Seashells I II & III

Here are some of my recent Seashell paintings.  These were alot of fun to paint.  I used different media to create textures on each of the shells including watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, acrylic ink, pen and ink, gesso and elegant writer pens. 

I must apologize for not posting for a while.  Unfortunately life sometimes gets in the way.   I have been busy with shows and teaching and things in my personal life.  It has been a struggle to find  my motivation to paint.  I have been painting don't get me wrong, but I have started many paintings and not finished very many of them.  I am now trying to decide on subject matter for some new paintings for some shows in the new year and I have not been able to decide what to paint.  Do I paint subjects that I feel comfortable with or do I work on something that is a little more challenging?   I'm really not sure what direction my art is going in next.  Someone had  said that when you go through a period of time struggling with your art you are about to go in a new direction and make steps forward in your art.  I certainly hope that is what's happening to me!

Turning Leaves

I painted this painting last year and I don't think I ever posted it.  I pulled it out recently to frame for Occasion for the Arts.  I remember when I painted it I really enjoyed the fall colors both bright and muted.  It really was alot of fun.

Recently I lost all my pictures in my computer as well as my documents.  So I've been a little disabled in pulling paintings to blog.  I have been so busy getting ready for shows as well as starting my teaching season.  I have cut back my classes as I want more time to devote to my painting.  Right now I have four or five paintings that I need to get finished after the show is oover.

Next weekend I'm in Occasion for the Arts in Colonial Williamsburg, VA.  I am so looking forward to it.  I just hope that the weather is bright and sunny as it was in my Turning Leaves painting.

A Gala Basket

I know it's been two weeks since my last post and I must apologize. But I have been busy teaching and working on my Gala Basket. (I'm also working on another painting too.) I guess I'm still a little obsessed with my fruits and vegetables, as well as going through a still life phase!

I really enjoyed this painting except for the fact that one of the apples gave me a hard time. The problems of mixing green and red. But I think I finally won the battle. I had so much fun building the rich reds and well as mixing the colors to capture the basket itself. What colors do you think that I used? Well I mixed green with red. Oh the joy of mixing green and red. And of course I loved painting my green and red cloth.

I have started a new blog: Katsart Studio. You can click on it at the top of my Katsart blog. In this blog I'm going to focus on the steps that I take for completing a painting. I am going to be discussing A Gala Basket in it soon. Check it out and let me know what you think of it.

Lemonade?

Here's my recent painting of a pitcher of lemonade. It sure looks refreshing! The painting is a touch brighter than the picture on the post. I have been spending alot of my time painting still lives lately. I don't really know why but I feel that if I'm motivated to paint something then I need to put forth the effort to pursue it. When I first studied watercolors I used to set up still lives and paint them. I need to pull some of them out and compare them for the fun of it!

This weekend, Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and Sunday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm I'm in Artisans in the Park at Great Neck Park. It is a lovely park with paths through the trees providing shade. It is a large arts and crafts show with music, food and activities for children. If your in the neighborhood check it out. It's a nice way to spend a Saturday or Sunday.

After Artisans in the Park this weekend I'm going to paint another Koi painting. It will be the fifth in a series. All previous four paintings have sold!

Then in the fall I will be teaching many classes and I will reorganize all my teaching supplies and class outlines. Then in my spare time I will start working on developing my portraits again.

Not that I have any specific plans. But if I'm motivated to paint something then I will paint it!

Caliente

I have spent alot of time working on paintings for the workshops I'm going to be teaching this summer. But here is a painting that I did just for the fun of it. And it was a great deal of fun. I must thank my friend Patti for helping me name it.

I have wanted to paint peppers for a long time and have never got around to it. At first I was going to just paint them in the ceramic bowl but then I remembered a Christmas dish towel I had. So I dug it out and simplified it and added it to the painting. I love the colors in the painting they were so much fun to work with and they certainly can spice up a painting.

Now that I am getting back into painting I hope to be posting more often!

Kim's Tulips

When I visited my daughter in La Quinta, CA she had the most beautiful bouquet of tulips sitting on her kitchen counter. I was fascinated by them and took a bunch of photos. I recently painted them and am pleased with the outcome.

When I go to places either new and exciting or the same and indifferent there are things I see that summon me to paint them. I have hundreds of photos, and pictures as well as memories and I only get to paint some of them. I have more things inspiring me than I have the time to cultivate. I am very thankful for this as I will never run out of ideas to paint.

This Saturday I'm participating in the Fairfield Days Summer Art Show. It will be at the Fairfield Shopping Center at the corner of Kempsville Rd. and Providence Rd., Virginia Beach, VA from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. There will be food, live music, a giant water slide, an indoor train show as well as the art show of local artists. If your not doing anything on Saturday stop by and see the art and begin celebrating your 4th of July holiday. It will be a red white and blue day!!!

Pineapple

I bought a pineapple from the grocery store and became so fascinated by the shapes and colors that I just had to paint it. This is how I usually come to paint something different than my usual repertoire. It was so much fun playing with the shapes and the colors. (I do believe that the colors are a little richer in the painting itself.) I also like putting it in a tall and thin shape. I think it exaggerates the height of the pineapple itself.

Now I have to say that taking a break and having fun painting a pineapple is not what I should be doing right now. I need to start working on paintings for the show at Pembroke 4 Art Gallery at the end of July and new paintings for the Seawall festival at the end of August. But don't I always tell my students that having fun painting is the most important part of your artistic experience and that your paintings always improve when you are enjoying the process?

I'm making a transition in focus at this point in time. I'm going to have alot more time on my hands to spend working on my painting and pursuing other interests. My problem is that I always want to do it all and I can't always allow myself to try to do everything at the same time. So I need to sit back and figure out what is the most important things to work on and try and just focus on them. Let's see how well I can do with that!

African Violets

This is my first oil painting. When I first started taking art classes as an adult, I started with a drawing class. Then I started taking watercolors. I figured acrylics should be the next step. I started taking a class that offered both oil and acrylics. I painted three acrylic paintings. I did not like that the paint dried before I was done blending it. So I tried oils and immediately fell in love with it. I had so much fun blending the colors in this painting especially on the teapot.

I'm planning on doing some oil painting as soon as I finish teaching this semester of classes. It should be alot of fun.