You Name It VI, Flowers

You Name It VI, 2'x2', mixed media on board

The underlying theme of last weekend seemed to be flowers. On Friday Chad arrived with some sweet pink roses, the next afternoon we chose bundles of flowers to create Mother's Day bouquets and that evening we arrived at the gallery to some beautiful flowers my parents sent. They are on their last legs so I decided to give them eternal life on wood.

This piece is just a quick sketch. I made a video just for fun. I like that this painting is mostly gray and white and not so much colorful.

The Subject

I wanted some kind of an alliteration for the title of this piece. Ideas?

Below is the video, I have never posted a video directly to the blog post. We'll see how this goes.

Explore the Wild Opening!

This is the sign outside of Flourish Studios.

The opening was a huge success! I am thrilled that everything went so well. We had a huge turnout and I even sold a painting! In this post you can just browse through the pictures I have posted. Sadly, I took no pictures and I have not gotten my hands on all of the pictures that were taken. Enjoy the blips you can see, I might add more later.

Also, thank you for reading this blog. If I didn't feel somewhat accountable to keeping my readers entertained I would not have produced the work which I exhibited in the show.

Me with Zoollpaper, Solo Duet and From the Zoo

This is Andrew Heber. His encaustics are behind us! Andrew and I met while studying at an art school with UGA in Cortona, Italy.

Here is my Tulip, Casey. She had to leave the opening early and run off to the Cornservatory because she is a woman of many talents.

My absolutely wonderful Grandparents came to the opening from Michigan. They were so fun to have there (Grama took almost all of the pictures in this post) and the next day I got to see Grama on Mother's Day!

For those of you who don't know, this is my super-deeee-doooper Chad. Needless to say, I couldn't have done all of this without his endless support.

Chad chatting with Anne Leuck Feldhaus and her husband, Rich Feldhaus.

Some of the work by Casey Searles and Andrew Heber. Casey's work is to the left of the column, Andrew's to the right.

My two paintngs flanking Casey's cupcake. Francine the Asian Pear, on the right, sold on the night of the opening! Thank you Tim and Annie!

Some of my You Name It paintings looking into the main gallery space.

Casey did a post about the opening too! Check it out on her blog! You should also check out her post previous to the one about the opening. In that post Casey has some pictures up of some of the pieces she had in Explore the Wild. Alright, its back to the easel for me.

Francine the Asian Pear

Francine the Asian Pear, mixed media on board, 28x23"

I pumped out a few paintings last Monday before I hung the show. Recently I sold a piece of fruit on etsy so I figured more fruit might not hurt. I enjoy doing it and the more classic still life is a little more likely to sell.

Here are some process photos. It is fun to see the collage process. The reason I enjoy using text in collage is not for reference to literature but to use the line of the text as a contour for the shape of the piece--it gives an extra dimension to the paintings of everyday objects.

Some of the collage pieces I died in tea They are not strategically placed but I like the patchy look, its the Asian Pear look.

Don't forget about EXPLORE THE WILD on Saturday!!! More info is in the last blog entry! I am so excited!

Thanks!

Tweaked

For Tweaked, mixed media on canvas, 2x3'

I did this painting for the play of Tweaked, by Paul Shoulberg, directed by my good friend Ross Matsuda. The play is being performed at the Viaduct Theatre in Chicago. The performances began on 2 May and will continue through the month. For more information on when you can go and see it visit Big Brother Productions.

When Ross asked me to do this piece I knew one thing about the play--its about meth addicts. That was enough to spark my interest. The piece is meant to be the one thing of value the addicts cannot get rid of. The painting was to be an abstract, misunderstood but genius, unaccessible but iconic.

Layer 1, For Tweaked

I sent Ross a few artists I would keep in mind while composing the piece--Rothko, Rauschenberg, Miro, and Korroch. Rothko for patches of gradiated color. Rauschenberg for chunky collage. Miro for bold outlines. Korroch for some me in it. If you do not know these artists they are definitley worth getting to know. Click on the links.

Another Layer

Here you can see I used some pumice to add texture. I also incorporated layers of collage and I threw in some oil pastel (the lines). I also used this interesting gold polish like paint Anne had laying around.

More oil pastel. Geometric shapes I manage to force into being organic. I am not one for hard edged painting.


Patches of color. I used string gel, the material I use to make people think my paintings have oil paint in them. I mixed up a tone of that yellow with string gel and used my palette knife to get harder, thicker edges.

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REMINDER:

Explore The Wild: Newly Discovered Artists

THIS SATURDAY, 6-9 PM
Flourish Studios, 3020 N Lincoln

AMAZING ART and FREE WINE TASTING!

Solo Duet

Solo Duet, aprox. 5 x 3 ft., mixed media

This is another improv piece. With this gallery opening looming I needed to do something without a plan. It felt good to do and thats what I needed. I plan to cut it down to be a diptych (which I did to my first improv painting). Visit viddler or youtube to see the process of this painting!

(I recommend viddler quality wise but it takes a bit longer to upload so go to youtube if its not up yet!)

Accidents are the best part of being an artist. I learned this when i worked as a ceramics studio assistant. Now whenever something I didn't plan happens I know the piece will be special. In this case I took an oil pastel and drew something, didn't like it and used water based materials on top of it. This created a vein like effect underneath the skin of the figure.



Another happy accident is the figure highlighted in this painting. I sketched her from a Lucian Freud painting while I was collecting visual data of different kinds of body-types. In my monoprint class I ended up trying to make a print from my drawing. It failed but I liked the plate I used. This particular process is a xerox transfer process, so the photo copy of the chosen image is the plate.



Underneath this woman is a quick sketch of a framed portrait of a man in a top hat. I didn't like where that was going (I have tried to insert him before, he is a perfect voyeur for my subjects, yet he never seems works out).


I have this piece hanging next to the area where I am painting in my apartment (look below). Mary Cassatt was a huge influence on my life growing up. My parents did a wonderful job of throwing me into the art world when I was very young. My family has a special love for Cassatt, not only because of her beautiful artwork, but also because she pioneered the path that my mother and I are now (and have been) walking.

I had to share how physically overwhelmed my living space is with ART. I will be hanging most of it a week from tomorrow at Flourish Studios. Wish me luck!

Zoollpaper (Working Title)

Zoollpaper, aprox. 5 x 5', mixed media

I have another process video! This time I decided to post on viddler and youtube. The viddler is much better quality. Click here to see the process video.

So you might recognise the image. This is a painting done from You Name it No. 1. This image is one of my favorite I have done this year so I decided to make it very big. When i began working on this piece I had a completely different image in mind. I did not plan it very well so i ended up gessoing over the painting I was working on and doing this painting. You will witness the under-painting in the video.

This flower is a collaged wall paper I composed for the first painting. It was perfect because all of the roses left a wonderful texture underneath the gesso. The white gesso enabled you to see the different planes of paper. I got the rose wallpaper idea when Marty and I visited the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago.




I never realized how much I paint elephants--an unintentional theme. I love mixed media. I feel so much better when my painting table is covered with oil sticks, oil pastels, my graphite stick, sting gel and glue. As a very tactile artist, being able to touch all of these textures is important to my process. In this piece I used all of the media I listed above.




I love this little square with the bird. I loved it in You Name It No. 1 and I still love it. This part of the painting is so hidden yet so potent. The bid is the only piece of collage from the original collage source, I created the rest of it in this painting. Also, I love being able to see the layers the artist went through to get to the final product. Part of my sketch is prominently displayed here.




The oil sticks made this painting. With my chunks of skin/stone I used tons of different flesh tones. As I was placing these patches of color on the surface of the paining i ws worried, it was a haphazard endeavour. True to my love for oil paint, this brown, gooey stick smudged exactly how I needed it to, unifying the multitude of flesh tone.

While I was painting this piece I had the privlege to help my friend Jason create his first painting (which is amazing, you can see that later). It was wonderful to have another person around while I was painting and it was great hearing both conceptual and visual input as I was painting.

Some points to ponder while viewing this piece" Where the arrow is pointing. Where the bird if flying? From where if the bird flying. Stone/brick or skin? Escaped? Trapped? What is a pet? Sides of society. Grass vs. stone = ? Skin tone. Ethnicity.

That is just an abstract of our discussion. I would love to get your input. My favorite thing about painting these pieces with lots going on beyond the pretty picture is to here what everyone sees. Please tell me what you see! Your comments will spark more wonderful ideas!

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My first opening in Chicago will be at Flourish Studios Saturday May, 10, 2008 from 6-9. There will be wine and wonderful art by Casey Searles, Andrew Heber and Kate Korroch (thats me!). Mark your calendar and look forward to lots of wonderful artwork!

You Name It V

Before I launch into my art I would like to share that my Momma has started a blog. Katiedidstudio.blogspot.com. Go check it out! You can see what she is working on and some of things things that are artistically inspirational to Katiedid.

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You Name It V, 24x24, acrylic on board

This piece was inspired by my idea to start working big again. As you saw in the last piece, this piece borrows imagery from my other work from this year. The most obviously repeated images are from You Name It I. I like the water color look, I ended up using lost of washed on the acrylic paint.

The sign is a funny little part. I didn't intend the double meaning, it just happened because of my aesthetic choices. Actually, the sign was thrown in at the last minute. Just the figure with the background was not enough.




This picture shows the washes of paint and it also gives you a nice view of the wood. One of the biggest things I have learned from working in various media is to work with the material, don't fight it. I guess this mindset goes back to when masons were carving in the middle ages. A lesson we all have to learn for ourselves. Respond to the material, don't fight it.

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Point of news:

I donated Whole Earth Woman to a silent auction at LillStreet for Art Reach. It was fun to have something donated but I was a little disappointed because they misspelled my last name, did not put out my cards that I sent and called it Untitled instead of Whole Earth Woman (written on the back of the piece). Despite that, I am thrilled that I got to donate art to raise money to bring art to the community. The event was fantastic--great art, good food, wonderful people. They did a wonderful job.

One last thing, I am in the middle of another painting that I am making a process video of! Wooot, look forward to it!

Thanks.