Wed! Nov 24~

Yippee for winter weather and our warnings of them! Such a lovely day- I constructed two and a half FRANKENSWEATERS and three FRANKEN-shirts and hung out with Max and now Duane is outside with a fire while I try to deal with business stuff.... yup this IS business! And here is the Cat portrait I did for Laurel two weeks ago! See, the deal is that Duane had this on HIS camera because I had to go to work and called and said, "Hey! I didn't get ANY photos of Lori and me and I didn't get any of that painting either! Take some!" and being the wonderfully obliging pic-taking man he is, he took pics for me! SO this is some cats, Lori's roommate's to be exact, and there was a party going on around me while I painted this since there just hasn't been a lot of time lately to sit and luxuriously paint (or bathe, or read, or just good-old-fashioned WOOL GATHER either!) and it was Lori's "Welcome Home For A Few Days After Leaving Us All And Moving To Portland Over Two Years Ago" Party so I HAD to get it done. It was Fun! Have you heard of the band Cloud Cult, where two of the band members paint while on stage performing? Well, really, that's my ideal situation. I hate to feel I'm missing out on anything. I'm not one of those solitary crabby elusive hermit austure artists at all, in case you didn't realize that. I like people.
ANYWAY~
Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks for listening!
xokat~

Nov 22! MOnday of Thanksgiving Week~

Wow i do NOT like winter driving... maybe someday we'll own one of those heavy thick tired monsters that seem to never get stuck, but for the moment, I keep planning on adding more mirror bits to my hood because the mazda is just SO slidey! It's just not heavy enough, I guess~ and it scares the heck outa me! Ack. Duane actually said if I have trouble leaving school this afternoon, I can call and he and Max will come and get me, because he KNOWS how crazy I get.

ANYWAY-

this is the first human NOT related to me that I've painted! And it didn't turn out half bad! It was for his 2nd birthday and for his privacy I will not reveal his name unless you e-mail me and ASK me! And some of you know who he is, I am sure! But I was happy to see I CAN paint other people than those I live with. I am not ready to start painting people for other people yet so don't ask. I am only just starting on cats!

xookat!

November 15th MOnday!

And here we are smack-dab in the middle of November! Wow!~ My best friend from my mid-adulthood Laurel is in town and it's been a HOOT but dang, I have conferences tonight and tomorrow and she leaves wed noonish- bummer... and this weekend is the HandmadeMN sale at the Ballentine VFW on Lyndale near Lake, from 10 to 5! Come see me! It will be fun- new FRANKENstuff! Just finished a couple black acrylic skirts~ we'll see how they go- We had a funeral for my Aunt this past weekend and I needed a black skirt... turns out the funeral was an awful lot of FUN! Max had tons of cousins to romp with and I couldn't stop grinning... I may have been offensive to a few people, but I figured the kids need to know one another, and the living need to live!

And I have been cranking on Commissions too! If you or someone you know thinks they want one done by Christmas, tell 'em to get a move on or it ain't gonna happen! Here's a couple sweet pups to be getting on with, and I have a number of new cats coming up next.....

"Happy!"

this is Happy! I haven't met her yet, but she sure seems to epitomize the word for me so far! Such a fun face to paint! And this summer I was complaining about painting white dogs....

Wow! So if you or someone you know was wanting a commission for X-mas, let 'em know there's still time! We're needing to pay the 2 mortgages yet, so we need the extra! And I have some slots open!!!!

And it looks like I'm being forced to paint cats now too....

stay tuned- I'll let you know how it goes....!

xokat

Thursday October 28th!

Sheesh! Yes, I HAVE been painting, just not having time to post- HERE! these are Tessa, a Sheltie, a commission from South Dakota~ I'm liking them quite a bit~ a few more to go for this particualr order! Then I have another house, a few more dogs, a cat and a request to try another child...... we'll see about that!

Mom & Max Movie....

just thought you could use a laugh.... it was a long weekend- not very successful at the Convention Center and felt lousy most of it, so took a sick day yesterday~

I'll be getting back to painting tonight! watch for another commission or two tomorrow...

xokat!

oh and me and some FRANKENSWEATERS will be at Sue Hensel's Wild Wool Market this sat 10 to 4! click here for her gallery link!

Thursday October 14th!

Wow~ life is freaking FAST these days! Monday night I made 2 FRANKENSWEATERS for this weekend at the Expo at the Convention Center, Tuesday I took down my stuff at the Firehouse for the L-7 show (SUPER fun! Hope you were able to make it!), and last night after getting a really snotty Max in the tub and then into bed while Duane went to Ethan's Memorial at the Cedar all night, I got one more FRANKENS done, and another fixed as the button broke while it was in the "fluff" setting in the dryer... and now I am uploading student work to our Artsonia gallery- here is a sample!

These are "Scrap Paper Monsters" made from ACTUAL SCRAPS out of my classroom scrap paper boxes.... aren't they GREAT?! I showed them how to just pull out any old scrap and determine it as the head, and then another and make it the body, ect ect ect.... kids are just SO MUCH FUN!

I wonder if adults would be such a hoot to teach? Maybe if I were to include some alcohol in the mix.....

tuesday Oct 4th!

Whew~ feel MUCH better today- had a bit of a mental crisis the last few days, feeling overwhelmed with responsibility and financial strain, and not enough relaxing time, and really NEVER getting to sleep in because of the wee one's sleep habits (not that they are BAD, seeing as he goes to sleep before 7pm most nights... he just wakes up around 5:30am....). Somedays you just want a day off. Ah well. As they say, plenty of time for sleeping when yer dead-

SO here is a very recent commission I completed on an evening when darling Max went to sleep before 7pm, and Duane was watching a PBS show about black mamba snakes in South Africa and the woman and her husband who rescue them from houses... I don't think there are any snakes in this house tho...

It has been WONDERFUL the number of people who have seen my houses and now are commissioning me to do theirs! I guess it never occurred to me that people might want a painting of their house...

This is in the Seward neighborhood, by the way....

Kat!

Sept 30th~

Today, Max is officially a year and a half! Seems like he's been around forever. The amazing ability of humans to change and adapt and accept and grow never fails to bring me to tears on really good days.

SO this is Amos the Bobcat, I painted him for my friend who works at the Wild Cat Sanctuary for a fundraiser they are having in the next week or so. She was showing me a short video last night of a gorgeous tiger they just got from Texas... you may expect a few more cats to show up shortly...

Sept 27th Monday!

Working my way through a lovely pile of commissions! THIS one I would almost like to keep! Sweet Westie in a pile of leaves, really fun to do, lots of blue with orange accents...

The Birchwood Cafe show has been an amazing opportunity for me- so many people have seen my work there! And it is just a great place to be! I will be there again this Sat, Oct 2 from 2 to 5 for the Seward Art Festival and will be taking down the show on Sunday eve~ and THEN a bunch of it will be at our L-7 3rd Annual Firehouse Show on Sat Oct 9th! So many fun events coming up!

I also spent most of yesterday SEWING- man, I forget how much I NEED to do that side of my creative brain too. Making FRANKENStuff is like sculpting and designing and thinking three-dimensionally because I have to figure out how the piece will fit better with what I add or take away. It is all pretty intuitive. I've wanted to teach classes on how to cut up old clothes and reclaim them, especially as I've gotten older and my body has changed and so has the style of my clothes, but I have those old favorites that I want to hold onto somehow... so many Art Car t-shirts that were from that "cropped" period... don't really expect the muffin-tops to melt any time soon. So my biggest challenge has been to figure out how to extend a t-shirt for more coverage....
I will have the newest ones at the Firehouse show, if you are interested!

so much to do, so many things to make!

September 24th!

Mom and my Art Opening last night at the Women's Building (550 Rice St, St. Paul) went beautifully! It took Duane and Max and I an hour to get there through rush hour traffic and flooded streets and two stalled cars on 94- Never let me forget how thankful I am to NOT have to drive on a highway to get to work...

Mom and Dad had a great time too~ and the WARM Board arranged to have their meeting THERE in a smaller conference room so they all got to see our work too. Everyone was very helpful. We had a drawing every half hour and gave away art and cards- SO much fun!

Now, tomorrow, Sat the 25th, I will be somewhere in Uptown near the VFW on Lyndale and Lake St for a street festival with the HandmadeMN crew- I don't know much about this event, but click above for some info. I guess I will be there from 2 to 4 with FRANKENSWEATERS and some small paintings... lots of bands... we haven't done it before. I'll letcha know if we do it again..

And I will be at the Birchwood next Saturday, Oct 2 from 2 to 5 for the Seward Art Festival if you care to stop by! It has been wonderful being there! I will have a drawing for a small painting too!

xokat!

Sept 17, Fri

It has been a busy and fullfilling week. What is this, the second week of school? It is funny how we humans so easily adapt to new situations. It feels like a very long time ago that I was home with Max, avoiding the heat by going to the lake, altho our electric bill is reflecting the air conditioner use... what I mean is, now THIS is normal, to be in my art room again, talking, teasing, cajoling, convincing, learning along with my students as we explore the various aspects of art and how to use it in our lives. I am so lucky!

And here is a breakfast experience for you to enjoy! This sunday is the 3rd Sunday of September, so we will be having our 3rd Sunday Brunch! I started them about 6 years ago and have missed a few, this July for one. If you are around and would like to drop by, come on over!
kat~

Sept 15th!!!!

COME to the Birchwood tonight!!! 7 to 9pm!

I will love to see you!

And we can share some wine!

xoxokat!~

Ha! Septemeber 12th~

Cripes is it HARD to find time to paint! I tell ya, what with hanging a show with mom and painting the trim on Duane's house's porch and laundry and dust bunnies the size of alligators crawling down the stairs I have to do a LOT of pretending not to notice things that usually I would be all over taking care of in order to get some GOOD WORK done!
I've been working on a lot of commissions which is simply amazing and what I've always wanted to do~ and so to give myself a slight break from the "pressure" of striving really hard to get an excellent piece done that the client will really appreciate, I decided to dig into my "when you have free time, maybe you could paint my dog.." file and pulled out this one~ excellent crazy blurred full speed photo~
This is Claudia's wonderful full-size full-speed dog Charlie~ she took the photo~ I think it pretty well expressed his personality~ I do really like it when I get to meet the dog~

and so don't panic if you've asked me to play with your photo of your dog- you never know- I may get to it sooner than you think! Of course, if you really want it done by a certain time frame, you'd better let me know~

xoxokat!
oh and COME SEE ME AT THE BIRCHWOOD ON WEDNESDAY! 7 to 9! I'll have WINE and SWEETS!!!!
and art, of course...

September 2, Thursday!

So it's been back to St. Mark's for workshop week, and we had Meet Your Teacher from 3 to 5 today and it was great to see the kids! It always is amazing how much people grow when they are young~

And I have received a PILE of commissions from my show at the Birchwood and here is one of them! (COME to the OPENING Sept 15th, 7 to 9!) Oh actually, this one isn't, it is from a pretty regular patron who has now bought THREE of my pieces! I really loved doing this one, because of the awesome light and the whole composition and arrangement of the original photo.

And I keep forgetting to mention that I have another PILE of work over at the Frameworks Gallery on Highland Parkway and Cretin in St. Paul, just across from Half Price Books, if you are interested...

Oh AND my mom, Rita Corrigan and I are hanging a show at the Women's Building in St Paul (500 Rice St) next weekend, and THAT opening will be September 23rd from 5:30 to 8!

wahoo!

August 23, monday!

We just hung my show at the Birchwood last night! I even had my camera along but I forgot to take any photos, except for of Penny, the Shepard mix~ so fun! SO this is one of Kari Maxwell's shots- she is a wild woman with a camera, let me tell you!
And man, I am SO freaking lucky! My incredible art collective, L-7, helped me hang the show so it went up incredible fast- I was just reading something from an artist mom who felt she wasn't able to do as much once she had her child, and I was sure that would be the case with me as well, but thanks to so much incredible community support in SO many ways, I have been able to be amazingly active! Just know that I couldn't be doing ANY of this without the unwavering support of ALL of our incredible friends and communities! I mean, just yesterday there were at least 7 people over at Duane's house, helping paint in this humid heat, and climbing all over the roof and up and down ladders and sawing and grinding~ oh AND watching Max so I could help~
Thank you Jemiah and Anne and Greg and Amy and Tri and Tonya & Lily!
...and this is a painting of our neighbor's house across the street! I should probably let them know...

August 16th, Tuesday...

Thank GOD it has cooled off around here and is acting more like Minnesota.... I thought we'd have to move to Canada soon~
Here is our house and the black walnut in front at sunset just the other day. I am loving the shadows and shapes of light, filtered flickering highlights all over everything, just like my car...

August 11, Wednesday~

So, I got a piece in the State Fair! Second time for me- the first time was 2008, that magical year of marrying Duane, Kansas art cars with Jan, honeymoon in England and Wales, and being impregnated!!!!
Here's a few examples of what I'm doing in this heat~
I am somewhat enamoured of the shapes of sunlight and shadow... your basic lights and darks....

August 6th

I had to take a bit of a break earlier this week, after all the wonderful festivities and the delivering of several dogs to their owners on Wednesday~ Max helped me do the rounds. So I have a few more to get out to their owners and two need to be mailed, one to England and the other to Wisconsin, both lovely desireable locals...
So this is Mallie, who was commissioned while I was in the midst of the "30 In 30" and I thought I wouldn't be able to get to her for a while, but gosh darn it I DO so love to paint.... So here she is! Great eyes, great face...
I've been besieged lately by requests/demands for the start of my "30 Cats In 30 Days" series, and what I've said is I need to practice on my own cats first. They are COMPLETELY different from dogs, as I am sure you know, and I am not sure I will be able to get their personalities across as well as I can the dogs. So we'll see. I want to paint more Maxs and shadows... like we saw on our walk this morning as you can see in this photo... I am intrigued by the darks and the lights....

check back for what I paint today, if Max stays asleep!

August 2!

Hi all!
I was a little busy yesterday, what with the heat and getting all the Dogs ready for hanging and labeled and then heading over to Wet Paint with Duane and setting up the whole shebang and THEN spending the next three hours with four other artists sketching our little hearts out! TONS of dogs showed up for the "Paws on Grand" Event and Wet Paint was hopping! I have no idea how many dogs I sketched! Duane helped me set up the 30 Dogs on Margi's display panels and we set out my cards and an envelope for money and I was RIGHT THERE as you can see, but I had NO TIME to talk to hardly anybody!!!! It was a HOOT! I really got into the sketching, altho now that I look at the photos mom took (thank GOD for mom! I don't know what I woulda done if she hadn't been able to come up and run my booth for me!!) all the dogs look the same to me~ ah well. Sketching under pressure... never really done that before!
So if you are able to make it tonight, we'll be at the North Loop Dog Grounds behind Bunker's Bar on N Washington Ave and N 8th Ave~ from 5 t0 7pm! With some wine!!!! And maybe lemonade~

And I've also included a link to Max Hayne's Newest Website, "Tiny Tales", that I ASOLUTELY love!!! Max is the guy who took photos at out wedding and made us that glorious book! He's got lots of great things going on always! http://tinydogtales.com/