Tag: Art

A Love of Bookmaking

I started creating accordion books, gift bag books, cards and lots of other fun creations in the last couple of years. All of which got me hooked on book making. There is just something so satisfying about it!

Gift bag card/books for my friends

Then came the idea to make an
accordion book for each of my grandchildren after watching YouTube tutorials from Treasure Books with Natasha! She is amazing by the way! You can find her here…https://youtube.com/@TreasureBooks

I already had become hooked on all the gorgeous scrapbook papers available so I had a plan…This one was for one of my grandsons.

Then came the idea to make a magical
accordion book for each of these three lovely granddaughters with an image to go along with it for their wall using some fabulous scrapbook papers.

And then for my youngest little sweetheart of a granddaughter

Yep, this was the beginning of my love of bookmaking.

Check out my next post to see where this has lead me…

See you next time!

Take care,

Kathy Ann

ART35N Summer Exhibit at Coconino Community College

I am participating in the Exhibit at CCC. Feels good to get back out there again!

Art35N is happy to have been asked to exhibit in the CCC Lobby this summer! Stop by between the hours of 9-5 to view the exhibit.

July First Friday Artwalk!

Come visit some of our artists at the July 1st Friday Artwork in Flagstaff, AZ on July 1st, at the Phoenix Avenue Gallery located at 2 S. Beaver Street Suite 125 (Entrance on Phoenix Avenue).

WIP…Oil & Cold Wax

8”x 8”Oil & Cold Wax on wood.

I love the serenity of this color palette…

I do so love working in this medium. It has the ability to transport me from the sharp planes of reality into an ethereal dream world full of peace and tranquility.

Take care, Kathy Ann

Love Oil & Cold Wax! 10×10’s process for CCA’s 10×10 Exhibit

I like to play with the acrylic layer under my oil & cold wax paintings…I know they’re going to disappear under the many layers to come, but its a good way to try out ideas for future paintings and they provide great color to scrape back to!

I just love the intuitive process in this medium. One of the things I love the most is also the thing that can frustrate me the most!

I love adding paint, moving it around never really knowing exactly how it’s all going to come together….just working, watching and seeing what arrives. The frustration can arrive when I arrive at something wonderful that doesn’t quite work with the rest of the painting….I try to make it work, but very often I lose the lovely, arrive to not at all lovely🥴, and BAM! Cover it up and start again!

The many personalities of ‘SOAR’

10×10 Oil & Cold Wax on Cradled Wood

The good news is it almost always turns out even better. I have learned to embrace the process and go with the flow. The creative process flows wild & free in this wonderful medium!

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!

 

 

 

 

My First Gallery Show & Tour…Learning the process of an installation.

ART35N’s A New Latitude Exhibition & Tour…My first ever installation! A wonderful learning experience…

The finished installation – Beautiful!

Summer Art Journal 2016…Just for Fun!

I spent so much of today engaged in art of some sort…a wonderful day!

I am having fun working on an art journal for a class I am taking, Art Journal Summer 2016 thru Bloknote Academy online classes. For those who don’t know…Art Journaling is a fun way to create, practice, try out new techniques, mediums, & styles…just for fun, not for perfection.


I have been wanting to start an Art Journal, but wasn’t sure where to start…I figured this short, fun, summer long workshop would be just the ticket!

I was right! So much fun and so helpful to have talented guides as a beginner.

Happy Dance!

Take care,

Kathy Ann

Mysterious in Turquoise & Gold

Whew, this was some sort of challenge from beginning to end.

She was inspired by this sketch from late the other night…the one I told you about that seemed to take on a life of her own(nothing new about that!), going thru many different phases and ending up here.

She seemed to have a story to tell, and I hope this is where she ultimately wanted me to go…
Mixed Media, pastel, acrylic, paint pen, stencils, and ribbon on canvas.

I am glad she is finished. I think I will be creating more like her.

Thank you for joining me on her journey.

Take care, 

Kathy Ann

Oh My Gosh…

“…the curious jumping around of a creative mind”

Oh my gosh…Once again I have been neglecting my little blog. No excuses, other than the fact that apparently I am consistently inconsistent. Not a quality that I am particularly proud of, but I am hoping goes along with the curious jumping around of a creative mind! That and a supreme lack of creative discipline!

I tend to follow my crazy thoughts and ideas here there and everywhere…picking up something new, following that around, while forgetting (not really forgetting…more like ignoring) those other things that caught my fancy.

And then there’s real life in there too…family & friends, busy days, lazy days & days in between, days spent traveling, days spent celebrating family milestones…

Oh my gosh…days spent Living!

There’s ups & downs…insecurities, doubt and wondering why I am writing a blog at all…Is it my own personal online journal? Well that’s pretty self-involved isn’t it?!

Okaaaaaayyyyyy…Well here’s what I know.

I am not writing to pour my heart out or make a big, beautiful statement about life.

I am not writing to impress anyone.

I am not writing to purge my soul.

I am certainly not looking for fame or fortune (I am sure there are better ways to go about that!).

I am writing just because I want to.

I like to.

I enjoy sharing my little piece of the world, as sporadic as it may be.

It is not my main objective.

It is not my job. It is not my end all, be all.

I do not need it to feel complete.

I just like doing it…

That’s  it… pure & simple.

Take care,

Kathy Ann

Can you believe this sunset?!

If I had painted it, no one would believe that straight line between dark & light really existed. Makes you wonder…perhaps that line in real life is more obvious than some in this world would have us believe…
Beautiful, at any rate.

She wore Flowers in her Hair…Part 2

FullSizeRender

Finally figured out the words to fill the space to the right of her…need to practice my calligraphy skills…it’s hard to write upright on the easel, but I lose perspective when working flat…got a little uphill thing going on…Feels like a blast back to the 60’s or 70’s…

Anyway, here she is!

Take care,

Kathy Ann

 

She wore ‘Flowers in her Hair’

There have been many, many discussions in the workshop I am currently taking, about copyrights as they apply to collage artists, and I must admit, it made me so very nervous about using collage as a background. Legal stuff…

My latest on a collage has gone through many revisions. Not my flower girl herself, but the collage background.

There have been many, many discussions in the workshop I am currently taking, about copyrights as they apply to collage artists, and I must admit, it made me so very nervous about using collage as a background. Legal stuff…

So, although I absolutely loved my original…I was not comfortable about some of the collage elements and the whole copyright thing…there was even mention of not being able to use scrap booking papers, ephemera, stamps, etc. if you are planning to sell your work…aargh!

I was really bummed, cause I really thought collage might be my “niche”…ah well…Apparently it’s ok to use items like ephemera, letters, music, etc., from before 1922. Will have to research further…

At any rate…here she is for now!

Take care,

Kathy Ann

 

Crazy, Wonderful!

…You know that feeling when you look at something grand (at least to you) that you have achieved and all you can do is stare in wonder and amazement?

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My first ever watercolor face…definitely a complicated medium. Seems less forgiving than acrylics…I would think the shading was looking good and then I would add to it and BAM!  I would totally ruin it! Wet paper + inexperience with a new medium= scary! So glad to have tackled this. Didn’t have all the suggested supplies, but didn’t want to wait for my Amazon order…learned a lot, with a whole lot more learning to go.

I stood in my studio(that I used to call my craft room)after finishing the above piece…looking at my drawings & paintings from the last six weeks…this is CRAZY! Crazy & Wonderful & Exciting to realize that my forever dream is actually coming true…You know that feeling when you look at something grand (at least to you) that you have achieved and all you can do is stare in surprise, wonder and amazement? Yeah, that’s where I’m at…Happy & Enjoying the Journey!

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Retirement – and Art! (or…Art & Retirement!)

World_Canvas_IMG_0308 [45247]

Yes! I did it! I finally got to that golden utopia of retirement…and I am loving it!

I spent the first six months adjusting to the new non-schedule. I have to say, I never found this to be difficult nor boring. I have been looking forward to this for so long, with so many endeavors planned, that it has been pretty easy and definitely painless.

Since I retired in July, I spent the summer and fall enjoying the great outdoors, grandkids, friends, and holidays. Trips to Lake Powell, kayaking adventures, helping with grandkids occasionally, hiking and porch sitting took up the summer. Next came all the holidays and family fun!

Now it is February and I have embarked on my most anticipated and treasured journey. I have re-ignited my creative dreams of being an artist…not a florist or a crafter, not an amateur photographer…but an honest to goodness artist. The journey has begun…

I am taking an online Mixed Media workshop titled, Let’s Face it, which is a fabulous year long workshop with an emphasis on portraits/faces. The workshop includes lessons by a total of 17 Artists, so we get to see, experience, and learn lots of different styles and techniques. A new lesson with video instructions arrives in my inbox each week. There is also a private Facebook group that we all (520+ artists strong from all over the world) share our work and receive support and kudos from. It is AMAZING and I am so impressed by the wonderful artists I get to be a part of.

Drawing faces is my long time passion…I have been drawing faces since I was a young girl. I would go to BINGO with my mom…she would doodle all these women profiles and I was enthralled! So I copied her style, learned by watching her, and would spend the hours at BINGO happily drawing away!

I believe this will be one of my greatest adventures. I am already learning SO much and we are only 5 weeks in!

Below is my first ever painted face – titled her “Imagine!”

In Process #1
#2
#3
#4
#5
Finished – Imagine!

Till next time!

Take care,

Kathy Ann

 

 

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