A Summer of Lilies, a New Creek Painting, and a trip to LI City

I made 7 LILY paintings this summer.  Then I went back to the CREEK series and made a new 48 x 30"  and put a few finishing touches on my first pieces too.  So I have seven lily and seven creek paintings for my show. The show opening will be from  5 to 7 pm on JANUARY 8 at the CHAPIN GALLERY on Route 206 in Princeton, NJ. It will be up until January 29. My cousin, John Spedding, will be showing his beautiful sculptures together with my paintings, and I'm very excited about this!

Surprisingly,  when I lined up all my paintings today in my studio, I realized this project is finished!  I had intended to make more--some 16 x 20's, but  I feel strongly it's time to move on!

I've worked on these for ten months. Maybe that's my rhythm.

48 x 30"
48 x 30"

Anyway I have learned a lot. When I started  last November,  I was coming out of two years of realistic charcoal drawing only. I was desperate for color. My first painting, which is huge (60 x 48"), was kind of a checking back in to the world of oil paint.  The more I progressed from that initial place, the lighter and simpler my work became. I look at the big one now almost as a study for what would follow it.  As I went forward, I learned that especially if you are abstracting the work, the canvas has to rule. I had to let go of my realistic notions and just go with what was happening on the canvas. The more I did this, the more the painting worked.

One thing that I am very pleased with is the effect these paintings have had on me. The process was a very happy one!

Of course there were many moments when I puzzled over what to do next, but it was more intriguing than struggling. These paintings just flowed,  one into the next.  With Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett music blasting in the studio, I had a really good time making all of them!

A TRIP TO LONG ISLAND CITY TO THE JEFFREY LEDER GALLERY SMALL WORKS SHOW

Pal Mic Boekelman was part of a wonderful juried show of small works in Long Island City's Jeffrey Leder Gallery,  jeffreyledergallery.com. Mic does bold, colorful, modern portraits. Her pieces for this show are part of her Trenton Ten series. She is collaborating with photographer Delonte Harrod to tell another story of Trenton through compelling portraits of young Trentonians. See Mic's work at www.micbstudio.com.

3 of Mic's Boekelman's Trenton Ten
3 of Mic's Boekelman's Trenton Ten

I had the pleasure of spending time at the show with another fabulous artist whose work I really admire. Jenne Glover does gorgeous mixed media pieces and oil paintings as well. She loves the work of Romare Bearden as much as I do. Even got to meet him. Check out her beautiful work at www.jenneglover.com.

Collages by Jenne Glover
Collages by Jenne Glover

It was also a pleasure to meet super energetic entrepreneur April DeMarco, a fellow B-Schooler with both a jewelry and painting business. She was wearing a gorgeous turquoise and leather bracelet and turquoise necklace that she made. Really fabulous looking. You can find her at www.demarcostudios.com.

So as the color comes onto the leaves, it's time to get back outside again. This time I will work with both pastels and oils.  And I'm thinking of standing on my neighbor's bridge over the creek. Seems like it would be fun. We'll see how that works out!

I'm also looking to do some more collages and working on my musicians and dancers. We'll see if anything comes of it!!

In the meantime, happy creating!

love,

Kathy

New lilies and the French Canvas Company

 

I've been having quite a fun time with these paintings! I've cranked up the air conditioning and stayed up in my studio pretty relentlessly! The process for Lily Number 2 progressed like the first one. Then I switched out of that color range and followed where Number 3 wanted to go. I took what I learned from that one and looped back onto the first two, adding more color to the petals. It gave more depth to my original simplified image, and I like it.

lily 3, 48 x 30

lily 3, 48 x 30

This was how I was expecting the work to progress. As I learn something new, I can go back and see if I can use it elsewhere. I also revised two of the large October Creek paintings as a result, and I think they are pretty close to being finished.  I was working on bringing in more light and kicking up the circular nature of the images by adding bright, light colors.  I'll look at them again in a few weeks. I'm not sure if I went far enough, and I'll know later, when I haven't looked at them in awhile.

THE FRENCH CANVAS COMPANY

It's great when you find people you know you can count on. I believe Robert Mogul, owner of the French Canvas Company in Trenton, NJ, is one of them.

My friend Mic Boekelmann and I  made a site visit to check them out, and we were really impressed. It's a huge factory space at 200 Whitehead Road, Trenton, NJ, devoted to nothing but making canvases to order for artists. Any size or shape you want, various options for canvas and linen and other products are available, all made to order. Check out their website: www.FrenchCanvas.com.

I brought home a truckload of canvas and am very pleased with the price, the quality, and the excellent service I got from both Rob and his friendly staff.

Next time: switching to smaller sized canvas and a sculpture picnic! Until then, thanks for looking and have fun making things!

love,

Kathy

Beauty addict, female saxes and a festival of shoes

  I am seriously addicted to beauty! It keeps me working and exploring all kinds of new things, in both art and music.

water lily 48 x 30

I am 7 days into this new series of water paintings. This one is big, 48 x 30, and was inspired by a series of photos I took at my friend Penny's house. It's not done, but I am letting it rest for awhile to gain perspective on it and am starting another big one.

I have a lot of wall space to fill up for my February 2014 show at Chapin Gallery in Princeton, NJ. It's my first show, and my cousin, sculptor John Spedding of Pennington, NJ, will be sharing the show with me. His mother, my beloved Aunt Julie, got me started painting ten years ago. If she only knew how obsessed with it I would become!

With the help of my friends I will make it through this period! On this website I will let you know about what's happening along the way and will appreciate your feedback!

I also will be showcasing some local art and music happenings that may fall under the radar. They involve friends and acquaintances who are doing fun projects just for the joy of it!

TWO FEMALE JAZZ SAXES

This past Friday night Gabi Schadel was playing for Mic Boekelmann's Lux Gallery party in Hopewell, NJ. Her luscious tone provided  sweet relief  to people as they came dripping in out of the torrential rain that went on all night. The event  was a Fete Rouge for Mic's local German friends, who came out to party and to see the new work of Lux Gallery owners, Cathy, Donna, Margie, Jane and Mic. We danced and had a great time!

Next time: French Canvas Company and hopefully some progress on a new painting

Until then...keep making things!

xo Kathy