Category: Artist Life

It Takes a Whole Lot of Organizing to be a Creative These Days!

It Takes a Whole Lot of Organizing to be a Creative These Days!

I’ve had my Silhouette since April. Completed a good number of projects for family. But I’ve only just today labeled the storage cabinet drawers I bought months ago to help keep myself organized.

So up until now, every time I started a project, there I was rummaging through drawers looking for scraps. I had purchased hanging folder type thingies for my Vinyl and HTV, but odds & ends were stuffed quickly and haphazardly into drawers.

Heavens Above! WHY does it take me so long to get organized? Life is better organized. I get more done organized. I can find what I need 1,2,3 when I am organized!

But as a mixed media artist there is SO MUCH to organize! Acrylic paint, oil paint, cold wax, matte medium, glossy medium, alcohol inks, solvents, pencils, graphite, charcoal, stubbies, brushes, markers, watercolors, pastels, oil pastels, papers, collage papers, paper cutter, napkins, canvas, cradled wood, wood slabs, tiles, fixatives, do-dads, embellishments, old jewelry pieces, ribbons, silk flowers, dried flowers, glues, glue guns, adhesives, mats, frames, a little of this, a little of that, Silhouette Cameo cutting machine, vinyl, HTV, cutting boards, rulers, scissors, fabric, sewing machines, thread, art journals, spiritual journals, handmade journals, HOLY MOLY! It’s a veritable treasure cache of creative material…oozing and overflowing every inch of my space. Not to mention easels, drawing tables, work tables, display panels, hardware, computer desk, super duper bright lights and overhead lighting. Along with all the magical machines, cameras, laptops and ipads…

Then there is the whole world of the internet to organize as well. WordPress, FaceBook, Instagram, Webpage, Design, Marketing, Selling, Bookkeeping, Classes, Tutorials, Professional Groups, Art Groups…Whew!

Yes indeed! It takes a whole lot of organizing to be a creative these days!

Take care,

Kathy Ann

Inspiration. It’s a Funny Thing…

…the sentiment of a moment in time.

He Is Risen
He Is Risen! Watercolor in my art journal

Inspiration

Someone had posted a photo on social media that I just loved. It touched me in it’s simplicity and it’s beauty. The image stayed with me. I found myself reflecting on it. It was the inspiration for this watercolor in my art journal. You never know when inspiration will strike. When something you see or experience in some way, becomes ingrained in your soul. I sat at my drawing table and wondered if I could do the image justice. If I could capture the feeling it left with me. I love that we get to take the memory of a concrete thing and turn it into a piece of art that evokes the emotion and the sentiment of a moment in time.

 

Evening Drive in the Woods

Creative spirits have discovered the wonderful gift of time to create.

Evening Drive in the Woods
Watercolor in my art Journal
approximately 5″ x 7 “

Coronavirus…Interesting times for us. Lots of uncertainty, fear of the unknown, fear of the known.
One thing I think many of us have discovered is the gift of time. Time to dream. Time to pray. Time to sit quietly. Time to reflect. Time to value and give thanks for all the good things in our lives; our family, our friends, our health, our homes, our freedom.

Creative spirits are loving the wonderful gift of time to create. To explore our creative potential. To play. Maybe to start an art journal or learn a new medium. Perhaps to practice. To perfect a technique. To bask in the glory of creation. To acknowledge that we have been blessed with the gift of being able to create with the greatest Creator of All!

It’s has also apparently opened the door to dreaming about an evening drive in the woods!

Take care of yourselves!
Kathy Ann

Rise Up!

Rise Up!
An Intuitive piece
Oil and Cold Wax on Cradled Wood Panel 10″ x 10″

Oil and Cold Wax. There is just something about it. It draws me in. It constantly surprises me. I’m never quite sure where it will end up, and I love that! 

This was an amazing piece to create. First I added gesso to the wood surface, then added a layer of blue and teal acrylic so that when I scraped it back, it wouldn’t be just to a white surface. When working in this medium I work 100% intuitively. I just immerse myself in the glory of the color palette and play with the all that scrumptious, creamy paint. What a wondrous texture! The thing I love about the process of painting with oil and cold wax is the fact that I could never ever create the same piece twice!

 

 

 

 

Fire on the Mountain

Fire on the Mountain

I have long been interested in encaustic art. I even bought all the various supplies…small crock pot, griddle, wax, temperature gauge, all of it! But I was intimidated by the process and worried about the fumes since I have asthma. Then I saw a painting from a fellow artist, asking her if it was encaustic and she replied no, thereby introducing me to the world of Oil & Cold Wax.

Of course it took me a while to actually start experimenting with cold wax…starting with this portrait, since I was primarily focused on faces at the time.

So now here I am in 2020 and there has been a definite shift in my art. I joined Matt Tommey’s online artist mentoring program, that I credit for somehow influencing this shift. I have been participating in Created To Thrive for a few months now, and even though I have been sporadic in participating and taking advantage of all the advice and guidance available, I am glad I joined. It feels good to belong to a group of like-minded creatives.

But that’s not the only influence on my dive into oil and cold wax…I have been watching YouTube videos that have inspired me as well. Gently guiding me through the process and man oh man am I having FUN!

So, anyway…here is my jump back into the medium. I feel a newfound passion for the medium and enjoy experimenting like never before! A sense of freedom and a lessening of the fear of failure or screwing up. SO glad I am on this journey and so glad I live in a time with such a tremendous access to learning on the internet!

Take care,

Kathy Ann

 

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