Finis!

It is done! I did not get a picture, because it is still on the sawhorses and not on the wall of the school. Where it will be placed, there is a lot of natural light (not direct sun) and I want to be able to take a really nice picture then.

I have such a feeling of accomplishment! I am in high hopes that it will be a huge hit.

My next project is the sea shell. I have already started on the background, and it is in oils. I have plans for this painting that will involve painting several layers, maybe even more than one medium, I haven't decided yet. I seem to work and start with a basic concept and let it evolve as I go. I think it is more exciting that way. I also like working in oils, because I like blending colors and soft hues, values and tones. Oils stay wet longer and are more forgiving than acrylic.

I just got back from Wally World with some great finds. I needed black foam core for my presentation and for another project I am working on. I am going to do some art work that shows the children I teach, exactly what a still life, self portrait and landscapes are. If they can see it they will do better at understanding the concepts. Just my opinion anyway.

Well, gotta go. Hubby is cutting up a fresh pineapple and the colts are playing!

bye!
kat

Typical Artist

I have been severely delinquent in keeping up with my blog since I started teaching.

School has really kept me busy, I mean 875 children will keep anyone busy. I teach art to all the grades, k-6th, and that is everyday 5 days a week. OY!

I have been working on a BIG art project for my school and it has been quite an experience. I think I have used every medium that I hate in this piece. It is a mixed medium work using collage, watercolors, chalk pastels, colored pencils, markers, polyurethane, oil pastels and found objects.

At the beginning of the school year I was asked to collect some of the children's art work to be framed and hung around the school. Well, I said I would "work on that" and tried to go about that task. It suddenly occurred to me, how was I going to be able to choose art work from my 875 children that I teach weekly? How can I choose just one or two, or a few? I wanted to be able to include all of them. Also, I wanted the children who were easily discouraged and would throw their art away to see that art wasn't about being perfect. Art was about emotion, seeing the world around them in a different way and being creative. Art is a profoundly personal thing. I decided to put it on hold and get back to it.

One day, it finally came to me as I was putting artwork away in the cabinet. There were several paintings that had been crumpled up and tossed in the garbage (I thought they were good) and several "no name" pieces. As I began to close the cabinet doors my artistic genius (that's sarcasm y'all) kicked in. Instead of just one or two children being picked out from the school, why not a little bit of everyone? What if I began collecting work from here and there as it comes thru, and make a huge collage for the school. I could make it about 4' x 5' and really showcase their art. I was pleased with myself and quickly made notes in my sketchbook. Aha! It was brilliant and I couldn't wait.

As I started sketching out my plans it seemed something was missing, it needed something to give it focus, anchor the piece and make it really unique. The school's mascot is an alligator and I really liked the idea of using a gator in the piece. I decided, "You know what? Why play it safe, let's go all out on this!" and began playing with the idea of making it 3 dimensional. Before I went too far ahead, I asked my husband if it would be possible and he gave me great advice on how to accomplish it. Here is a peek from my sketchbook.

I wanted to present the idea to my school and maybe even ask for a bit of finacial help. It was then that I remembered something my husband said once when he was about to give a presentation, "Not everyone will catch your vision. Sometimes, you have to help them see it." I knew that if I was going to get approval for this project, I would have to make a small scale model. I also knew that I had to use all the elements for the model that I would be using for the large piece. I needed the school to see the vision. Now granted, the real work would be on masonite and not cut paper and foam core, but the scale model was a thing of beauty. I had it almost ready to present and I couldn't wait, yet I was terribly nervous about how it would be recieved.

Inspiration hit me at 2:30 a.m., I KNEW what would seal the deal... (this really was genius!) Our school has character traits that we share with the students every week and month. Traits like, trustworthiness, respect, citizenship, tolerance, courage, etc. So, at 2:30 a.m. I am sitting in our bathroom on the edge of the tub, sketchbook in hand and writing the character traits in the background. The next morning, using a silver colored pencil, I wrote them down on the "prototype" and mounted everything for final presentation.

I presented it to my principal and he approved it immediately. That got the ball rolling for me and I got some help with funding too! It has been a labor of love but after tomorrow, I will have seen this thing thru to completion. We are going to put it all together and have it ready tomorrow. When I get back to school, I have to get some things in order, but I would like to be able to invite the School Superintendant and our PTO to an "unveiling" of sorts. I am hoping we can have a small reception, with the newspaper and everything. My ultimate goal is to draw attention to how art in the county schools are a positive thing for the children. If I can get some attention for our school, that would be awesome. So, yes, there is a bit of something in it for me too. Anytime an artist get a little attention, it's a good thing.

After I get everything put together tomorrow, I will get a pic up. I can't wait to see it in the school, where it will be hung has lots of light and I think it will really POP!

It's getting late...see ya tomorrow!

kat

Starry Starry Night

While I was in the dentist office the other day, (in the chair, actually). I was asked who my favorite artist was. I actually couldn't answer the question. Had I been asked who my favorite impressionist was, my favorite sculptor, my favorite photographer, I may have been able to answer. I can't limit myself to just one artist. Every century, every medium, every genre' has a uniqueness to it and so I have favorite artists and mediums in almost every time period.

My favorite impressionist has to be van Gogh. I love his use of colors and paints. Yes, I know his style of painting came from the fact that he suffered from a terrible disease, but I love his work. The Starry Night, is one of my all time favorites. Back in March I bought some sock yarn from LaLa's Knits and it iss called "Starry, Starry Nights." I began knitting the yarn into socks the other day and I have to say, they haven't disappointed me. The yarn is striping up beautifully and have not pooled on me the first time. I think they pay homage to Vincent van Gogh perfectly. I will get Tori to take some pics and post them later.

Most people are familiar with his beautiful paintings, but have you ever seen his drawings? They are an incredible diplay of different markings to give the illusion of texture and depth. I think his drawings demand as much repect and study as his paintings. I love what he wrote to his brother...I feel like I can relate to this, especially now.

“Well, and yet it was in these depths of misery that I felt my energy revive and I said to myself, I shall get over it somehow, I shall set to work again with my pencil, which I had cast aside in my deep dejection, and I shall draw again, and from that moment I have had the feeling that everything has changed for me, and now I am in my stride and my pencil has become slightly more willing and seems to be getting more so by the day. My over-long and over-intense misery had discouraged me so much that I was unable to do anything.”

Wow, I have been feeling like this too, he used his pencil as an outlet for his depression... well, my medicine is kicking in and I really need to go lie down. It makes me a bit nauseated too.

I have no thought for the day... my brain is clouded by the medications.

good night...

kat

Looking Back So I Can Move Ahead

( a page from my personal sketch book circa.1990)

I was reflecting on my art work, or lack of it, over the past.. *cough*... 20 years. My portfolio is, well, non existent and I have nothing to show in the way of weavings, oil paintings or even photography. All I have is my sketch books, which are, well, just that, sketches, ideas, doodles, and misc. projects from over the last 20 years. So, I decided to go back in time and rethink these designs and see what I could do with them in the here and now.

Behold, the seashell you see above. This was originally going to be used for a wrapping paper design (when I was trying to put together a portfolio of design plates for Hallmark, yes, Hallmark Greetings.)

If I can decipher my own notes, I think it was supposed to be for a bag design. I was looking at it this morning over a cup of coffee and thought, this would be incredible as an oil painting. Then I sighed, remembering that I no longer have any of my oil paints, brushes or even canvases to work with. It made me feel melancholy, "Rats." I said and shoved the book away from me.

Somehow though, that seashell keeps beckoning to me. I keep looking at it and thinking about how beautiful it would look against a washed cream background in oil paints. It wants me to paint it. I need to paint it. I feel like if I don't, I will be haunted by it. Like it will mock me like the Tell Tale Heart, "See? I am another beautifully inspired idea, never fullfilled, never to see completion, kat. Paint me."

I want to, but no paints, no canvas. So, it must wait until ... until I can. Money is tight right now, and anything extra, is having to go towards braces and all of the other everyday things a parent's money goes to. Not complaining about taking care of my family, just, "le sigh", it would be lovely to be able to whip out my paints and create.

The brighter part of creating a new portfolio for myself, is the little issue of photographs. I use to have to take the old PENTAX, several rolls of color film, photograph everything and take it to a photo lab and have the pics made into slides. AH, but NOW, with the age of digital cameras, desk top processing and POWER POINT, you can totally have everything done, right in your own home, for just your time. You can email galleries your art work, send cd's or dvd's of your work, or do a power point presentation. It is absolutely heaven! My digital cam finally gave up, but my daughter got one for her birthday and you can actually change the pixels, so you can have the highest quality pictures available. This will keep documenting my paintings so very easy for me.

For now, housework is calling to me and I have things to do. Stay tuned for more sneak peeks into my personal sketch book. It is a very intimate thing to me and to actually show it publically is huge. You won't see everything but you will get to glimpse into my inner thinkings and inspirations.

my thought for today is, you can't redo the past, but you can learn from it.

kat