Stickin' Ideas Together

I launched 2013 with a trip to NYC. Oh the art, the density of everything, the energy. Splendid beyond all imaginings. When I returned home I decided to pursue my love of cardboard, thanks to an introduction to Franz West at the MOMA. I decided to reduce my materials cost therefore taking some pressure off of myself to create a Masterpiece on every canvas and cradled panel I invest in. Cardboard is free for the taking and often comes "prepped" for collage with packing tape, shipping labels and printing. In the above piece I first laid down some acrylic paint. I then transferred a colour printout of some graffiti that I had photographed. This was followed with collage ephemera and more acrylic. Once I felt that the groundwork was in place, I transferred a black and white photo of my daughter into the composition there by creating a focal point. Lastly I further painted into the piece to emphasize or deemphasize various aspects of the composition. The final steps fo...

I recently watched the inaugural performance of Susan Boyle.  My heart was filled with joy. With inspiration. With "I can" feelings for my own personal goals. Looking at the faces of the three judges, I saw not only admiration but love. Real love for this woman who mere seconds earlier they were just shy of verbally mocking. LOVE. That's the key to humanity's success. Love is the key to world peace, to tolerance, to getting along with the person who is sitting beside you right now. A little bit of love goes a long, long way and is infectious. Love let's us see who someone IS as opposed to how they LOOK. Love let's us remember that outward behaviours may be caused from inner pain. Love let's us ask another person how he/she is feeling and listens to the answer. Love is round. This Christmas, I remind you (and myself) that a little bit of love goes a long way. How about, for a change, we all spread it on really thick this season? Imagine the results......

The Eastside Culture Crawl in East Vancouver BC is an annual art crawl that takes our city by storm. The hub, at 1000 Parker is a weekend event within itself with literally floors of artisans occupying an old factory warehouse building... which is perfectly decrepit and artsy. My favourite is always Jill Pilon, at Watershed Studio. Her new linear series is brave and forward feeling. Clean in a collage-messy way. She is a huge inspiration to me. Currently I am focusing on more transfer technique discovery on cardboard. Nothing more freeing that playing on cardboard. Minimal material investment = more relaxed approach. I hope that, like me, you will make the most of staying inside during the winter to create and paint. The seasons are meant to inspire; use them to the fullest! ~ Kathryn

I am about a month and a half away from the opening of my latest show, Delivery. All is going better than expected since I have had an unusually busy year with my other career as a graphic designer and have had to put my painting on the back-burner. Here is a snap of one of my paintings-in-progress. What I love about this painting is the prevalence of the almost neon pink. I haven't really employed pink in the past, but this one just demanded it & I listened. I also made use of some modelling paste for the numbers you see. I pressed them through a stencil. They have since shrunk some but are still pretty cool. The blotches of paper you see are transfers in progress. They worked out really well thanks to a very helpful techniques class I took with local Vancouver artist, Jeanne Krabbendam. Next post I'll show you a bit more of this painting nearly finished; I'll keep you posted on the Delivery series.

Way back at the end of 2011 I made a wee painting for a friend of mine. She is a map lover & really enjoyed the work I submitted to The Anonymous Art Show. I made a mini version of it for her. The image above is a quick snap of the painting living in her living room. It's the one beneath the letter V. There is no bigger message here, just a fun post in appreciation of appreciation. Happy painting!

Oh happy day that an art library exists in the world. Recently a prominent article appeared in the  New York Times . My very own sketchbook currently resides in the Brooklyn Art Library. I sent it off this past April. I hope to visit it one day since I didn't get a chance to photograph it before it went out. Yes I know, bad move. Anyway, if you're interested in connecting with a vibrant, global, creative group, this may be for you. Join today!