OWOH

I have to say that this event was a brilliant stroke by LisaSwifka (see entry below). I have discovered so many new blogs, filled with wonderful stories. I have been moved by the many comments about by own give away. So many out there have been touched by breast cancer. This disease is everywhere,. Wendy in New Zealand is a survivor. She has been cancer free for over a year! Yea way to go... Brenda (AKA Dragonlady) is a breast cancer survivor, another Brenda had a Mum and an aunt with the disease, seahagsstudio has a sister with a 3 1/12 years old and a one year old currently fighting this cancer, Mistress Girly has a friend recently diagnosed with breast cancer, Kathy has three friends with the disease, Melanie's aunt if fighting the disease, Stampgram has a friend who lost her Mom to the disease, and Carol has friends with the disease. These are just some of the comments under my OWOH give way entry on this blog. I am truly humbled and I want you all to know I have read every comment and taken them all to heart. You are all amazing. In my own world, Jean is still fighting the disease but going strong. In the autumn it will be a year since her diagnosis and we are all hoping for a good mammogram! I have just started to think about this years breast cancer fund raiser. I think with so many comments I will have plenty of inspiration.

Thank you new blog friends for your artistry and wonderful stories. I am blessed to share the Internet with so many kindred spirits. Please know that whether I "win" a give away or not, I already have won a prize...you, all of you! I will leave you with my last years donation entitled: Lean on Me

You can find the story here: http://artful-musings-of-kathyl.blogspot.com/2008/04/work-of-hope-and-love-for-michelle.html. And here: http://artful-musings-of-kathyl.blogspot.com/2008/04/lean-on-me-work-of-love.html

k

One World One Heart Blog Event!

It was just today that I came across this wonderful bloggers event called One World One Heart. You can read about it here or click on the icon: http://oneworldoneheart.typepad.com/one_worldone_heart/2009/01/index.html. This event, which is in its third year I believe, involves a blog give away but those who participate are linked through the One World One Heart blog over 600 participants and going strong). Lisa, the woman who started this event, explains the concept and why she started it here: http://oneworldoneheart.typepad.com/one_worldone_heart/2009/01/from-my-heart.html. Basically the event brings a variety of bloggers from all over the world together to share their stories. The giveaway part is just icing on the cake. I thought that this was a really an awesome idea. There are so many talented people out with with a story to tell. I have a handful of blogs that I follow rigorously and I know that it will be fun to add a few more! I will definitely leave a comment on some of the wonderful blogs who are participating in the hopes I just might win a little something. Some of the give aways are beautiful. More importantly though, is the good reads I am experiencing through so many new blogs.

So here is how it works. Below is a scan of the original artwork entitled Hope. She was donated to a breast cancer fundraiser but I would like to giveaway an Art Print of this work. The print is about 5 by 7 and is centered on a 8 by 10 paper, archival, very high quality matte, and printed with archival inks. I will title and sign the print on the front. I created this piece because a good friend had been recently diagnosed with cancer. This is one of my favorite mixed media and collage pieces. The poem quoted is by Emily Dickinson, "Hope is a the thing with feathers that perches in the soul..."

What you need to do if you would like to have me send this to you, is to leave a comment on THIS post. Please include your email address or some way that I can contact you if you should win. You can post up to midnight on Feb. 11th . I will draw a winner at random on February 12th and post his or her name to my blog. That is all...Simple! Happy commenting!

k

Conscious Cup Show: Jan - Feb. 2--9

I had my little artist reception on January 17th. It was not advertised so the turn out was low. I sent an email out to some of my good friends and was happy to welcome them. The pictures look wonderful on the wall. I was pleased with the installation. So far, there have been a lot of nice comments but no sales. I am not surprised. With the economy and it being right after the holidays...who has disposable cash for art? Oh well. It has been very gratifying to have people walk up to me when I am in there to ask me about the work. That is way cool. I love to interpret my pieces. So here are a few pictures from the reception. The youngster is my son Colin and the dude is my husband. I am also on the website of Conscious Cup here:

http://www.consciouscup.com/joomla/ Thanks to the Jack and Mike for the plug :)

And just a short note to make it official...I now have an Etsy shop. I thought that I would give it a go. Original art will not be put in the store till after the show. I have to say I find the environment at Etsy a bit more easy going than eBay. I really did not want to list my art there. So many of the atists that I admire have shops on Etsy...so why not?

K

Classroom of Silence- More definition

Today is another cold one here in McHenry, IL. The temperature (without wind chill) this AM was -17. Yep,
-17! My kids did not have school again, yea! It was nice to allow them to really sleep in. I made a nice warm sweet bread, lemon poppy seed, for breakfast and they were able to have it warm out of the oven. All the homework was shelved and they have basically watched TV or played video games. Oh to be a kid again!

I was able to sneak in a little studio time and here is the next phase of this piece. Things are a bit more defined. I am currently working on the veil. I plan on building up the layers/folds with more tissue and then I will probably give it a wash of color. I am not exactly sure. Sometimes my portraits will speak to me as I am working. That probably sounds weird but for me anyway, it is true. This one, however, is silent. I wonder if that in itself says something?

K

Classroom of Silence-working title

So...today along with my daughter Kaitie and my husband, we hung my gallery show. Naturally I forgot my camera but hopefully will rember this Saturday. I am pleased with the look.

Today was the coldest day in Illinois in about 10 years. My kids were home from school and after I hung the show, we came straight home and I buried myself in my studio. With a warm cup of coffee, my paint brushes, and music, I was content to spend three hours just collaging away. Here is the beginning of my piece that I think I will donate to my children's school for a fundraiser. I am always leery about donations because you just never know if people will bid on the work. I am not so insecure when my work is hanging in a gallery. People can choose to look at the works or choose to purchase a work. But with a fund raiser, you sort of have no choice on what you are bidding and sometimes feel like you have to bid. Maybe I am over thinking all of this but I do feel so insecure in this type of venue.

So this is a Catholic school. There are religious elements in this piece but I really want to convey a sort of inner quiet and peace one achieves through prayer. The working title is Classroom of Silence, in deference to Matthew Kelly. I am not sure exactly where I am going with the work and although I had parts of this piece in my mind before I started, the rest of it will have to come to life as I paint. The background is a patch work of papers and my children's art work. The figure is in the style of Redon (at lest I hope it is...I love Odilon. Redon, he is one of my favorite artists). I can't wait to see how this one unfolds...

k

der Weihnachtstraum 1-109

Happy New Year I say as I pat myself on the back! It just feels good to have come through the Holidays. We are on the cliff looking down as we wait for the axe to fall. My husbands job maybe no more thanks to Bank of America's many acquisitions and mismanagement. OOH there are times when I just boil thinking about how the banking industry has run itself to the ground. But I digress. I finished Clara from my ballet series (forever an a day ongoing). I titled the work der Weihnachtstraum (The Christmas Dream). Since the Nutcracker takes place in a German household, the German title seemed to fit. I just really enjoyed working on this one. There was a point on the work when I had no idea where I was going and then I took a long hiatus in December. I picked up the piece again last Tuesday and just knew what to do. I love when that happens. So my little Clara was sketched from a foto of my Claire when she was about 9. The dress she is wearing is very similar to the actual costume worn in our local Nutcracker production. She will be hung along side the other Nutcracker works this Thursday.

And on another note, this Thursday begins my show at the Conscious Cup Cafe in Crystal Lake IL. http://www.consciouscup.com/joomla/. I have about 18 works to hang, 6 of which are new but continue my series work. I hope my work brightens peoples mornings. Everyone seems so depressed and very quiet. At least though, our coffee shops are still getting customers. Coffee is a hard one to give up, even with the poor economic outlook. My show will be there from 1-15 through mid February. I hope to be more diligent in keeping my blog more current (at least till the next ballet).

k