repelling to inviting by the addition of warm colors in place of the cool or by warming their cool colors. I've seen it over and over and watched my students exclaim at the positive change in their paintings.
One of my students is currently working on a snow scene from a photo that she took last year. Her painting is almost finished. Her snow has a touch of warm in it. Her painting is just beautiful!!!! Her photograph now looks dull and gray compared to her painting which is infused with life.
Another student did a painting of icebergs in Alaska! Her painting is full of warm blues and whites. Still feels like icebergs. Still feels like snow. But it has a warmth that invites and draws the viewer in.

3 Belly dancers

2009-10-15T14:59:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone:
Just finished my monthly crop of paintings. Little ones this time - 5x7's. As some of you know, in my old age I have become a belly dancer. I'm thinking I will do this in my next lifetime when I don't have arthritis anymore. For now, it keeps me moving and gives me lovely things to paint! What I love about belly dancers is that they come in all shapes, sizes, colors and ages. A wonderful celebration of women! - Kathy

Boats

2009-10-02T14:23:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone:
Just finished the "Boats." Boats are deceiving! They look simple but I guess that is the operative word - simple. I have found that anytime I paint or draw something because it looks simple it just ends up being a pathway to hell. But, being a bit of a devil myself - I just keep right on painting. :) Enjoy! - Kathy

Values

2009-09-29T14:41:00.004-04:00

Hello again:
I've been asked to write a bit about "Values." Not the social kind, but the kind that we use in painting and drawing. Values (or tone values) are the dark and light of things. They are produced by our one source of light, the Sun, which travels in a straight line. If we want to paint realistically, we have to follow these principles. We have one source of light in our world, not the 15 or 20 sources of light usually found in a typical classroom!!! I remember one teacher always having 2 spotlights on opposite sides of our model. There was no chance for shadows. It was like having noon day sun - everything was flat and boring.

We live in a world of contrasts - contrasts in texture, color and light. It is these contrasts which make our world and our paintings vital and interesting. My first painting experience in an actual garden (I had been an apartment dweller at the time) brought forth from my mouth the astonished words "OH MY GOD! It's all green!!!!" Well DUH! I definitely needed to get outside more! It was in this garden that I learned that all the green things were actually different tone values of green - some light, some medium and some dark. It was here that I learned a little dark shrub stood out in the garden because it was surrounded by lighter greens. What an epiphany!!

There are 5 basic tone values:
1. Body Tone - the color of the object we are drawing or painting
2. Body Shadow - the shadow on the object we are drawing or painting
(if there is no shadow - you have too many lights on!!!)
3. Cast Shadow - the shadow cast by the object that we are drawing or painting (usually onto the table if you are doing a still life)
4. Reflected Light - the light that bounces back up into our object from another surface (usually the table if you are doing a still life)
5. Highlight - the light that appears on the cancavities and convexities of an object (the things sticking out the farthest and receding the farthest)

These tone values make objects appear real. Beginners tend to make their darks or shadows, too weak. It is the contrast of light and dark that add dimension to our paintings. When the values are too close together, the painting feels flat and one-dimensional. When we strengthen our darks and our lights, our paintings take on a 3-dimensional quality.

I am a very slow learner and I don't "get" things right away. My last teacher, Helen van Wyk, gave me this sense of light and dark which brought a new life to my paintings. At every opportunity I was setting up a still life. During one such attempt in my studies I was desperately trying to paint something lighter, using white. Well, I must have added half a tube of white to my painting and the damned thing still wasn't lighter (I told you I was slow)!!!!! I heard a wee small voice in my head saying "...make the surrounding area darker!" Ahhhh!!!! I wasn't making my objects dark enough - so the light would not show up on them.

Ask yourself if the tone value of the color is light, medium or dark in relation to the background. My new painters are learning this. If you want your subject matter to stand out the values cannot be the same. If you are painting a lemon against a dark background, then the yellow that you use would be light. However, this same yellow lemon against a white background would have to be a medium to dark tone value in order for the lemon to show up.

I still struggle with these principles, often when I am trying to put a highlight on something. The only way that the highlight will show up is if the surrounding area is darker than the highlight. Since the highlight is the lightest value, I can't make it lighter.

Isn't it wonderful that we as painters, as artists are always in a state of learning. Every painting that I do teaches me another lesson and makes another light bulb pop in my head.

Happy painting!!! Off to class - Kathy

Done and almost done

2009-09-29T14:33:00.006-04:00

Hi everyone:
The days are beautiful here. The sun is astounding, no more humidity! And we still have leaves. :)
I've finished these 2:
Path at Garden in the Woods -

Chair at Tower Hill

...and this is almost done.

I was going through my stack of photos of what to do next and I have a bunch of belly dancers and kids and abstract landscapes to jump in with. I hope I can get them all done by next Spring!!! :) Happy Autumn!!! - Kathy

what I've been doing

2009-09-15T16:28:00.005-04:00

Hi everyone:
I have been working! Thought you might like to see what I am up to! 3 paintings at once (I think it's either a Gemini thing or an ADD thing) at various stages - but not finished. I'm constantly fascinated by the color and light:
The first is "path at Garden in the Woods"

The second is "chair at Wachusett"

And the third is "boats"

I'd also like to say that it is just splendid that Dianne McNaughton is back with us!!!!

My paintings - catching up

2009-08-04T14:53:00.006-04:00

Hello everyone:
I've been scattered all over the place lately and working on my website has definitely contributed to my grey hair!!!!
I have been painting, teaching and writing, running to shows and traveling to Vermont for the book release "The Art of Lake Champlain" which included one of my paintings. Just got back from Vermont (2nd trip) where I attended my 40th class reunion. Oh my!
So, here are some of my paintings that I have recently completed: "Camel" - I saw this handsome camel at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Rhode Island. How could I not want to paint that face!!!
"Lilacs in a Canning Jar" was done from a bouquet that I picked from my garden. The fragrance was just stunning!
Here is "Pear and Grapes." Fell in love with this silly white bowl! I'll probably have to do a few more white bowl paintings.

I love working from my Dad's photographs. Here is "Sir Winston on the Couch." Mom and Dad were babysitting Sir Winston and this was one of his quiet moments.

And then there is "Autumn at Elm Park." We've got a bug eating a lot of our hardwood trees here in New England. One of my students suggested that I take a bunch of pictures to paint from before all the trees are gone. We had a beautiful Autumn last year.
Stay tuned for more! Hope that you are all having a terrific summer! - Kathy

art basics - why can't I just paint from my head?

2009-07-21T14:19:00.004-04:00

Has it been a whole month since my last blog?!!!! Guess I have been busy with my site and visiting Vermont!
Sometimes I hear my students say "I'm sick of looking at the picture" or "I'm sick of looking at the still life" when they paint. "Why can't I just paint from my head?"
And that is a very good question. If you are a beginner and want to paint something non-representational - then painting from your head is a great idea! However, if you want to make something look real - you have to look. What defines a beginning artist is someone who doesn't have a lot of experience - someone who has not done a lot of seeing. To paint an orange - you have to look at it, smell it, taste it, feel it! You have to become the orange. How does the light hit it at noon or in the morning or in early evening? If you can't answer these questions - you need to look more at oranges. This same principle applies to trees, flowers, faces, rocks, grapes - everything!
If you have painted over 50 paintings and have studied how light hits objects over a period of many years then you are no longer a beginner and, at that point, you can look away from your subject matter.
As I start each Beginning Art class, the first thing I teach my new students is that we can all draw!!!!! What we can't do is see! That would be a result of using our left brains - the part that doesn't want to be bothered with looking. It is only interested in drawing symbols - not real objects.
I remember one of the first painting classes that I taught. I was still learning to paint myself but my students decided that I should teach them what I knew. So I set up a still life of lemons for all of us. Doesn't that sound simple? Lemons. They are round (sort of) and yellow. Hint: anything with the word "simple" in it should also ring a loud "WARNING/DANGER" bell in our heads. Our paintings reflected tennis balls, oranges (yellow ones), kumquats. Everything except lemons.
So how do we paint and draw lemons? The answer is: we look at them. How do we draw a lemon when we can't use color? or an orange? Same answer: we look at them. Yes, oranges, lemons, apples, tennis balls all have a basic round shape - but they are not alike. If we are doing a landscape - how do we present a tree when it's green like everything else in the garden? Same answer: we look at it. Why is it different from the other trees? Its shape, its shadow, its softness or angles, its weight, its age, its droop. Unless you look at this tree - you can't paint this tree.
In my very first foray into painting a landscape many years ago, I set myself up in this lovely garden in Framingham, Ma. I was so excited to be painting outside like the great masters. My car was packed to the brim with all my painting supplies. I set up my easel, laid out my paints and medium, picked up my brush and said with astonished amazement - "Oh my God! everything is green!!!"
Well DUH!!!! This ignorance was the result of living in an apartment for many years.
How did I paint this beautiful garden? I began to look. I saw that some trees where short, some were pointy, some were scraggly, some were fluffy and they all were different shades of green. I had not yet studied with my beloved teacher Helen Van Wyk, so I didn't know about values yet and I didn't have the proper colors to paint with - but I muddled along anyway. I had to look because I wanted to paint this particular garden. I had to put the plants in the right place and the house and the mailbox and the path and all the flowers. I had to look. Without looking I could have never painted that painting.
So, keep on painting, keep on looking and keep looking for things to paint. - Kathy

slashing the canvas

2009-06-24T19:39:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone:
It's been raining here in Massachusetts for days. I expect to see webbing between my toes and fingers soon!
Our attachment to our canvases is much like a death grip on our creativity and artistic spirit. We cannot let go of our treasured line or shape that we have just spent many hours perfecting. When we discover that our treasured line or shape is in the wrong place or is the wrong colour we have a major melt down. We stop breathing because now we have to let go - we have to move something.
Painting is about change. As my beloved teacher, Helen Van Wyk, used to say "If you can't change, don't paint!!!!!" Every brush stroke, every color, every shape and line only work if the whole composition works. Everything must be sacrificed to make the painting complete. And that means our ego too.
I have often heard stories from art teachers and about art teachers who have gone up to a student's treasured art work and slashed it with a knife!!!!! It's always a student who has become so attached to the painting that the student can no longer see the forest for the trees. Can you imagine experiencing something so horrific?!!!! The point that these teachers are trying to make (and this is still common practice in many art schools) is that, if the painter is so attached to the work as to become obsessed and possessive of it, the painter is no longer painting, no longer objective, no longer creative. While I totally disagree with this practice of slashing - I do understand the philosophy behind it. It is good to remember to stay detached.
Imagine in times past when young girls' feet were bound to keep them forever tiny. The feet died and were useless. Being emotionally rigid with a painting essentially does the same thing to the painting - it takes its life away.
Let's all imagine, when we are painting, that our paintings might be slashed soon! This might just give us that bit of detachment that we all so desperately need. - Kathy

Art Basics - You have to paint

2009-06-16T16:40:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone:
As you all know, I am very fond of and very proud of my students. It takes a lot of courage to learn how to do something like art.
When I studied with Helen Van Wyk many years ago, we watched Helen paint. We didn't paint with her - we watched her. She was the first teacher that I ever had who painted for her students. During one lesson Helen turned to us and said "...I am the only one getting better!" What she was saying was that we had to go home and paint!!!!
I hear one of my students say that they need to go look up a particular mixture in a book. Some students find it difficult to make a move without consulting me about the next object or next color to paint. Some students are terrified that they won't be able to make their same color mixture again.
If a student understands composition, understands that big shapes should be done first and if the student has a color chart to refer to like my students do then they have everything at their disposal for executing a completed painting.
So, reading an art book and looking for a color mixture is not going to help - we have to paint. Asking the teacher about every single brush stroke or color is only helping the teacher to be a better painter and problem solver. The reality is that we have to paint to learn how to paint. A painting is a series of problems to solve or, as Helen put it "...a series of corrections."
I have been working on a picture with oars in it. This painting is tricky because I have never painted oars before. I could read about painting oars. I could have someone tell me about painting oars but, the fact is, I have to paint oars to learn how to paint oars!! I might not do them that well because this is my first time painting oars. Helen would tell us that, if we had a hard time painting something, we just needed to paint that object more. Helen painted roses a lot because she felt that she didn't paint roses that well. Monet painted a ton of haystacks and a ton of cathedrals!!!! Didn't Rembrandt paint 72 self portraits?! I'll bet he really got good at portraits after doing so many. The point is that he painted them. It's the doing that will make us better painters. Off to class......Kathy

painting - the beginning is the beginning

2009-06-12T14:40:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone:
The student show has been hung, the reception has been held and my students' work was just awesome. It was so nice to meet all their significant others and their families. It was nice to have faces to put with the stories. Of course I am immensely proud of all of them. How could I not be!?
My more seasoned students, who have a couple of semesters of painting under their belts, are now settling down to the process of painting. They have completed a couple of paintings and understand what to expect - which things come first and why. They are more accepting and less hard on themselves. Their paintings reflect their changed attitudes and new confidence.
I have some newbies coming up in the ranks and it is interesting to watch their levels of stress as compared to my seasoned students (who were going through these same feelings only a semester ago).
It all comes down to our expectations. My beloved teacher Helen van Wyk, when asked how she could paint as well as she did, always said "...it's because I don't expect too much." And as for her results..."You have a 50/50 chance - a mess or a masterpiece!"
The newer students tend to hold their breath, are very rigid in their posture, clutch the brush in a death grip and expect that their painting should be completed in one sitting with complete perfection of all things paint. Then, after their courageous efforts, they beat themselves up for not being perfect. It's painful to watch!
The rest of us sit back, talk about our cats, our spouses, our work, what movies to see, where to go for great painting ideas and our latest adventures with our cars. We still paint but now we have a good time doing it. The painting will get done. It can get done with good humor or with toxic levels of stress. Another one of Helen's quips...."No one cares how much you suffer!" :)
Newbies want the finished product in the first sitting. They measure their success by how finished their painting is - on the first night!!!!! When a cake is baked, we don't look at the batter and say "that looks like crap!!! How can we put candles on that?!!" We accept that it is batter and it is supposed to look that way before we bake it. We expect to purchase the ingredients for our cake, make the batter by measuring out the ingredients, baking it for its alotted time and then adding frosting. Now it is time for candles. That is the process of cake making.
It's the same for sewing. We don't start out with the finished product!!! This is backwards thinking. We have to choose and purchase the fabric, choose and prepare the pattern pieces, press the fabric, pin the pattern to the fabric, cut the fabric, pin the pieces together and begin sewing. That is the process of sewing. If you skip one of the steps - your garment falls apart!
It's the same with building a house - we don't start with the roof!!!!! There is a process, a time frame, steps to follow. Let's hope the building contractor doesn't skip any steps!
And so it goes with painting. The painting needs a foundation first and foremost. That takes time. At this stage we need to judge the painting where it is in the here and now - not where the painting should be. It's like a new love affair - we have just been introduced. Trust in the process, relax your attitude and enjoy the ride. - Kathy

Teacher, teach thyself

2009-06-03T15:11:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I've had a wonderful time blogging about my students and all of their issues. They are so sweet to keep coming up with all these topics for me to write about. But, fair is fair. And they all turned the tables on me the other night!
I have a website www.artkatcards-paintigs.com! Last year, around Christmas time, as my work hours were being cut back, I realized that this was my opportunity to build a website. This could be construed as a profoundly stupid idea since I am lucky that I can figure out how to turn my computer on most days. But, sometimes ignorance is bliss, and I plunged ahead with my building websites books. By July 3rd of 2008, my website was done - built from scratch by me and went live!!!! OMG! A miracle!!! However, there were many things that I knew needed to be done but I didn't have the skill level to make these changes.
The Universe provides!!! A student from long ago offered computer instruction for art classes. I thought that I had died and gone to heaven. She is a professional business woman, website designer and a very patient teacher. Thank-you, Kerry!!! :) So, in February, Kerry comes for her art class and right after I have my computer class. We begin to do all the things on my site that I had wanted to do but couldn't wrap my artist's brain around. And, there is a lot to do!!! Kerry points me in the right direction, fills in the blanks (there are a lot of those in my brain) and I plunge in. The work is not difficult but time consuming and I somehow managed to make 180 pages on my site in the past year - and they all need work!!!!
So, to make a long story short, I am putting in hours every day fixing and re-designing and undoing and reading code and getting frustrated - but, with Kerry's help, always having a wonderful sense of accomplishment. However, one day last week, while working on my own, I couldn't seem to do anything right and, like my own beginners sometimes do, was feeling really stupid and incompetent. Here I was complaining in art class to my students about what an idiot I was and, one by one they explained that if I didn't stop they were going to each hit me with a brick. It seems that I had not read my very own blog that I had written a few days earlier titled "But you have only been drawing and painting for a year!!!"
I was making unfair criticism's about my computer skills - just like my students do about their artistic abilities!!! I am constantly on their case about that because I know how unfair and damaging these attitudes can be to beginners. And, there I was expecting to have all the answers and to solve all the problems with only basic computer skills and not a lot of experience. Here was a good lesson for the teacher to learn!!!! It's a good thing that some of my student's read my blog or I would still be beating myself up - for no good reason! As it is said - teachers teach what they need to learn! Negative self-talk is never good. Letting those negative voices tell us that we are idiots is never good. Looks like I have a bit more work to do in this area. - Kathy

student art show hung

2009-06-01T14:00:00.005-04:00

Announcing the awesome and very cool student art show "Artists of Spring" at the Gale Free Library in Holden, MA. Can I be more proud of my students? I don't think so. They are just totally awesome!!!!! - Kathy

Student art show

2009-05-29T10:15:00.005-04:00

Hi Everyone:
Getting ready for my student art show!!! 17 student pieces - very exciting. With the exception of 2 students (who started at my beginning painting class), all my students started at the non-artist level - Beginning Art. Which means that none of them could draw or paint when they started their classes. They are as young as 16 and as young as 72!! What is exciting is seeing how much they have grown as artists.
I know this will be a very impressive show with all their artwork framed and hanging all together in a lovely room. Our opening is next Saturday and their work will hang until the end of June. Will put some photos up once the show is hung. Off to put things together!! - Kathy
Ps. You can see my students' work at http://www.artkatcards-paintings.com/Studio_Student_Work.htm.

But you have only been drawing and painting a year!

2009-05-12T12:09:00.003-04:00

And now for a more serious blog.
I have the most wonderful students but sometimes they need a reality check. I have two students who started drawing with me about a year ago. They were unable to draw at that first meeting. Now, they can draw and are involved in painting. They are very good. However, this week, they began to become very distraught with their abilities because they could not successfully execute some brush work that they had never done before. It was very convenient that they were both having this melt down at the same time. What an opportunity for a blog!
My belly dancing teacher just did a whole letter on being realistic in our expectations! I'm probably not going to tour with Belly Dancing Superstars and have my own PBS program after dancing for 2 years! And, in a culture that worships youth and skinny - I'm probably not going to be making my living as a belly dancer at 58 years old (in a couple of weeks) and almost 200 lbs!!!! Hello!!! But, that doesn't mean I can't be a really wonderful belly dancer or that I should give up belly dancing.
When I took piano lessons for 3 years, I didn't expect to play at Carnegie Hall! But it didn't mean that I couldn't play really well or that I should give up piano!
When I took ballet in college, I didn't expect to dance with the Bolshoi Ballet!!! But that didn't mean I should stop dancing.
I'm going to do my third art show in another week. I don't expect to sell anything!!!! That's not negative - that is just reality. It is the artist's life. But that doesn't mean I should stop painting. Van Gogh didn't stop painting because he never sold any of his work!! My painting is about what I have learned. It's about how I feel. It's NOT about where I'm going to hang the painting or if I'm going to sell it. It is just simply about DOING the painting. Doing is the operative word here.
And here is another thought....when I played piano, my teacher expected that I practice every day. My belly dancing teacher expects me to practice. How else would I get better!? Isn't it funny how people taking an art class think that they can improve without doing the art work! And, you can really tell the people who are not practicing! They are often the ones using the excuse..."well, I'm not talented!" CRAP!!!!! I hate when people say "oh you can do this because you are so talented!!" CRAP AGAIN!!! I work my ass off! Sorry, but that is the way it is. I dance every day, I paint almost every day. I practice. I do it because it is something I love, something I need, something that I have to do. Not because I'm getting paid. That's the right brain reality - the process, the journey.
Sometimes, in our modern world, we can't practice. Sometimes that is our reality. But don't turn around and say that you are not talented or expect to be able to paint like someone who paints all the time! HELLO!!!!! Here is a really important announcement...YOU'VE GOT TO PAY YOUR DUES!!! You can't show up late, leave early and miss half your classes and expect to be able to paint. If this is all you can do for now - be happy with that. Be realistic. If you have only been painting a year and you have done a few paintings - be realistic - you don't know all the answers yet. And the glorious wonder of painting is that you will never know all the answers. It is the eternal challenge, the eternal call for growth. - Kathy

From my garden....

2009-05-12T12:04:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone!
Just had to snip these lilacs two minutes before class started last night! Wasn't sure if I could pull off this painting and teach too. I wanted to do this 16 x 20 in one session. I miss doing still life and my garden is providing all the material that I could possibly need. I'm not fond of mosquitos and ticks so bringing the garden inside is a real treat! My head was swimming with the fragrance of these flowers. - Kathy

Art basics - try things

2009-05-04T15:25:00.003-04:00

I think that we've talked about this before but, as a student, I needed to hear things over and over in many ways, so I'll go at this again.
The creative process is not about knowing the answers before you begin. If you are dancing, you can't learn the dance in your head - you have to dance. If you are singing, you can't learn the song in your head - you have to sing it. If you are painting, you can't do the painting in your head - you have to paint it.
Creativity requires risk taking. It requires problem solving. Yes, you can figure somethings out in your head but creativity involves interaction - with music, with paint, with food (if you are cooking), with gardens (if you are gardening).
So many beginners think that a more experienced artist has all the answers before they start. That simply is not true. I may know what I want to paint and what sized canvas I want to use but once the "process" starts don't have a clue!!!! I have to try the color, try the brush stroke, try the mixture, fix the composition. The answers come as I go along. Sometimes, the answers that I need don't come along until the next painting!
If you don't know what color to use - just try something! If it's not right, you can always change it. Paintings aren't set in stone. They look better with more paint on them. Many of my student's are always asking "what do I do next?!!" I'm thinking of having an entire week of classes where I don't answer any of those questions. My advice is always the same - "Get away from your painting!" or "Use your mirror!" Funny how everyone seems to find their answers when they get away.
Beginners have a higher fear level. They just don't have the experience yet that allows them to know the paint will forgive them.
Painting seems to be the best place to make mistakes. The more mistakes that I make - the more I learn. The more I learn - the more my confidence and ability grows. It's lifelong! Make those mistakes!!!! Take those chances and try things! - Kathy

The rooster

2009-05-04T15:13:00.004-04:00

Hello all:
This was fun. My students often inspire me and many have been painting animals. Elizabeth is doing an awesome rooster and, when the opportunity presented itself, I had to do a rooster as well.
I was visiting Greenhill Park in Worcester, MA with a friend. In the park there is a little animal section. After we passed the hen house and I took a few photos of this handsome dude, he began to stalk us around the entire compound. Apparently this rooster is allowed free range of the animal enclosure and he proudly strutted his abiltiy to roam in front of the caged peacocks. He managed to stand and preen about an inch short of their pecking beaks. What a ham!!! I loved the play of light and dark in this little painting. - Kathy

Art Basics - Try to enjoy the process

2009-04-29T15:49:00.003-04:00

Well, since I'm here, I might as well write something about art as well as belly dancing!
I think the one thing about being creative is our passion. Passion for our painting, for our dancing, for our music. We are alive in our passion. Here is our bliss.
My new students think that every muscle in their body has to be tense in order to paint. They are in agony trying to make everything perfect in 5 minutes. They stop breathing and anxiety sits at the end of their brushes which then gets applied to their canvases.
What would happen if we relaxed and enjoyed the process? I've never seen a student make a mistake and then have their arm fall off or their house explode! What's the worse thing that could happen? You start another canvas!!!!! That doesn't sound so bad! We CAN'T paint without mistakes. Mistakes are sometimes the best things in the paintings. I love my OOpses!
My students don't watch me paint. When I studied with Helen Van Wyk, we all sat and watched her paint for 2 1/2 hours! She'd talk and play with the color, make jokes, teach us principles but there was never a sense of strain in her. I paint with my students but they are all so involved in making everything perfect that they don't stop to enjoy the process. They are bolted to their chairs!
What if we had terminal cancer like my beloved teacher, Helen? Helen painted as if she would never paint again. It didn't really matter what she painted! It was the painting process that was important. It was the problem solving, finding the color and brush stroke that was important. It was the getting lost in the moment that was important. As she often said '...when the painting is done - that's it!!!! You're done!!! You have to start all over again...!'
It's about the journey - what we see and learn there along the way. Think about this! It's the same thing in life. When we get to the end of the road - we're dead! Probably should start enjoying the process now.
Paint as if it was the last time. Dance as if it was the last time. Look as if it was the last time. Sing as if it was the last time. For all we know, it may be. - Kathy

Belladonna dances

2009-04-29T15:36:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone:
Finally, I got to dance. It was a retirement home, the 10th floor and 90 degrees with no air conditioning - but it was so great to be dancing that nothing mattered. I'm the one with the red top. I made the pants, the skirt, the earrings, the necklace, the bracelet and the flowers in my hair.
At almost 58 years old with a bum knee, arthritis here and there, and menopause way behind me, I feel like a girl again. My Dad and Mom came down from Vermont so they could see me dance. Dad took this picture and a bunch of videos.
In this photo, my buds and I are doing the Arabaya - a 9 beat Turkish Folk Dance. I've yet to remember the coreography correctly but I intend to keep trying! I got to dance my first solo and then, at the end of all the performances I danced with the professional belly dancers. What a thrill - to be up there with these beautiful, young professional women - dancing at my age.
Now it's on to the recital May 2nd! Hope to have another photo to show you. Happy shimmies!!!! - Kathy/Belladonna

Art basics - STOP!!!!!!!

2009-04-16T13:12:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone:
If I don't stop gardening, I will never be able to walk again. It's amazing how much everything in my body hurts!!! :)
STOP!!!!!! This is something that lately I want to scream at my students. Not speak, not yell, but scream!!!!!! As I watch my students draw and paint I see them painting or drawing with total disregard for the subject matter that they are painting and drawing from. I see them using brush strokes over large areas of canvas without looking to see (by means of getting away!!)if the brush strokes are working. I see them changing areas that should not be changed. I see them making an unacceptable color and then painting a large area with that unacceptable color - knowing all along that the color is not working! Hint - the color does not get better if you keep using it!!!!
Our eyes, if we are doing representational art, should rarely look away from our subject matter. Our eyes should not leave the subject matter for more than 10 SECONDS at a time. And, since none of my students are at a level where they can be painting from their heads - I suggest that we all need to pay more attention to what we are doing!!!! Everytime you try a color, try a brush stroke - GET AWAY from the canvas so that you can see if what you are doing is working.
Looking and painting/drawing is right brained. Not looking and painting/drawing is a waste of time! Because now you have to go back and fix what you have been screwing up by not looking!
Kathy

Belladonna and belly dancing

2009-04-09T13:34:00.003-04:00

Hello all:
Spring in New England, life renewed. All hell breaks loose!!! :) Just have to get those leaves raked off the new growth. New projects abound and there is an urgency in the air. These days I am painting at top speed with my students but my belly dancing alter ego has taken center stage in my life.
Almost 2 years ago, in May, I was reading the Sunday paper and saw an article about belly dancing. Well, I HATE to exercise and am sorely in need of it so belly dancing seemed like a path that I would like to travel. And what a path it has been!!!
I did dance when I was a small child - tap, ballet and acrobatics. Then I took more ballet in my young adulthood. However, my knees were not cooperating and I was always in pain. Sigh.
I signed up for Amira Jamal's belly dancing class, bought her book, bought her CD and showed up for my first class. She gave a beginner level and an advanced level. I decided I wanted both. I love to plunge in. I was truly amazed at the work out I got and how much my head, hands, body and feet were all trying to do their own thing!
I obviously needed way more classes. And that will be two years this May. I hope to be doing this when I am 80!!!! Made for women - not for men as our culture assumes -belly dancing is very female affirming. And, it is great against the arthritis invading my body, great for my head and great for my psyche. I need to play.
You have to put in a good 2 years of practice before performing is a possibility. I seriously doubt that I will be performing much given that I will be 58 years old in June. But, my teacher invited some of us to perform at her mother's retirement home and then we will have an actual recital May 2nd. Oh my!!! I'll be doing my first solo. And so I am now practicing 3 pieces about an hour every day! I've made a ton of 10 yard skirts which are great for swirling around in and I've been obsessed with making dangly earrings!
Belladonna. I was trying to come up with a good name for my belly dancing persona. One of my student's, suggested Belladonna, which I then associated with a book I had read about the actual plant which is a medecine as well as a poison. I thought "PERFECT!!" Depending on the dosage - Belladonna can heal you or kill you. I LOVE it!!!! Suits me to a T! :)
Belladonna will wear red. Red panties, red bra, red skirt, red top, red earrings, red toenails, red fingernails, red lipstick and a red coin belt or hip scarf. Then maybe some purple - who knows. Happy shimmies!!!! - Kathy (aka Belladonna)

Coal in Class

2009-03-25T16:50:00.002-04:00

Hi:
Coal here again. My Mom took this picture of me last night. I was helping her keep her class under control. Nine people showed up and we had a blast! I generally like to sit in people's seats when students get up because I know that Mom is always telling her students..."Get away from the canvas!!!!" And her student's always sit down too fast. That's all for now. Time to bother my sister. - Coal

new paintings

2009-03-25T16:33:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone:
I got a few minutes between classes and digging around in my yard to put up my new paintings.

The first one is "Zelma's Tulips." I did this painting about 30 years ago before I studied with my teacher, Helen Van Wyk and I couldn't make any of the colors. So, I decided to try it again. I like it much better now!! Will have to dig out the photo of the older painting and take a look at both of them.

And then there is this dead tree. I've wanted to do this painting for about 20 years - but didn't have the courage or the vision. There is this place that I visit in Vermont where the Winooski River meets Lake Champlain. The river drags all kinds of trees and roots and debris to the Lake and erodes the shore in the process. The "bodies" are fascinating and I was intrigued by all the growth in the dead wood.
First I paint a swamp and then I paint a dead tree. Hmm....there has got to be something psychological going on here!!! :) - Kathy

saying "hi"

2009-03-20T13:59:00.003-04:00

I've been very lax with writing my blog these days. I'm just touching base with everyone and saying "hi!" I have 5 paintings going. I'm making earrings for belly dancing, getting ready for my belly dancing recital May 2nd - which means sewing my costume and practicing my 2 routines and solo (an hour every morning). Setting up my cards and earrings in a store in Webster, MA called "Edwards Emporium." And getting some help from one of my students with my website - which means I have to read about Microsoft Expressions Web and CSS. OUCH says my right brain!!! Then there are the 4 night classes and 2 day classes that I teach. I'm loving every minute but blogging has been falling by the wayside. And how could I forget cleaning up the yard from that horrific ice storm that we had this winter (I'm not loving that part). However, it is really nice to get out into the sun. The robins are here so hope is renewed!!! :) Happy Spring everyone. Create and enjoy!! - Kathy

killing creativity

2009-03-02T12:58:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone:
So often I have new students ask me "why am I doing this?" They usually ask this when they are doing a project when they are having fun! Or when they are doing a project that they cannot hang on the fridge - like empathy/blind contour drawing. We are so product oriented in our society that we can't get past just doing something because we like doing it.

I'm trying to experience the paint and not kill it. I'm trying to have fun with this swamp.

I'm trying to play with this brain teaser - trying to let go of what I want it to be.

And, painting this was a little bit of heaven. Still have some tweaking to do.

The point is that we can't seem to do anything without some kind of suffering. Like suffering makes things valuable. We have to structure things, work them to death, kill the play, smother the life, beat the joy out of our artistic work and then expect it to rise up as a wonder to behold.

Try to enjoy the process! Have some fun with it! Relax with it. Get away from it and give that creative energy permission to be! May the creative force be with you! - Kathy

Coal's comments - all about play

2009-03-02T12:44:00.002-05:00

Coal here again. As I wander amongst my mom's art students, checking out their work and seeing if they are relaxed enough to let go of their painting for a moment to reach down and pet me, I have notice over and over how serious and rigid everyone is - even mom. Creativity is about play. It's about fun, trying different ways to get up on the kitchen counters when mom isn't looking. It's about sitting in the dryer (mom really freaks out when Lucy or I do this) or on top of the computer or on top of the furnace or inside mom's chest-of-drawers (Lucy has figured out how to get in through the back) so that you can view life from different perspectives. It's not about holding on and squashing the life out of things. It's not about tight shoulders or not breathing! It's about life. It's about movement and feeling and play. - Coal

Art Lessons from a Kitty - "Sit in a Box."

2009-02-20T15:01:00.004-05:00

Well now - I can't allow my brother Coal to write a blog without writing one myself! My name is Lucy. I am Coal's older sister. I am much more sophisticated than my brother. He really is very goofy and many times a great annoyance to me. But, I have to say, since Coal came to live with us, I am never bored!
I don't bother with art classes in the cellar. It is my job to inspire Mom and teach her to not get too serious about things. I have to remind her that food and play are very necessary to being a successful cat/artist! Sometimes my life as a cat gets very overwhelming. I get in a rut and need to stop and look at things a different way. So, I sit in a box. It could be a big box, a little box, a white box, a red box, or even a basket!!! Mom gives me lots of boxes to sit in. I sit in all of them. Each box has a different feel, a different smell and a different energy.

I just get in there and sit. I stare off into space and let my spirit just be. Box sitting is very theraputic and has many excellent side effects. It gives me a moment to center myself, it offers a haven from my idiot brother who loves to chase me and it stops my mom dead in her tracks and makes her laugh. Try it! - Lucy

Art Lessons from a Kitty - "May you be content with yourself...."

2009-02-20T14:14:00.007-05:00

My name is Coal. I am my mom's "art cat." I take art classes with her other students in our cellar. I check everyone's bags to make sure that they have the proper tools and supplies. I sit in everyone's chair if they get away from their canvas. That way I can observe their technique up close but most often it's because the chair is warm. Mom says that it is good to "get away" which her students really seem to resist. So, I just sit a while longer in order for the student to get a bit more perspective away from their canvas. I love being Mom's assistant.
This afternoon someone sent mom a prayer in her email. She cut out an important part - "May you be content with yourself just the way you are." This is one of the greatest lessons that I can teach mom and her students! I am always perfect and everything I do is an expression of that perfection (purrfection!!). That is why I do everything with such ease. It's sad to see the self-loathing that humans have, that some art students have. They just don't seem to understand how truly wonderful they are. To see a wonderful painter give up on herself because she never feels good enough is heart breaking. I just want to tell her - she is good enough - it is her low opinion of herself that makes her work frustrating. At this moment, at this time - she is perfect. Tomorrow, she will be more perfect. - Coal

Yoga Class - almost finished

2009-02-05T14:13:00.008-05:00

When I finally became accustomed to being an artist, part of the plan was not to shovel snow and chop ice for 4 hours a couple of times a week. This has been the winter from hell and I will be escaping to Florida for a few days to remind my body what warm feels like, what green looks like and what it feels like to move without 14 pounds of clothes on!!! I paint with my students at my house and there have been way too many cancelled classes this year. My cellar is not very inviting when they are not there - and it's not heated (I have a special stove that I turn on to heat the cellar for class) so, instead, I have been creating earrings for the belly dance class that I take.
I've almost finished with the "Yoga Class." This has been such fun that I hate to see it end. I've started another two paintings that I can work on when I get back from Florida. I'm trying this new way of looking at things that Dianne McNaughton has inspired in me. Dianne had asked me when I did "Fishing Nets" how it felt and if it was different from the way that I usually painted. At the time I hadn't quite figured out how I felt about my new way of painting.
I almost feel like I am standing back watching myself paint. I'm not disconnected from the painting - I'm just painting. There isn't any of that left-brained judging and nagging and dumping that usually happens. I'm just painting, blissfully painting. Watching my brush, loving the colors, lost in the shapes, mesmerized and in love with the process.
Hey, Dianne!!! too bad we can't bottle this and sell it to people!!!!

yoga class continued

2009-01-28T11:54:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone:
I'm having a great time with my "Yoga Class" painting. Thought you might like to see its progress. I'm trying to not get too crazy with the details and just have fun with the shapes and color.
We are having another wonderful snow storm!!! ARGH! I'd love the snow more if my driveway were not so long. - Kathy

Painting over a Painting - part 3

2009-01-21T15:47:00.004-05:00

Here is my finished "paint-over" of Indian Lake...

I had so much fun painting over the last painting, that I decided to paint over another one!!! This will be called "The Yoga Class." This is another Diane McNaughton inspired painting! Miss you Diane! Hope you and your husband are OK! - Kathy

Painting over a Painting - part 2

2009-01-15T15:12:00.003-05:00

I worked on the tree shape a bit....

...and then I added some more paint.

Amazing!!! I feel like this is almost done! I'm sometimes very disappointed when I can get a painting done in an evening. I was all set for a longer relationship and this just turned out to be a one-night stand! ;) I am addicted to suffering so, when I don't have any, I think something is wrong.
However, I love this new painting. And I enjoyed every exquisite minute of the paint over!! - Happy painting! - Kathy

Painting over a Painting - part 1

2009-01-15T14:44:00.007-05:00

Hello everyone:
It's so nice to be able to get back to writing my blog!!!! The weather here in New England is very dangerously cold and it is a nice day for NOT going outside!
A while ago, someone asked me about the process for painting over a painting. I finally documented how I do that and will present that in this blog.
First, I keep any painting that I do for at least a year before I decide that it doesn't work for me. I hang up everything that I do so that my right brain can see the paintings. Most things just happily hang on my walls. But, from time to time a painting just bugs me. I may have loved doing the painting, but something is just not right and I don't feel that anything can be done to make me happy with it.
So, it becomes a "paint over" painting.

I LOVE painting over a painting. I LOVE all the texture underneath! I feel like I am doing something truly sinful!!!! I just feels so good!!! When I finally make the decision to paint over something - my spirit is very ready to let go of the old painting. It is a joyous adventure!!!

This is oil paint. I can paint over oil paint with more oil paint. I can paint over acrylic paint with oil paint - but I can NEVER paint over oil paint with acrylic. The paint will peel off over time. How do I know this.....? Experience! :)

I started putting in the sky and then the water line of the new painting.

Then I added the road and grass....

Since I can only include 5 pictures at a time....this will be concluded in "Painting over a Painting Part 2." - Kathy

fishing nets - work-in-progress

2009-01-12T15:30:00.004-05:00

Hello again!
Some of you wanted to see how I was progressing with my Diane McNaughton inspired "Fishing Nets." I still think it needs a bit more tweaking but here it is....
I had such fun with this that I can't wait to try a couple more. Diane, you have opened up a whole new world for me!!!! :) _ Kathy

Art Show

2009-01-12T15:14:00.006-05:00

Hello everyone:
Happiest of New Year's to all of you. I finally have my show hung, the driveway shoveled and another belly dancing skirt made. :) Here are some show pictures. My paintings are hanging in a little Cafe until the end of February. Hanging the show was a bit like falling into the Twilight Zone - everything that could go wrong did! Fortunately - none of it was my fault!!!! Always my favorite!!!!
You can see the rest of the pictures on my site http://www.artkatcards-paintings.com/Studio_Works-in-Progress.htm. I ended up hanging about 37 paintings. Didn't realize that I had that many!! Can't imagine how I had all those paintings hanging in my house. - Kathy

On the road to painting.....

2008-12-29T11:37:00.006-05:00

Hello everyone:
At the moment there are no driveways to shovel, no branches to break up and move out of the yard, no major projects that have to get done. I'm getting some quiet time to reflect and write. December has been quite the interesting and stressful month. The good news is that the days are getting longer. My SAD (Season Affective Disorder) is jumping for joy at the prospect of having a couple more minutes of light in the day.
I started 3 new paintings this month which I put in my "ice storm" blog - http://artkatcards-paintings.blogspot.com/2008/12/ice-storm.html. But, as life would have it, I got very sidetracked and ended up all over the place. Never a dull moment. So, in the process of doing these new paintings, I ended up doing a craft show at Union Station in downtown Worcester, MA. This is such a magnificent building. For years after World War II it sat and decayed to an unimaginable eye sore. In the last couple of years, a few citizens got together to bring the building back to life. Once of my students suggested that I do a painting of Union Station - since I was actually going to be there. The perspective I chose was a bitch (how I love a challenge). So, here is this one sidetrack....

Then, my neighbors across the street invited me over for some Italian cooking on Christmas eve. I do not cook and I so appreciate other people's culinary gifts. They also lent me a generator to get the water out of my cellar/studio during our power outage through the evil ice storm. So, I wanted to bring them a special gift. I painted this little 5 x 7 in one evening....

And then there are the skirts and earrings that I want to sew and make for the new belly dancing semester...hm, that could be a whole 'nother blog!!! One creative adventure just leads to another!!!
Of course, I have my show to hang in a couple of days. 37 paintings! I probably won't hang all of them but the house is going to be terribly empty for 2 months. I'm thinking that it will be a great opportunity to do some more "intuitive" paintings and bring some new life into my environment!
Winter, the time to hibernate and to dream. I think I'll sew. :) - Kathy

Diane

2008-12-18T15:41:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone:
I just have to write a blog to say "thank-you" to Diane McNaughton. Diane was the first person to view my blog when I first started it. Since then she has given me encouragement, shared precious info and inspired my artist's soul. I am always so flattered that she comments on my art work.
Diane is one of those "healer" artists. I notice that every time something new comes up on her blog, my heart feels uplifted, my eye feels rested and my brain feels challenged to paint more. Her work is filled with life. Diane's work is always an inspiration. It is like angels dancing on earth. I am fascinated with her use of color, how she presents her subject matter and that glorious movement that she always seems to capture. I think that her work is filled with courage!!!
I look at things differently now because Diane has become a part of my art experience. As she says in her blog - it is not healthy for us to stay isolated. There is so much creativity to share and for a very long time I have kept hidden in the safety of my home. With my last adventure using my camera, I kept thinking "how would Diane see this?" She makes me want to stretch and reach and grow - to come out of my cocoon. What magic you have Diane. We are all truly blessed to have you touching our lives.
With greatest admiration - Kathy

ice storm

2008-12-17T13:13:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone:
Well, it's almost winter in New England and that means it is time for all hell to break loose! We are still in the midst of power outages, phones lines down, no heat and impassible roads. Winter is always very stressful and I really think the bears have it right. Get really fat, go into your cave and sleep until Spring!!!
My studio (the basement) was filled with a foot of water when we lost electricity. It has never been out this long and I depend greatly upon my sump pump to keep the water out. The electricity went out Thursday night and was back on here late Saturday afternoon. Some of my students reported last night (Tuesday) that they still don't have heat. I was climbing the walls after just 2 days!
I have been painting! I'm currently working on 3 - The Outdoor Cafe, Indian Lake and Fishing Nets.

I've loved working on Indian Lake and the Fishing Nets. By the way - Fishing nets was inspired by my painting bud - Diane McNaughton. I saw these fishing nets while in Tarpon Springs, Florida and just couldn't resist taking the photo to have for later. I don't have Diane's feel for expression - but, this is a good place to start.
The Outdoor Cafe has been a perspective nightmare - I just adore a challenge. I don't seem to be complete without one!! I was having such a good time working on Fishing Nets and Indian Lake that I decided I needed a bit of suffering to counter balance all of my fun! So, I started the Outdoor Cafe. ARGH! Now I can't work on the fun stuff until this is finished.

I'm ready for some peace and quiet so that I can get back to writing my blog. I really miss this. Now for the big question - do I shovel snow or do nothing and hope that it will melt? Stay tuned.......Kathy

art stuff - practice more

2008-12-05T10:14:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone:
I really miss writing my blogs. I have been whirling around with classes, the 2 craft shows this week and my art show in January. In between times I belly dance or sleep. :)
I just finished teaching my Beginning Art Class on Thursday nights at the evening program in Marlborough. My students were drawing with charcoal like they had been drawing for 20 years. These were all people who had never drawn before. I worked them hard for 10 weeks but it was worth it!!! They were doing negative space and perspective and values. I never get tired of seeing this transformation.
So, my bit of advice for beginners today is - keep practicing!!!! So many of my students get down on themselves because they don't "get" something right away. I learned from my last teacher, Helen Van Wyk, that I just needed to practice more. If I couldn't do roses, that didn't mean I should give up and go try brick laying!!! It just meant that I needed to do roses more!
When we think of the great masters that came before us - they painted the same things over and over and over again. Monet loved to do a series of the exact same view as the light changed on his subject. He got better at painting hay stacks by painting hay stacks!!
Here again is where art myths abound. No one would expect to play Beethoven on the first try after having only 10 weeks of lessons, only practicing for 20 minutes during the week! BUT people think that art is easy. So therefore they must be "not talented" because they can't draw a statue of a rabbit on the first try (I found a little clay rabbit in the art room last night). My advice - draw more rabbits! Draw more roses!!! Draw more trees, rocks, copper, roads, buildings, fruit!!!!! Everything is new to beginning artists so they need to draw EVERYTHING!!!
I am currently working on a painting with a bit of perspective in it. I'm struggling!!! And then my inner teacher kicks in! I am struggling because I am learning. I don't have all the answers yet - but I know that I will figure things out eventually. My right brain will find the answer and then I will magically "get it!" I just need to paint more!!!! Yahoo! :) Just getting out of my own way.
Off I go!!! I'm determined to finish this lavender belly dancing skirt that I've been catching bits of time sewing so that I can wear it to class tomorrow! - Kathy

Premio Artist Award

2008-11-25T10:52:00.002-05:00

I have been nominated by my treasured blogger friend, Diane McNaughton to receive this award. I don't think I have ever been nominated for an award before but I am extremely honoured to be nominated by you, Diane. Thank-you so much!
This award is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing and art work ...that's the general idea.
The rules of this award are as follows:
*Show the image of the award on your blog.
*Link back to the blog that gave the award.
*Nominate 15 other blogs that you consider deserving the same. (I don't know 15 bloggers!!:()
*Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve selected.
My list of nominations:
Diane She says it all for me!
- Kathy

art stuff - don't get discouraged

2008-11-14T15:24:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone:
I thought that I would write this instead of taking a nap :).
This blog is for Kit - one of my new students who just started her first color painting this week.
New painters need to understand that the painting process is something you develope -just like developing an ability to play the piano. After 10 or 20 weeks of practicing at playing the piano (by the way - we are talking about practicing every day here - not something that most new artists do or even think of!!) - the budding pianist is capable of playing a little ditty or two - not the entire symphony from Beethovan's 5th!!!!
Why is it that new artists think their work should be perfect after 2 brush strokes?!!! They paint once a week and expect the painting to be finished in a few hours. Then they get discouraged that their work has flaws.
A painting is a series of corrections!!! not a series of everything working out perfect!!!! Painting is about problem solving. You try a color. You try a line or a shape. You fix you move you change you create you wipe out you fix some more.
Make judgements about your abilities after you've painted a few years - after you've painted rocks and water and flowers and people and apples and skies and trees and metals, etc.
My best advice is to stop being focused on the outcome. Be focused on the process of painting. The outcome will work itself out.
Time for a nap! - Kathy

art stuff - use of photos

2008-11-13T16:14:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone:
I am sorry that I have been out of touch for the last couple of weeks. I have been trying to play catch-up since I got back from Florida. It is Autumn in New England and when the leaves fall - they need to be dealt with. I HATE dealing with the leaves. Plus I'm teaching 5 classes and trying to get ready for 2 craft shows and a painting show! Yahoo!!!
A couple of students asked about using photos to work from. This is something that we all must be conscious of. Public domain items are free for the using - however, they are not your stuff. Calendars are great to work from - but they are not your stuff and you cannot sell work that has been copyrighted. You can work from your teacher's photos or friend's photos - with their permission. If you decide to sell the painting you must give the photographer a mention. I love my Dad's photos and you will see how I listed this painting..."Woman with a Dog" from a photo by Ken Hebert. If I sell this, I might have to take Dad to dinner. :) You will have to work out your terms with the person who owns the rights to the photo.
The best way to work is from still life - but that is not always convenient. The next best way to work is from your own photos. Take photos of what is important to you. Take a lot!!!! I take lots of photos of one subject and then pick from a wide selection. The more that I shoot and the more that I paint from what I shoot the more I know what to shoot the next time. Digital cameras are great and you can get a little cheap one that will do the trick. I use PhotoShop Elements as my photo editor and it is a recommended program in many of the "Dummies" books that I used to design my site. And, if you don't get a shot that you want - shoot some more!! :)
Off to class!! - Kathy

I've been tagged!!!

2008-11-13T15:23:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone:
I've been tagged by Diane!!
The rules are:
Put a link to the person who tagged you.List 7 unusual things about yourself. Send this to 7 other bloggers and comment on their site to let them know.
7 unusual things about myself:
1. I have been single for 57 years!
2. I have 2 cats (or children as I call them).
3. I was Miss Vermont in 1972 and went to the Miss America Pageant.
4. I was an artist's model.
5. I went to Europe when I was 18 - Italy, France, Germany, Netherlands and England.
6. I was a professional singer for 15 years.
7. I am now taking belly dancing classes!!!!! Complete with coin belt, giant skirts and zills!!!!!!!!

I am sending this to:
Diane
Carol
Dana Marie
Liz
Pamela
Kim
Michael

art stuff - composition

2008-10-23T13:53:00.005-04:00

Hello everyone:
I was just looking at Dianne McNaughton's breathtaking painting. Check out her latest:
http://diannemcnaughtonart.blogspot.com/2008/10/reality-to-abstraction.html I am always so impressed by her composition, color, technique. We can all learn and be inspired by her work!

My students have requested that I write a little more about composition. Since I am doing that tonight with my beginning art class, this is the perfect time to try to explain a very difficult subject.
Composition is about placement of subject matter on a page or on a canvas. If you have an exquisite drawing or painting but your composition/placement is faulty - your art work is worthless. If your composition is excellent but your drawing or painting isn't quite perfect - then you have display and selling potential!
Right now, my class is working with viewfinders so that we become more aware of placement on the page (composition). A viewfinder is made of a cardboard frame with a plastic window. Cross hairs are drawn on the plastic window using a permanent marker. The subject matter (the chair) is placed in the viewfinder - much like sighting a subject with a camera - and the subject is then "traced" onto the plastic viewfinder with an erasable marker.
These "midpoints" were transferred to the drawing paper and students then drew the "traced" chair from their viewfinders onto their drawing paper. This is a good tool to help in the translation of 3 dimensional subject matter to a 2 dimensional drawing/painting surface.

The top chair is placed nicely on the page. It has nice negative space all around it. It is not too big, it is not too small for the space that it occupies. Our eyes are not forced off one side of the page but are allowed to stay focused on the chair. It has good composition.

The next chair is not a good composition. The negative space on its left is too huge, dead and uninteresting. The weight of the chair is all on the right side of the page. The right edge of the chair leads our eye off the right edge of the paper. The space "feels" uncomfortable.

The last chair is just to small for the size paper that it sits on. The empty space dominates the drawing.

Off to class!! - Kathy

art stuff - become what you paint

2008-10-16T17:23:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone:
I'm just back from a trip up to Vermont. The colors were just exquisite!!! Oranges, reds, golds!
Something that I think really helps in the painting/drawing process is to become what you are painting/drawing. When I first was learning about art, my teacher had us do "empathy" drawings. We looked at our model but not at our paper. Our eyes totally became fixed on the flesh, the curves, the wrinkles, the edges. This was (and is) a "seeing" excercise. We were simply "seeing."
If you want to draw or paint something real - you have to look at it and you have to look at it intensely. An orange, when you take away its color, looks like a tennis ball or an apple or a lemon - unless we look closely. We notice the texture of its skin. We smell its fragrance. We taste its fruit. We become a part of the orange and it becomes a part of us.
We know that there is a difference between and orange and an apple. But, if we don't pay attention, they will both look the same - round shapes! What is the edge doing? How does it grow - on a tree? on a vine? In art we become intimate with our subject matter. The more that we get to know it - the better we can express it in drawing or painting.
Got to go - off to art class. My newbies are doing negative space tonight!!!! - Kathy

art stuff - what if I make a mistake?

2008-10-06T15:26:00.006-04:00

There are at least 50 - 100 paintings (possibly more) that I have done that do not exist anymore. I have either painted over them or have thrown them in the trash! Mostly I paint over paintings because I hate waste. Not everything works! My students tend to fall in love with every painting that they do. They have a place to hang each one before the painting is actually finished. This one is going to grandma, this one is going in the living room, this one has to fit in this frame. We get locked into the outcome and forget about being involved in the process. This really stifles the energy of a painting. Art work is created - therefore it has a creative energy all of its own. When it has such heavy expectations upon it - the art work suffers. Making art is about the process - not the end result.
I tell my students - "I want you to make mistakes!!!!!" So often we are consumed by fear! Fear of making a mistake! What will Aunt Mathilde think of this?!!! What if I can't do this?! What if this is the worse painting that I have ever done?!
A few years ago I took a life painting class (nude models). I was not very good but I loved to paint and I could only improve. We had a model who was simply gorgeous. He had a head full of dreadlocks and the most delicious color skin that I had ever seen. I was completely intimidated. I wanted to do a great job. But I didn't have the skill level to do a great job. The class that I took had 16 people in it and the teacher did not do much "teaching." As was true for many of my teachers, there was no instruction about color, none about brushes, etc. Classes were very much lacking and, if you were a beginner, not many teachers wanted to deal with you. You just showed up and painted - or, in my case, fumbled around. The more that I tried to paint the model gorgeous - the more I made him look like a monkey. I could not make his skin color I could not capture his essence. I felt that I had completely and totally failed. I was humiliated and devastated.
But I loved painting so I went home did a little bit of reading about color and promised myself that next time would be better.
The next time we had another model. I jumped in as I always do - not knowing what I am doing - but I am painting and that is all that matters. At some moment in the 3 weeks that we painted this new model I saw my hand "painting." It was actually doing something right. It was actually working. I was painting this model. How had that happened?!!!! I was mesmerized as if someone else was holding the paint brush.
And then the light dawned. At that moment I realized that I could now paint this model because of the painting that I had failed so miserably at. My brain was now solving the problems with this model that I was unable to solve with the last one. The right brain needs to be presented with problems in order to solve them. In time, the right brain figures things out and voila!!! things start to work! My greatest failure ended up being my greatest teacher. I have never looked at painting the same way since.
The next time that the gorgeous model showed up - my right brain was ready. I did a magnificent painting of him which I sold! And then, a few months later, I did another magnificent painting of him and sold that one too!!!
Now, when I am struggling with a painting, I tell myself that my right brain doesn't yet have the answers to the problems that I have just presented to it - but I will have the answers in time. I will figure this out and it's OK if I don't solve all the problems right at this moment. It's OK if this painting doesn't work. I will do another and another. And I will learn and get better with each one that I do.
I can't begin to tell you what a big difference this has made in my painting. I got out of my own way!!! Without a bunch of horrific expectations I am always pleasantly surprised at the outcome.
I love remembering Helen van Wyk's words to us when asked how she managed to paint so beautifully. She simply said "I don't expect too much!" - Kathy

I don't know what I'm doing

2008-10-06T15:02:00.005-04:00

Hello everyone:
I often hear in my classes "I don't know what I'm doing!" Students seem to think that they should have all the answers before they begin their picture.
Here is a newsflash! I never know what I am doing!!!! It is something that I figure out as I go along. And, it is by this struggle and figuring out that I learn how to paint. Artists learn by doing.
Whenever I start a piece it is a complete mystery to me. I am somehow and for whatever reason attracted to a subject. Sometimes it is fences, once it was teapots, another time I can't seem to get enough of portraits. But whatever calls to me also enchants me so that I cannot see all the pitfalls ahead. It really is best to not know all the answers. It might prevent us from doing something because it looks too hard. There is some kind of need in me, some kind of itch that I just have to scratch and there is no logical explanation. Just like doing my website - I just had to do it!!!! If I had known what I would have to go through to get there I would have never gone down that road. And I would have never learned all that I have learned.
As artists, we unravel the mysteries of our chosen subject matter. We suffer with it as we figure out how best to express what we see. We don't know the answers!!!! We are searching for them. Does this background work? Does this color work? Do I need to leave this out.....and so on and so on.
I loved what my teacher Helen van Wyk would say...."A painting is a record of a series of corrections." Art work is about problem solving. If we knew all the answers at the beginning - what would be the point?! Some people climb mountaints. Artists draw and paint! There is the element of risk, the challenge of learning a new skill or a new way of looking at things. We are creative detectives always searching to unravel the next mystery! - Kathy

art stuff - more about the left brain

2008-09-30T15:13:00.007-04:00

Hello all:
I thought it would be helpful to understand a little bit more about the left brain. It's the side that we don't want to draw with. It is the side that talks and it can be very unpleasant at times. It's the side that counts. It is the side that our culture educates. It CANNOT draw. It is only capable of drawing symbols of things. It cannot look at anything long enough in order to "see" it. It is not very good at problem solving. It is linear and cannot do spatial relationships. It has to do things in order - #1, #2, #3, etc.
I am always saying to myself and to my students - "draw what you see and not what you know." The left brain "knows" that a chair or a table has 4 equal legs. But that is not what we see! I have my new students draw a person, a hand and a chair before I begin instruction. It is a way of marking the beginning of the artistic adventure for them. When they draw that first chair all 4 legs are sitting on the same line or plane just as the left brain "knows" it to be. After a little bit of instruction students then correctly "see" a chair or a table from the artist perspective (the right brain). We then notice that the back legs of a chair or a table are actually higher (and therefore shorter) than the front legs. Check out the chair in my previous blog on negative space: http://artkatcards-paintings.blogspot.com/2008/09/art-stuff-negative-space-and-left-brain.html
The left brain will make all kinds of noise when it's time to start drawing or painting. It is so very willing to remind me that I have no business trying to be an artist. That is because the left brain has to shut down when we draw and paint. It doesn't like losing its dominant position. So it uses intimidation tactics!!!
Ignore the voices that pop up in your head, use your eyes, use your mirror (to look backwards at your picture), get away from your work. Isn't it amazing that we all carry this left brain beast with us where ever we go!!! - Kathy

art stuff - new beginner class

2008-09-29T12:46:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone:
This past week 15 new artists have been added to the art galaxy. I've started my Beginning Art Class which introduces "non-artists" to the world of art. They are instructed to be artists for 10 weeks! They are required to do reading from Betty Edwards' "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" and have already completed a line drawing of Igor Stravinsky in class. Of course they had to do the drawing upside down (this fools the left side of the brain which is incapable of drawing into shutting down) but the drawings were just awesome!
This upside down drawing gets the new artists to begin understanding how the artist brain works and how the artist eye sees. We don't draw hands or faces or trees or chairs - we draw shapes and lines and angles and colors and the relationships between them.
If you want to make drawing a "hand" the worst experience of your entire life - just call it a "hand!" This engages the linear left brain with its arsenal of symbols. It can't draw but it sure can talk. If you are using your left brain to draw a hand, you get a circle with 5 lines sticking out of it!!! By using artist terminology - the line goes up, this makes an angle, this shape is pointy, the space is oval, this line touches the circle shape (non-specific words)- the right brain can then be allowed to draw leaving the noisy, dominant left brain in the dust.
- Kathy

art stuff - warm and cool

2008-09-25T11:53:00.005-04:00

Hello everyone:
The warm colors and cool colors issue has been coming up in my painting classes so I thought I'd throw some info out there for budding artists to think about.
The warm colors - red, yellow and orange
The cool colors - blue, green and violet
This is another one of those lessons that I learned from my teacher Helen van Wyk. For those of us who like to paint representations of our real world, we always have to consider the light source. We do not have 18 light sources like in the class room that I'll be teaching in this evening (another "Beginning Art" class starts!!). We only have one light source and that, of course, is our sun. And, because our sun is warm - it warms everything that it touches. That includes water, sky and snow. Everything on our planet is touched by the sun.
I use Thalo Blue on my palette. Thalo Blue is a very intense and very cool color. It can never be used alone but has the capacity to make all the blues that exist. When painting sky - the blue has to be warmed. Adding a touch of the opposite color (orange - Cadmium Orange, medium orange - Raw Sienna, or dark orange - Burnt Sienna) dulls down the blue, warms it up and allows us to paint sky (with some Zinc White added) or water. You have to be careful how much orange you add because (red and yellow make orange) too much will make your blue turn green. I often add a touch of Alizarin Crimson to this as well. Alizarin Crimson is a violet, a cool color, but because it takes red and blue to make it, it has a bit of warmth in it and adds a violet touch to my skies.
Even snow has to be warmed. I've just finished my "Mailbox"http://www.artkatcards-paintings.com/Art_Gallery/Landscape_Paintings/Mailbox_painting.htm .I didn't use straight white. I used a bit of raw sienna to warm it up a bit.
If a painting is too cool - it has a tendency to repel the person looking at it. I want people to look at my paintings, not turn away. Adding the warmth draws people in.
I've learned a lot being an art teacher. :) When a student had too much coolness in the painting, there was a hardness about it. When we added a little warm to the work it made all the difference in the world. Cheers! - Kathy

art stuff - composition

2008-09-23T17:36:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone:
Wanted to talk just a bit about composition. Compostion is how subject matter is placed on your paper or canvas. If the composition is bad, your eye will not be able to remain on your work. It will travel off the side of the paper or canvas. A good composition will keep your eye inside the boundaries of the piece.
If you have a terrific drawing and your composition is bad - the drawing ends up in the trash. If the composition is great and the drawing is bad, you've got something that you can work with.
Composition is the first thing that I concentrate on when starting a new painting. The placement of shapes has to be the most important part of the work in the beginning so that you don't find yourself having to move everything after you have worked on your picture for a while. Things always have to be moved and changed in the course of completing an art piece but moving the whole composition is not a good idea after you have invested lots of time and energy.
Get that composition working at the very beginning and save the rest of your time for making the color and adjusting the shapes. Don't be in such a rush to "get at" the nitty gritty details! I spend about 2 1/2 hours just starting my composition. Then I can happily play with paint. Details are for the very end.
What your eye sees first is the last thing that should be done in a painting! Stick to the larger shapes, refine them, place them and then move on to the more intricate work. As Helen van Wyk would say...."Start with a broom and finish with a needle!"
Off to class.....Kathy

art stuff - where is the light - and the craft show

2008-09-16T13:18:00.005-04:00

Hello everyone:
For anyone in the Worcester, Massachusetts area - there is a grand arts and crafts fair this Sunday, September 21st on Park Avenue. I'll be there with all my stock and a few paintings. It's a major event.
Today I'd like to talk about the light. For those artists to like to paint some form of reality, it is best to remember that, in our world, we only have one source of light - the sun! So many times I see students come in with a photograph bleached out by a flash that misrepresents the whole concept of painting from real life. The flash becomes our sun and it is never very flattering. It is harsh and flat. So many times I have seen still life set up with many sources of light. It is very hard to have one source of light in a classroom - otherwise we would all go blind trying to paint in the dark. However, the artist must always consider the source of light.
Where is the light coming from? The shadows should tell you. If you have more than one shadow from the same object - you have too many sources of light! As Helen van Wyk would say "the light comes from above! Hallelujah!!"
The five properties of light:
the body color
the body shadow
the cast shadow
the reflected light
the highlight
The body color would be the natural color of an object. Lets say that I have a yellow metal teapot (I actually do - the teapot from hell). Yellow is the body color.
The body shadow would be the shadow on the side of my teapot opposite where the light is coming from.
The cast shadow would be the shadow that my yellow teapot casts upon the table on which it is sitting. The teapot blocks the light so it "casts" a shadow.
Reflected light is light that bounces up from the table and hits the lower part of my teapot (my teapot is metal therefore it is reflective). If you put an apple or a pear down on a surface - it will reflect the light from that surface.
The highlight is, as Helen would put it, the light that hits the concavities and convexities in line with the light. In other words, the things that stick out the farthest and recede in the farthest - like ridges.
Now, to make our heads spin even more, the body shadow would have in it the opposite color of the body color. So, if my teapot is yellow, its body shadow would have some violet in it (that's Alizarin Crimson for those of you studying with me). Here is the link on my blog about opposite colors: http://artkatcards-paintings.blogspot.com/2008/07/art-stuff-complimentaryopposite-colors.html
The cast shadow should have in it the opposite color of what it is sitting on. Therefore, if my tablecloth is red, the cast shadow on it should have some green in it (thalo or sap green for my students).
The reflected light is just what you see.
The highlight is white with a touch of the opposite color! Which means, since my teapot is yellow, any highlights on it would have a touch of violet in them.
Here is a still life from my site that I set up just so that I could work with all these ideas about light: http://www.artkatcards-paintings.com/PewterPotandPlatter.htm
Happy painting! - Kathy

art stuff - Plaid Dad

2008-09-11T15:53:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone:
I've been working on this for a while now. I call it "Plaid Dad." Isn't he cute? He's not quite finished yet but I'm starting to really like how this painting is turning out. It's from a photo that I took when Dad and I went to the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont, USA. Dad is one of my favoirite subjects because he doesn't change his personality for my camera.
We were standing inside the Ticonderoga paddle wheel (which is now on dry land about 2 miles from Lake Champlain!!!) looking at all the machinery that used to make the paddle wheel run. I try never to have more than two light sources (since we only have one sun) but, in this case, I had to work with the light coming in through the machinery area exposed to the outside. I don't think that I will ever do plaid again! That's the thing about being an artist - we are enchanted by the ambiance or the mood or the pose. Next time Dad and I do anything (he's 81 by the way) he wears a solid shirt! :) - Kathy

art stuff - 4 things that really help

2008-09-09T17:23:00.006-04:00

Hi everyone:
Forgive me for not putting up more stuff. I am getting ready for a craft show to display my paintings and cards (and hopefully sell them as well). You can see the cards at: http://www.artkatcards-paintings.com/CardShoppe.htm and my paintings at: http://www.artkatcards-paintings.com/ArtGallery.htm.
Four things that really help the art process:
Use a mirror
Squint
Get away from the painting
Turn it upside down
Use a mirror!! Turn your back to your painting and hold the mirror over your shoulder. Look for anything that sticks out or is out of place - like a building line not quite straight or a color that stands out more than it should. If you don't see anything - then the painting is perfect!!! :)
Squint!! Squint your eyes when you look at your painting and the subject matter as well. Squinting helps to block out all those silly details and just focuses on the lights and darks. I can always see that I haven't made my shadows dark enough when I squint.
Get away from the painting!! It's good to get away from your work every 20 minutes or so. Otherwise, sitting on top of the painting like that prevents us from having an objective eye. We get so emotionally involved that we don't want to let go. And that holding on is death for any artwork. So, get away for a few minutes. Look at the work from the other side of your room.
Turn it upside down!! If you are working from a photograph - turn it upside down (and your canvas too!) This shuts off our verbal left brains and lets us paint in peace. It's another way of letting go. I can see the flow of shapes much better when I turn things upside down. Right side up I have a tendency to be too rigid.
If you can't use a mirror, can't get away from your painting, or can't turn it upside down to get a different point of view (if you are working from a photo) - then you are holding on TOO TIGHT!!!!! The painting/art work needs room to breathe and grow. Once you create that painting you give the painting an energy of its own and it becomes your partner in the painting process - not some lowly object that you get to command and force your will upon. I love the way Michaelangelo perceived his work as an artist. He believed that the sculpture or painting was already inside the marble or on the canvas. His job was simply to release its spirit. - Kathy

art stuff - student color chart

2008-09-05T14:19:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone:
After adopting my teacher's (Helen Van Wyk) list of colors, I thought it would be a great idea to have my students do a color mixing chart. Since I had never ever learned color mixing, I wanted to make sure that my students didn't end up in the same boat.
I put together a page of notes from Helen's books for every color on her basic palette starting with white, moving through the warm colors to cool colors and ending with black (Helen was a great believer in the use of grey). The chart takes about 3 nights to finish but, in that time, my students truly learn how to use their colors.

Here is the list of colors again:
Zinc White (a warm white)
The yellows:
Cadmium Yellow Light (a light tone/bright intensity yellow)
Yellow Ochre (a medium tone/medium intensity yellow)
Burnt Umber (a dark tone/dull intensity yellow)
Note: no! this last color is not brown since there is no such color in
the color spectrum - it is a dark yellow.
The oranges:
Cadmium Orange (a light tone/bright intensity orange)
Raw Sienna (a medium tone/medium intensity orange)
Burnt Sienna (a dark tone/dull intensity orange)
Note: this isn't brown either!!!!!
The reds:
Cadmium Red Light (a bright tone/bright intensity red)
Grumbacher Red/Windsor Red (a medium tone/bright intensity red)
Venetian Red/Light Red/Terra Rosa (a medium tone/medium intensity red)
Indian Red (a dark tone/dull intensity red)
Note: Big surprise - this isn't brown either!!!! :)
Cool Colors:
Alizarin Crimson (also doubles as a red sometimes)
Thalo Blue (green shade)- check out all the blues that you can make with this!
Thalo Green

Ivory Black - this is a tranparent black which mixes beautifully with all the
other colors of this palette. Because of its transparent nature, it does not
muddy and obliterate the color that it mixes with.

Those of you who use acrylic paint may have to subtitute:
Yellow Oxide for Yellow Ochre
Red Oxide for Venetian Red
Quinacradone Red for Grumbacher Red
Titanium White for Zinc White (Titanium is a cooler white)

Kathy

art stuff - negative space and the left brain

2008-09-02T10:48:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone:
One of my students suggested that I do a blog on "negative space." I think that, next to composition, this is the most important tool that artists have for recreating three dimensional subject matter on a two dimensional surface. I teach a Beginning Art Class that uses the book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards. The Left side of the brain cannot draw - and yet it is the side that we educate and walk around using every day. It talks, it counts. It is the dominent side. The Right side of the brain is the problem solving side, the drawing side. Wouldn't that be great if we could use that side more?!!!
The Left Brain draws symbols for things, simple things - smiley faces, circles with 5 lines sticking out to represent hands, etc. - nothing complicated. When we try to draw something real, the dominent left brain tries to jump in and draw its symbols instead. If you name something that you are drawing, the left brain is summoned. If the left brain is saying CHAIR while you are trying to draw a chair - you will get a symbol for a chair, not what you are trying to draw, and there will be much suffering, frustration and gnashing of teeth as both sides of the brain do battle.
Change your language to something that the left brain doesn't have a symbol for. The line goes up, the angle is pointy, the space is fat at one end, a curved shape going into an angle, etc. This kind of language does not summon the left brain leaving the right brain to draw in peace.
Hence - negative space!!!! What is that?! It's whatever you are drawing that doesn't have a name! If you are drawing a portrait - it could be the space between the nose and the top of the lip. It could be the space between the outer eye (in a 3/4 view) and the edge of the face.
In the above drawings, I've included some of the excercises that we do in class. If those negative spaces are incorrect - that chair won't stand up. If those negative spaces are incorrect in the copy of the drawing of Toulouse-Lautrec's "Le Jockey" then the backside of the horse isn't correct, the position of the jockey is incorrect and the horse is not properly fore-shortened.
In other words, if you are drawing a teacup and the inner space of the teacup is wrong - the shape of the teacup will be wrong as well. If the inner shape of the handle is wrong - the handle will be wrong as well.
The Left brain hates negative space which is exactly why we need to use it more. When you are frustrated with something that you are drawing - be aware that the left brain is trying to help! If you switch to looking at negative space, the left brain will shut down and leave you in peace. If you are working from a photograph - turn it and your canvas UPSIDE DOWN!!!! The left brain can't recognize what you are painting or drawing and fades into the background.
Many of my students resist turning their paintings upside down or using negative space because it means that their left brain has to relinquish control. If you cannot "let go" of the image that you are working on - you can be pretty sure your left brain is in charge of your drawing. If suffering is your thing - then hold on for dear life. :) - Kathy

art stuff - brushes

2008-08-28T14:41:00.004-04:00

I just have to talk about brushes. Brushes for oil and acrylic paint. For those of you who are new to the art process - oil and acrylic paint brushes have long handles. That is because we work away from the canvas. Water color brushes have short handles and more delicate hair. The watercolorists sits closer to the work.
Oil and acrylic brushes come in two types:
bristle and synthetic (or sable for the more successful artists)
Their bristles/hair come in four different shapes:
Bright (square short), Flat (square long), filbert (flat round), round
In the picture above - I have included some bristles on the left (sizes 12/10/6/3) and some synthetics on the right (sizes 10/6f/4f/2 and a round). F stands for filbert. My bigger brushes are about 1" wide (sometimes the sizing is different from place to place.)
The bristles are the work horses of the painting. They do the job of applying the paint to the naked canvas. I use my bristles to do the "under painting" in black and white acrylic. These brushes do a lot of scratching the paint on and they can take quite a beating. I've had my bristles since my college days - a hundred million years ago! They do sometimes wear down and then I go into mourning! But I recover quickly because this means I can buy a new brush!!! :)
Once I have my initial composition and values on, I can then switch to my synthetics or sables (mostly I have synthetics). The difference is like painting on sandpaper and then painting on glass. There is a velvety feel to the painting process. Very sensuous!!! I highly recommend trying the synthetics and sables after you get your canvas covered with a layer of paint.
I use mostly the brights for laying on skies, water, large areas and the filberts for anything curved. I rarely use the rounds although they are very nice for painting flower petals.
Cleaning your brushes. Clean them after every painting session. Liquid laundry detergent is great for cleaning brushes. You don't want the laundry detergent to go past the ferrule (metal part) of the brush. I paint with my students 3 to 4 times a week and I have a container filled with about a 1/2" of liquid laundry detergent. My brushes go in there after every class. I do leave mine to sit until morning. Then I give them a good rinse and put them back for the next class. If you want to do this exactly perfect - then don't leave your brushes over night. It can cause the ends to bend. But, I haven't had that problem yet.
And finally, some words of wisdom from Helen Van Wyk - "start with a broom and finish with a needle!" This means use your big brushes to start the painting. Save those dinky details until the very end.
Hope this helps. - Kathy

art stuff - drawing or painting?

2008-08-27T14:30:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone:
It is truly a magnificent day here in Massachusetts. I have just come in from cutting my grass and the air is crisp and refreshing!
For those of you new or hoping to be new artists who might wander to my blog, here is a little bit of information that will help you on your way.
Many people want to paint first and skip the drawing part. My advice is to re-think this very seriously. You need to draw first! You need to learn the basics - blind contour, contour, perspective (chairs, tables, and corners), principles of portrait drawing, composition, negative space, values (light and dark) and all those things that give you a good foundation. The truth is - when you start to paint you will be drawing with a brush - so it is better to have good drawing skills under your belt before you dive in and tackle color.
I teach a Basic Drawing course here in Massachusetts. I cover a lot of the myths about learning to draw and paint while teaching drawing skills and other things that I throw in for good measure (like color, pastel and water color). Once my students complete this course, they are then invited to continue their studies with me which will eventually lead to painting.
They must complete a session of working with black and white acrylic and oil. This covers two things - working with values and working with two different media. Purchasing 15 tubes of oil or acylic is a hefty investment. It is good to try them out before spending all that hard earned cash.
Once they have completed their black and white value paintings, they must then complete a color mixing chart with their newly purchased oil or acylic colors.
Of all the years that I took classes, I never once was taught how to mix color. By the end of this excercise - color mixing is no longer an issue. At that point my students can decide which subject matter they want to paint.
I always ask them when they are in the throws of doing their first color painting - aren't you glad that you learned how to draw before you painted? The answer is a lot of head wagging up and down - YES! May the creative force be with you all - Kathy
P.S. You can see some of my students' work at my site:
http://www.artkatcards-paintings.com/StudentWork.htm

art stuff - starting a painting

2008-08-21T15:28:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone:
Starting with a black and white acrylic underpainting is always a great way to begin. You can set up the values and make sure the composition is just right. Composition, the way the content is placed on the page, has to be the most important part of the painting. Therefore, it is best not to rush through this process. If you have a great drawing or great subject matter and yet your composition is lousy - the painting/drawing is worthless and either gets recycled or painted over.
My new beginners want to pick up their smallest brush and start putting in all the itty bitty little details!!! ARGH!!!! Painting is like baking a cake (does anyone still do this?). You don't start with the candles!!!!!!! There is a lot of prep work that must be done before you can put on the pretty frosting.
Painting is the same way. You lay the groundwork with a good composition and by using your BIGGEST BRUSH first!!!!!!!! My teacher, Helen van Wyk, would say "start with a broom and finish with a needle!"
You must lay in all the biggest shapes. And, with a big brush in your hand, you can't fuss at the little details! Details are last! The first things we see in our subject matter are the last things that go on the painting.
How big a brush? A good 3/4" to 1" should do the trick.
Don't make the first application of paint too thick. Keep it thin to start and add more paint and less medium with each successive layer.
And here's another tip (I'm just full of them today!) - don't think about where you are going to hang your painting or how you are going to frame it before the painting is finished. That kind of pressure really weighs the painting down. So, instead of just dealing with the painting and the painting process there are all these thoughts spinning around our heads that keep us from painting.....Will my mother-in-law like this? Will it look good in my dining room? What frame should I use? and on and on and on. Shut off the thoughts. Let the painting take you where it will and enjoy what this painting will teach you. Here's "Plaid Dad." It's not quite finished but notice how I stayed away from the details!!! :) - Kathy

art stuff - more on underpainting

2008-08-20T13:38:00.005-04:00

Hello everyone:
Since I was writing about under-painting, I thought that I'd better put my money where my mouth is and show everyone what I'm talking about. We artists are just so visual.
I've just started two new paintings of the shed in my garden and the Adirondack chair on my deck. It's really time for me to do more paintings of my yard! And, I needed a break from doing the portrait of my Dad.
So, I did both paintings (these are 11 x 14) in black and white acrylic and then added "glazes" of color with my oils. A glaze, in oil and acrylic painting, is like a wash in water color. It's a thin bit of paint added to the medium. I didn't have to work hard at making the darks with color because they were already dark.
You can see these works-in-progress and more of my paintings on my website:
www.artkatcards-paintings.com. - Kathy