Allow me to offer an antidote:

Funky February Art Show at Hudson Fine Art & Framing

This show features artwork by Maria Zanetta, Charlotte Lees, and me.

We’ll have paintings, sculpture, and jewelry that are sure to brighten your spirits.

The show opens Friday, February 3, from 5:30-8:30, and runs the entire month.

Details are on Facebook and the gallery’s website:

http://www.facebook.com/events/356772391000002/

http://www.hudsonfineartandframing.com/pages/hudson-events.html

On the personal side, my family handled a big transition as we cleaned and renovated Mom and Dad’s old house so that it could be sold. We, they, had lived in it for 36 years. I was sad to see it go, but good heavens it actually sold!

Mid-year, I lost my little dog Maddie at the age of 16. Her last few months were tough as her health failed. We had so many good years and she was a wonderful little buddy. I treasure those memories.

Around the same time  little Miss Cass came to live with me. She’s a sweetheart of an 18-year-old cat. Having her here has been a joy. She’s helping me type this by sitting on my left arm, so pardon any typos.

Art-wise, I got back on track. My art was put on hold in 2010, so it needed a serious jump start this year.

I began painting larger, which I’ve greatly enjoyed. I’ve painted so small for so many years that even a modest 12×12 inch format is challenging. I experimented with some new materials and techniques, and have thoroughly enjoyed all of it.

At the beginning of the year, I set myself some goals:

Develop a consistent studio practice

My goal was to put in 10-15 hours each week in my studio. I didn’t get there, but developed a consistent habit anyway.

I’m big on tracking things, writing them down, which I didn’t do for the first few weeks of the year. Once I started writing down my hours daily, I realized how little time I was devoting to my art and began increasing it.

Since the beginning of September, I’ve averaged 8 hours per week. Darn good. I’m happy with that. I’ll take it.

Finish larger works

I like painting small. My small paintings are wonderful. So why paint larger?

I want to begin entering juried shows and hanging work in public venues, and the small stuff just won’t work. They won’t make it into shows, and it takes a ton of paintings to cover the walls of an exhibit space.

So larger we go. I finished 13 paintings in the Colors and Lines series, plus 2 others.

And, I began to work smaller in the form of hand-painted necklaces. They were a big hit at the shows this fall. Although my 2-dimensional art is my first love, the necklaces were an enjoyable diversion.

In addition to the larger work, I:

• took 3 workshops, mostly around art journaling and travel journaling. I want to begin taking my art with me.
• sent 200 tiny paintings to Artomat for their vending machines
• completed another sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project
• finished 3 smaller 8×8 inch paintings
• blogged 80 times, which is on par with previous years

Teach

I had wanted to develop a workshop and begin offering it to students, for many reasons. Teaching is a wonderful way to learn, too.

I haven’t put together a workshop yet, but have several ideas. I often get asked about my technique and am thinking about offering a class on that. We’ll see.

Get my art out “there”

Ah, yes. The eternal challenge for us introverts. My goal was to enter 6 shows this year, didn’t matter if I got in or not, just go through the exercise of applying.

I entered about a dozen shows, got in some and not others. And, I found 2 places who were willing to sell my art on consignment.

Several of the shows were arts and craft shows that turned out to be great, sales-wise. My sales have never been so good!

Plus, the exercise of getting ready for a show is really valuable. I’m getting skilled at the business of packing, lugging stuff, setting up a display, and talking to potential customers. Definitely worth doing.

All in all, I’m pleased with 2011 and will remember it fondly. Can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store.

October 30

Day 1

Day 2 – Battery Snafu

Day 3 – Tying up Lose Ends and Recharging Batteries

Day 5 – New Supplies and Lots of Painting

Day 6 – Paint ‘n Frame

Days 7 & 8 – Mark That Spot

Day 9 – And A Box To Keep It In

Days 10, 11, 12 – Mat, Frame, Setup, Show!

Colors and Lines, Fall

Colors and Lines, Pearl

Colors and Lines, Explosion

Colors and Lines, Candy

Day 20 – Scattered

Day 21 – The Value of Practice

Day 26 – Bit by Bit

Day 28 – Done or Not Done?

Day 30 – And, That’s a Wrap!

November has been Art Every Day Month. And what a month it’s been!

I have worked on art nearly every day. Not that I’ve finished something every day, but I have worked on something.

Some days have gone well and the paint flowed effortlessly. Others, well, not so much.

Nor have I blogged every day. I occasionally made the choice to paint (or do something else) and not blog. I felt a fleeting twinge of guilt about that. But that’s ok.

I set myself a goal to work larger this month, so I’ve started a series of 12×12 inch paintings on paper. Yes, that’s inches. Most of my work is smaller than that, so a square foot feels ginormous.

I’ve made a whole series of hand-painted necklaces – paintings sealed behind glass. Personally, I’m darn tickled about them.

I’ve bought some new supplies and tried some new media and colors, ones I’ve not used before. Stretching is healthy.

I’ve started – yes, STARTED – my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project. And it’s only November! The past couple of years, I’ve scrambled around at the deadline. Personally, I’m super pleased about having started early.

And, I’ve begun working on some new paintings for Artomat.

The best part of Art Every Day Month is not so much the art that comes out of it, but the habit that it builds. Other months, I paint a lot, but I also give in to the feelings of, “Eh, I’m too tired/cranky/uninspired/whatever, so I won’t paint today.”

Art Every Day Month gives me that extra nudge to override those feelings, turn on the studio lights, and crack open a tube of paint.

The results of a consistent habit are priceless.

But is it finished?

Sometimes I look at it and think, “Yep, that’s enough. It doesn’t need a thing.”

Then a bit later I think, “Well, what about some detail in the lower portion? Not much; just some small lines.”

Such a dilemma.Does it need more or not?

I’m about 70% no and 30% yes. Maybe I’ll put it away and look at it with fresh eyes later.

The kind folks at Studio Waterstone have set up a blog hop to take you through lots of good Cyber Monday sales, specials, and events.  The links below will take you to cool shops and sales. If you have your own shop and a Cyber Monday sale, please feel free to add it. And, be sure to visit Studio Waterstone.

Oh, and so you think I wasn’t slacking this week, the last photo shows my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner: apple pie, mincemeat pie, pumpkin pie, carrot souffle, and cranberry chutney. Not exactly art, but creative nonetheless.

I’d love to have you visit me at my booth at Summit ArtSpace, 140 East Market Street, in Akron.

Saturday, Dec. 3 from noon – 9PM

Sunday, Dec. 4 from noon – 4PM

Get a map to Summit ArtSpace >>

Visit Summit ArtSpace on the web >>

RSVP on Facebook >>

Plume, abstract acrylic ACEO

After a slow day yesterday, today’s been busy. Not so much for my own art – I managed to finish off only this little ACEO – but also because it was my art group meeting.

It’s important to see what other artists are doing, to see new ideas and get recharged.

My art group had a demo by Scott Hall, a caricature artist. I’ve seen caricature artists working at parks and events but haven’t spent time really watching what they’re doing.

I’ve been missing out.

Scott was terrific. He was entertaining to watch and listen to. He has lots of stories about how he got started, how he keeps his skills up, and the tools he uses.

And he’s amazing to watch. He draws quickly but precisely – just a few quick lines and he’s captured the essence of his subject. Accurate, really.

Caricature by Scott Hall of Karen Koch, Life Needs Art

He’s been drawing caricatures since he was a teenager, and still loves to draw 4, 6, 8 hours a day. I can’t imagine the tens of thousands of drawings he’s done. No wonder he’s so good.

It was a treat to watch someone who is so skilled and still enjoys his work.

In less than 2 hours, he drew everyone in the room, probably 25-30 of us. How good could I be if I drew that many people every day?

I’ve dabbed paint on about 6 unfinished paintings, started a set of new prototypes for Artomat, scribbled in my Sketchbook Project journal, and cut up some new bookmarks.

All that sounds good, but I’ve been out of synch with all of it. My colors aren’t mixing right, I’m choosing the wrong brushes, and I’ve knocked over a bottle of ink.

Phooey.

I’d had such high hopes for accomplishing something – something – today. Diving in deep and getting it done.

Well, I guess that’s one benefit of Art Every Day Month: even if today doesn’t work out as planned, there’s always tomorrow. I won’t leave all this unfinished stuff stewing around for a week; the challenge will push me back in here.

I’m going to cut my losses for today and go clean the cat box. Or put up storm windows. And hope I don’t drop one.