Turning of a page - a new blog

Hi Everyone!

So, it has come to pass that it is sooo much easier for me to maintain my art blog through my website. So from now on check out the Journal on my site for entrees! If you have not been to my site for a while you might see a bunch of new stuff! Including an entirely new site if it's been really long since you've been around! I have my prints, cards and Petite Art all for sale on my site via PayPal, there are links, places to see my art around local venues, updates of new works and all that jazz! So check it out and have a wonderful, peaceful and marry marry Christmas!!!!

www.moonhouseart.com

Much much love, Katie

It's been grand Blogger!

Promo

Here's a little holiday promo poster I made out of my recent work. Happy holidays everyone! And check out my website - I just put some snowflakes on the home page - I'm proud of it because it took me awhile to figure out! I feel just like google - a little artistic theme for every holiday! Ha ha.

Home from Barbados

My newest bit of play - called "Isebelle and Ruby's Travels" - painted this after spending a wonderful week in Barbados! It's amazing how fresh your ideas and thoughts become after a change of scenery!

I've also been busy working on my next piece for Highlights (childrens magazine) - I had a piece ("The Stars") published in this Dec's issue and my next piece is due out I think in May. Pretty exciting - so check it out on the magazine racks!

Autumn Turning

Phoebe and I went for a walk this morning - drove up a back dirt road to where the country always brings me home. Autumn is just so beautiful this year. The sky is so blue, the leaves so gold and red and still some green hanging on. After I went right home and painted this - it's called "Autumn Turning".

I'm back!

Goodness - it's been way too long! I've been camping, planting flowers in my garden, clearing brush beside our river view, cleaning up corners that have been forgotten all year, walking around Montreal with my hubby and generally finally having a summer!!!! But today, after a good long time away, I'm back to the art table! I spent most of the morning and afternoon working on the following piece (hopefully in a series) called (so far) "From My Sketch Book, an artist's shared moments, one". I go to my sketch book a lot when I need some quick inspiration and today everything I painted came from it. Enjoy!


It starts with a wave that flows over one of my sketch book pages - I like how it moves


I use the moon with a quiet and peaceful face a lot in everything I do


A little lady that is very tiny in my sketch book. I love her, so I gave
her her own little corner to express her sweetness

White eggs along the side - I have always loved their shape and their white color




Birds too, I use a lot


Red cherries flowing down through the water





The finished piece

Hour Glass Skinny

I wanted to do something with an hour glass in it - this morning Sandy went off to take a test with a little minute hour glass in tow from our Cranium board game. I thought it was really funny, so decided to make some art out of it. It ended up turning into more of a cultural statement though. I'm always so saddened by our skinny girl culture (not that we have a lot of them, but more that that is what is pushed). I always feel like I'm in some sort of weird trap when I feel pressed by the stereo type of the great skinny body. Thus the woman stuck in an hour glass shape prison. My sequel to this should be the woman breaking free and finding a truer self!

Remembering Kansas

Just a fun little piece I did up yesterday. Went home to Kansas recently and I guess I was still thinking about it. I wanted something representative coming out of the womans big hat (the city of Wichita, KS does something similar with the tourism advertisment and it's always caught my eye). So I ended up putting the wicked witches stockings and high heeled shoes coming out the top - as if it's almost the same person bottom and top, yet not quite! I'm always so tired of the whole Wizard of Oz thing - espeically when people find out I'm from KS (they always have a cleaver "not so new" joke to tell me). Never-the-less even the wicked witch has found her way into my art! I also took the same piece and put two different overlays on top - both photos that I had taken in Kansas at some point or another. One is of the prairie and the other is of the big sky as sunset.

My new toys!

Just wanted to share this pic of my new air brush gun and air compressor that I'm using to spray varnishes onto my watercolors - trying out a whole new form!

A book....

Hi guys! This afternoon I had a wonderful catch-up talk with my good friend Kelly from CO. It's so great catching up with dear friends that live far away - always feels so good to connect and remember that there are so many wonderful things going on in other lives. And it's always a lovely thing when inspiration and hope come from such re-connecting! After talking with Kelly about over-coming fears of the unknown, I got back to work on a project that's been sitting on the side lines for quite too long. The project is a children's book that was written in poem form by my brother-in-law Tim from a dream that he had. He gave me the story to illustrate and here's a little page that I worked on today. I think I'm pretty pleased with the syle, so hopefully you'll see a few more! And maybe someday, a real live published book! Who knows!


The words say "Then met up with Midnight dancing with Moon"

Little bits of kitchen inspiration

Here are two little pieces I did yesterday - thinking about how kitchen utensils, etc., could come alive in my artwork. Lots of fun! Both are done on heavy watercolor paper with ink pen and watercolor.


Chicken Timer

Teacup Bath

Little bit of art today

Spent a good deal of time today cleaning my studio - but I was pleased that I could still have it in me to settle down a create! Here's my little piece for today - it's called "White Rain"

Orchid Paintings

Hi everyone! Happy Spring!!! Yesterday I saw the first little crocuses blooming here in Vermont and out in my back yard my first bulb is coming up! I'm jealous of more southern places that are already in full bloom! But I know once it hits Vermont it's worth the wait!
So, while waiting for Spring to come I went to paint on the fifth floor green house of Dartmouth University where my aunt works. They have a beautiful collection of orchids which were all in bloom this week - my lucky day! So I painted a series of three orchid hat people. As usual these are done with ink pen, watercolor and the white swirles are a bit of acrylic. I really love how they turned out - enjoy and yahoo for Spring! - Katie



Orchid in a Blue Dress

Orchid Family

Orchid and a Little Friend

Painting in 3 - My studio

Here's a little piece in three sections painted on ArtBoards that I did a few weeks ago. Also my studio with my darling friend Pheobe.

Fox in the Big Woods - the process

Just finished this piece today, it's called "Fox in the Big Woods". I've posted pictures that I took throughout the process of creating it so you can see the steps I go through. They are a little mixed up, but maybe it's more fun to sort them out! I usually do a painting in one or two sittings - this one took about 6 hours to finish. It's a pretty good sized piece too. I like to work fast and always have. My Mom was always telling me to take more time with my pictures when I was little. Now I spend a lot of time working as an artist, but generally still like to work fast on my pieces. Somethings never change I guess!

I just did this little piece tonight after being inspired by the beautiful studios at On My Desk
: http://on-my-desk.blogspot.com/

Sometimes I feel like I have to have the "perfect space" to be able to create. Oh of course it would be nice to have the space I dream of! But it's also so wonderful to be able to create wherever I am and to be blessed with that gift. I told my husband, while he was leaning over my shoulder watching me paint, that I really love it when I can work on a piece just for myself. That feeling of getting lost in my art and thoughts during the process of creating is what I love! Not creating something because I feel I have to make ends meet in our little house hold. But alot of the time that's how it works. It's pretty interesting making your living as an artist. Not as easy as some may think. Acutally I think maybe it's one of the hardest jobs - well apart from cleaning the city sewers! Anyway, here's what came out of all that.

Oh These Gentle Friends We Have Known

Recently my dear dog of many years passed away, and passed away into the prairie, as my family and I like to say it. Growing up Scaralotti was my dearest little companion and the little white light that would follow me wherever my little child feet would take me. We grew up on the farm together - I left and she stayed and has stayed forever it seems. We have a prairie that surrounds our home, rich and deep, full and life and death. We have little pathways mowed through the grasses which have to be re-mowed every year because the grasses are so strong. Scaralotti loved to play in those grasses with her sister and fellow dog family. Scaralotti and her sister Paganini used to jump straight up into the air to see where they were - what a funny sight! Later in her long life Scaralotti lost her vision and her hearing we think - one night she didn't come home, it snowed and for all we can see she is out there somewhere in the prairie curled up in a little white ball, becoming more white, becoming the grasses and the earth. She holds a dear place in my heart. That little white dog.