East Coast Artist

Snow day

2012-02-19T10:57:00.000-05:00

Will it snow this afternoon? I sure hope so! Here are some snowy landscapes by my second grade artists. We read Robert Frost's poem, Stopping by woods on a snowy evening and then we talked about how atmospheric perspective can make faraway objects look soft and grey. We also talked about space in terms of foreground, middle ground and background. I didn't tell the kids how to draw the animals, but many of them put in really cute little fawns and bunnies based on the illustrations in my book.

Who do you admire?

2012-02-16T20:28:00.000-05:00

In kindergarten class, we created stamps of people we admire. Here are a few of them. The funniest thing is that one kid drew a green alien. He never would tell me why he admired an alien. I tried to get him to talk. (Alien not pictured)

My little tigers.

2012-02-16T20:23:00.000-05:00

I have been swamped since August. This is not an exaggeration or a lie-- it just is... when it comes to the life of a first-year teacher who is also trying to take graduate courses. My paintings have been selling faster than I can make them, but instead of painting more I have been helping petite Picasso's make some brilliant work. Check out my favorite second grade tiger collages. These were made after we looked at Henri Rousseau's jungle art. Since my school doesn't have a big budget, we made glitter paper ourselves. Check out the personality in these little tigers! Their little faces and expressions make me laugh.

Here are some 5th-grade versions created for a yearbook competition. The kids are dying to know who won, but I can't tell until June!

The last one is a "Terminator Tiger." Gotta love the creativity. One of the tigers with tattoos may be gang related, but to an innocent eye like mine, I loved the design and put it smack dab in the middle of the bulletin board... I have a lot to learn!

Old Lady Antebellum

2011-12-31T14:31:00.001-05:00

My favorite house in Savannah is this one. I've loved the lacy wrought iron balconies and the rusting intricate iron window-works since I first laid eyes on it. I've always imagined the interior as a lavish home for a wealthy family. The interior I pictured had grandiose staircases, windows with yards and yards of richly colored silk draperies and plush velvet armchairs made for shipping mint juleps while cradled in the lap of luxury. The walls would be decorated with contemporary landscapes of live oaks, much like my own. Ok, now I'm fantasizing that I own the place...Anyway, I never thought that I'd be able to waltz into the house on a sunny afternoon, much less poke my head around each corner on every floor.

Dave and I were in Savannah on our way back from the Podracky Christmas celebration in Orlando this year. We were walking around and peeking into antique shops when we stumbled upon the open doors of Alex Raskin Antiques. He owns this house! Of course we went in, and when we did, we found piles and piles of dirty old treasures. They were stacked to the ceiling, covering the walls and spilling out of the balconies of this wondrous old shell of a Savannah mansion. Based on the condition of the stuff, we thought we'd hit a gold mine! Surely we could find an affordable treasure here! It was not the case. Every piece of hand-carved furniture and ancient photograph was priced at thousands of dollars. So we crept around and looked and marveled at the treasures!

My favorite piece was a hand-carved Victorian mantle. It was a mere $4,500.00. Since it wouldn't fit in our trunk, I had to say no. I also adored some stained glass windows that were propped precariously on the first floor in what I assume was the grand ballroom in it's hey-day. The paint was peeling off in layers as thick as cardboard. With the original chandelier still swaying eerily from it's dusty chain, this house was beyond anything from my wildest dreams.

We also found an early dress form with a painted doll's head. Dave loved an ancient looking fish-tank from the turn of the century. He also eyed up some French furniture with aged paint patinas that cannot be mimicked, no matter how many layers of faux paint and crackle medium you try. We laughed when we saw a "choo-choo" train that looked like it came from the carnival from the turn of the century (1900's, not 2000's). There is no way to describe the magic of this place.

At the same time, there was an inescapable sadness to it all. Every room was decaying. The ceilings were caving in on the top floor. The stairway was held up by a metal rod that surely was not an original part of the design. As the plaster and horse-hair concoction crumbled, you could see the wooden slats behind the walls and ceilings. With every crack in the wall, it became harder and harder to imagine the people that raised their families here. I felt a sadness that the owner of this place didn't take better care of it. Hopefully one day we will go back again to see that renovations from the historical society have begun. If Dave and I ever hit the lottery, this is where you'll find us!

This is me.

2011-11-01T11:18:00.002-04:00

One of my second grade students drew this during class while we studied art about communities. In second grade, there's a big push to learn all about community helpers like firemen, policemen, teachers, construction workers and even business owners. We talk about all the community helpers we can think of and I show some examples of Norman Rockwell's illustrated pictures of community helpers from the Saturday Evening Post.

When we got down to business with our pencils and markers, one of my little kiddos drew ME! Here I am at my teacher's desk with my pink insulated cup of Diet Coke sitting nearby. All the students are smiling and busy as they work on their drawings and as you can see, there are lots of drawings hanging up around the room on a clothes line-- just like real life!

Oh how can I begin to describe how happy this makes me? This is why I'm here-- to nurture, to support, to encourage this kind of sweet innocent talent until it takes off full speed ahead! Have I mentioned that I love my job? I do.

Run, run, as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the donut man?

2011-10-29T23:01:00.000-04:00

It all started in September 2010, when I took a nasty spill down the stairs thanks to a ginormous load of laundry and a slippery step. After writhing on the floor for a few minutes, I figured that I'd try out my throbbing ankle to see if I'd broken it. It hurt, but I could walk ok and I didn't see any bones poking out. I even grabbed some frozen peas to ice it down and prevent swelling before I limped off to finish my wifely duties at the grocery store for the day.

That night it hurt so bad I couldn't even get off the sofa to go pee! I had to scoot on the floor from the sofa to the bathroom and lord knows I had to take the stairs by scooting up one at a time on my rear. The next day I made it down to the couch for breakfast and I didn't move again for 36 hours. It took me three months to go see a doctor-- Why, you ask? Because I'm like that. I kept thinking it would heal on its own. After all, it was only a sprained ankle. The doctor that I finally saw was a podiatrist. He wanted to jam a needle in my ankle and give me a cortisone shot. I said no thanks (because my Internet research had told me that cortisone actually impedes ligament healing time and I hate needles) and limped out with a brace instead.... a brace that cost me the last bits of my ankle mobility and nearly 400 buckaroos after the freaking insurance monies paid. Yes.. after insurance that dang brace was $400! In January, I made an appointment with an orthopaedist. He told me the brace made my ankle worse by weakening it further and prescribed some physical therapy.

Finally I started to see some improvement! I went from not being able to walk without a limp to being able to walk gently uphill and finally to being able to jog again. At this point, It had been 5 months since I'd gotten any cardio... 5 months since I'd run a mile or even been able to walk a lap around the neighborhood. Don't let that happen to you friends. It's not pretty.

In the springtime when I was able to run one mile again (albeit wheezing and breathing like a banshee), my friend talked me into signing up for a half-marathon in October and I said yes because I needed a big goal to get back to my old self... my wedding self if you know what I mean. All spring and summer I huffed and I puffed and I ran my tush around the neighborhood so many times that I swear I wore a new path in the asphalt. The months flew by. I was doing great. I could run 3, 4, 5, even 6 miles at a time! Then I got this thing called a "new job," and I started this thing called a "new semester" in graduate school. By the time October rolled around, the furthest I could run was still 6 miles...less than half of the 13.1 required to complete my upcoming race.

You know what? I did it anyway. I wasn't happy about it, (I was pretty anxious about it which turned into pretty up tight about it which turned into pretty annoying to be around) but I sucked it up and I did it. You know what else? 2 hours and 13 minutes of running later I had a lot of fun. In fact, that's a picture of me at the finish line! I did it! Now I know why crazy people run marathons. They may be crazy, but man when you complete something like that it's like nothing on earth can stop you. When I crossed the finish line on my half marathon I felt relief and joy like I haven't felt since I graduated high school. Grinning ear to ear, I couldn't believe I had it in me. My legs were telling me no, but my head kept saying yes! After the race was over, my wonderful husband brought me a pink donut-- one that matched my pink running shirt and my pink half-marathon medal. He's the one who really deserved the donut for listening to me whine about my ankle and about running all year. He's the best, really... and so are pink donuts. In honor of Dave and donuts, I think October 16th should hereby be known as Donut Day. I plan to celebrate annually (after I go for a run, of course).

Guerrilla girls and one of my favorites.

2011-10-14T17:37:00.002-04:00

Two of my art history professors from Washington and Lee have passed away. It's hard to believe that just 6 years ago I was sitting in their classrooms, hurriedly scribbling notes about the latest rounds of art history slides. Professor Pam Simpson, who died this month, was one of my favorites. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind or to teach controversial subject matter, including feminist art history. She made us laugh and she made us gawk with open mouths as we realized some of the things that have happened over the years... and some of the things that are happening right now. Professor Simpson led the way as she pushed through the material about Judy Chicago and the Guerrilla Girls. It was through her eyes that I saw how far women had come and how far they could go... basically as far as they want to.

The Guerrilla Girls are a group of artists that tour the country putting on hilarious skits and shows about the f-word (Feminism) today. They dress as gorillas (get it?), and take the names of famous women artists for disguise. Nobody knows who they are... nobody. One of their talking points is this: "Do women have to be naked to get into the Metropolitan Museum of Art?" No kidding... Less than 3% of the artists in the Modern Art sections are women, but 83% of the nudes are female. Surprised? Me neither. Professor Simpson taught her students to question this stuff! Why are less than 3% of the artists women? That doesn't make sense. Certainly there have been good women artists throughout art history? They weren't all chained to the oven and having babies, right? RIGHT. Something else is going on... who is making the decisions people? Women are still underrepresented in NYC galleries and museums today. Why is women's art devalued? Even if you don't care about that issue, try the Guerrilla girl's website as something will strike a nerve-- My hope is that it will be your funny bone. Sometimes we can say more with humor than with anger.

Professor Simpson was great. She was real and she helped make real progress. She was instrumental in getting Washington and Lee to move from an all-male school to a co-ed school in the 1980's. During times when our government does nothing but spin it's wheels, play politics and act like a petulant toddler, I take heart in the fact that there are still teachers out there like Professor Simpson. Not only did she question inequality and take action, but she taught others how to do the same.

If anyone should be an honorary Guerrilla girl, it's Professor Simpson.

I love my job...

2011-09-21T18:24:00.000-04:00

Two weeks before school started, I found a job. I am a new elementary school art teacher and I love what I do! Here is a piece from one of my kindergarten students. We studied "Art in the Park" by looking at Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat. Then the kiddos drew images of themselves playing at the park.

This kid is SO talented. I don't even know his name--- and no he didn't put it on the paper like I asked him to. Oh well-- it doesn't matter. I can't wait to see what he does next. This drawing is inspired by all the playground equipment at my school. Even though I teach in a trailer that is falling apart and smells like mildew, the kids have nice playground equipment-- as you can see in this meticulous kindergarten rendering.

Enjoy! There is nothing more precious, real or honest than children's art.

Anniversary time

2011-08-15T10:28:00.019-04:00

Clouds over Fort Fisher, oil on canvas, 2011

Sun on our shoulders and salt on our skin,

A warm breeze blows through the old oaks again.

We didn't find any shark teeth or teal sea-glass.

But the beach memories we made will surely last.

After we've washed all the sunscreen away,

we dress up real fancy for a nice dinner date.

Memories of golden sand and the years since we met,

Build our strength and love for the path we now set.

Showtime!

2011-07-18T09:53:00.002-04:00

I'm frantically getting ready for my big show at Castalia in Chapel Hill. Everyone is welcome--- please come! The opening reception is Friday, August 5 from 5-7:30 p.m. We will have delicious wine provided by Studio 91 Fine Art Gallery and Wine Bar, and some lovely new paintings to reveal!

Uninhibited Joy

New works by Katie Wall Podracky

Aug. 1- Oct. 28

Castalia at Meadowmont

301 W. Barbee Chapel Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27517

Please join us for a reception with the artist, Friday, Aug. 5, 5-7:30 p.m.

Seurat's Dots

2011-07-16T15:35:00.001-04:00

I have been dabbing... (yes it started out crazy)

and dotting....

And dabbing....and dotting....

and dabbing....

and dotting....for months!

It's almost ready for the big show... almost...

Starry Starry Nights

2011-07-11T17:09:00.000-04:00

Last night I taught my first class in Asheboro at Nikki Needham's and Betsy Brown's new gallery called Colorshow Gallery. It was fabulous! I had so much fun with all the ladies that came to join us for Van Gogh's swirling paint and a glass of wine. Here are the pictures. They speak for themselves! The paintings turned out fabulous! I hope to offer more classes like this on a monthly basis in the fall. Let me know if you want to join us next time!

A good start...

2011-07-05T18:00:00.005-04:00

Currently on the easel:

Vibrant, Dark, Magical, Vivid... but is it finished?

Believe it or not, I'm working from an image of Bur-Mill park in Greensboro! Here's the original image so that you can see what I add through the painting process. I had to force myself to stop so that I could leave that warm coral color in there. Sometimes the best thing you can do to a painting is leave it alone and think about it for a few days. I love where this one is going... but is it there yet?

... I think it's there!

Bur-Mill Park, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches, 2011

Available in August at the big show: Uninhibited Joy, new works by Katie Wall Podracky

ATC: Artist Trading Cards

2011-06-30T08:25:00.002-04:00

I've heard about these cards before, but I always dismissed them as something I wasn't interested in. I didn't think they were "serious" art, or something like that. Well, for my online course this summer, I had to complete a little set of 5 as preparation for a lesson plan. Instead of just trading the cards among the students, we are receiving contact information for a pen-pal in GERMANY! Now anyone who knows me knows how much I like to stay in touch via old fashioned snail mail. There is simply nothing like the little jolt of joy I get when I find a handwritten note from a friend in my mailbox. My mother met my stepfather this way--- through a thank-you note!

Traditions: Hike the Blue Ridge Parkway

When I was in middle school my family took a trip to the beach and I met a friend in the pool on the last day of our trip. We are still in touch after years of writing pen-pal letters and I really think I might get to see her again this August. We used to decorate our envelopes like crazy-- we made them look like all kinds of things. I wish I still had all those envelopes somewhere, but I wasn't as organized when I was young. Guess what... my pen pal is a teacher in Wilmington now. How ironic is that? I should have known a long time ago that I was meant for this kind of thing.

Stereotype: Fat American Tourist in a Tacky Suit

So here are my first artist trading cards. For my class, we had to depict our region, a famous local person/celeb, something from history, a tradition and a stereotype. Here's what I came up with. Enjoy!

History: American Indian Figures

My Region: The South-- lightning bugs in a jelly jar

Local Celeb: The Wright Brothers, N.C. First in Flight

(I'm not really with-it when it comes to celebrities, so I chose historical celebs)

I can't wait to see what my German pen-pal sends back. Her name is Madeline, I think... isn't that beautiful? This is exactly the kind of project that I would put together for students in my art classes. I've always wanted to befriend a teacher in Iraq or Afghanistan so that I could begin to build a tiny little bridge of friendship between young people there and my American students. Hidden agenda? Sure... I'm out to save the world... one ATC at a time. I should have one of those "whirrled peas" bumper stickers, but my car is too "serious" to deface with vinyl.... riiight.

Can't see the Forest for the trees II...

2011-06-26T14:09:00.003-04:00

I just couldn't get enough of this image. I'm not sure why it caught my attention so much, but I just enjoyed painted the spaces between the trees! I wanted to keep the immediacy and freshness of the pigment and brush strokes so I had to force myself to stop working on this one! Here is the progression:

This painting will debut at Castalia in Chapel Hill this August! It's going to be a great show! The opening reception is the evening of Friday, August 5.

Raffaldini Vineyard Thunderstorm

2011-06-24T08:41:00.010-04:00

A few weeks ago, our great friend, Nick was in town. We all ended up going to some local vineyards that we've discovered while living in N.C. Raffaldini is the most spectacular as far as the view, and Elkin Creek is our favorite for rustic charm, delicious pizza, roaming guineas and wine that is way better than the standard N.C. versions. As we were sipping from our glasses on the patio at Raffaldini, the most spectacular thunderstorm billowed in from the distance and we watched until it was right above our heads before we ran inside for safety! Here are some pictures and here is the painting that resulted. I must say, I just love it! It's even more fun because it's tied to such a great summer weekend memory. The painting is actually brighter and lighter in person, but another thunderstorm was rolling in as I took the picture of the canvas above. The full painting progression is below. Cheers!

"Raffaldini Vineyard Thunderstorm, 36 x 48 inches, oil on canvas"

This painting will debut at Castalia in Meadowmont Village of Chapel Hill in August. The opening reception is the evening of August 5.

Battleground Impression

2011-06-20T14:03:00.001-04:00

I have been painting, painting, painting away this summer. Here is a new piece as it progressed from an early start to the colorful finish!

This is my favorite scene from running around Battleground park in the fall. When the light catches those yellow leaves in the trees, it makes all that exercise sweat well worth it!

Through the grapevine...

2011-06-13T14:02:00.000-04:00

I just meet the most wonderful people through being an artist. In fact, I've met some of my very best friends through the grapevine as I've moved through the process of accepting commissions and getting the word out about my upcoming exhibitions. The world is such a spider web-- and I mean that in a great way.

Recently I met a wonderful person who asked me to paint her condominium in Greensboro. We had lunch (she took me to lunch!), and then I got to see her beautiful and historic condo in downtown Greensboro. The exterior is elegant, charming, classic and lush with spring greenery, and when she showed me her entry and living room I just nearly had a cow with how lovely it was. If I had been in Greensboro instead of Savannah when I purchased my condo, I'm 100% sure we would have been neighbors!

She is even more lovely than her condo, as she is poised, gracious, elegant and charming! We shared some laughs over our secret (or not so secret) obsession with Martha (you know..The one and only Martha). She also shared some names of great chefs and antique stores. How fun is that?

Here is her painting, as well as a preliminary sketch. I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I enjoyed this commission. Many thanks Anne!

Can't see the forest for the trees...

2011-05-13T14:51:00.007-04:00

I get the most comments on posts that show my painting process... probably because it is so shocking to see the differences in my paintings as they progress. Yes, I always start with a crazy color like pink, orange or even highlighter yellow. Why, you ask? Because it makes the layers glow once I'm finished! In grad school I learned the name for this technique-- "imprimatura." Apparently I'm not the only artist who likes to start out this way, but I may be one of just a few who start out this loudly.

Here's the progression of my latest painting. I have a couple more on the easels upstairs and I'm really truly honestly THRILLED to be painting again after such a long semester of education classes. It's not that they weren't great-- they were great-- I just do really well when I have cycles of change in my year. Onward to the painting cycle as I gear up for my solo exhibition at Castalia in Chapel Hill this August.

I call this one "Can't see the Forest from the Trees." It's funny, because life and painting are so similar in that way. I get caught up in the minutia of brushstrokes or in the daily tedium of chores and errands. It's trite but true that sometimes we have to step back to admire the larger picture. On a silly note, I often get caught up in the abstract details found in nature. I'm not sure what it is, but I LOVE those little interstitial spaces, or negative spaces created where the sky meets the branches of the trees. I think I could paint this forever... or at least enough to get a good series out of it. It's abstract yet representational, and for now it has my attention!

Can't see the Forest for the Trees, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches, available in August

Mother's Day Luncheon

2011-05-01T16:44:00.005-04:00

I had my Mom and Grandma Nina over for a ladies' luncheon early this spring. The bulbs were blooming, my table-runner was finished, and I even had enough time to make some chocolate angel-food cake in my heart pan (yes it was back during spring break!). We had chicken salad and chocolate strawberry short cake. I couldn't have asked for a better Saturday. In case you need some ideas for mother's day celebrations, here are the pictures and the recipes.

Above: Chocolate Angel Food Cake: Martha Stewart's version (what did you expect?!)

* I used cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate chips like she called for.

Below: Curried Chicken Salad Recipe (adapted from Southern Living)

Boneless skinless chicken breasts boiled and torn into bite-size pieces (I used 3 breasts of chicken for 3 people)

1 package neufchatel cheese (a lighter version of cream cheese with more protein too!)

3 green onions, diced

2-3 Tablespoons mayo

1 Tablespoon curry powder

red grapes to taste

1 stick celery diced

salt/ pepper to taste

Mix the cheese, mayo, and curry powder. Toss chicken, celery and green onions and mix with curry mixture. Add grapes last so they don't break apart. Serve on a leaf of lettuce or on toasted English muffins. Yummmm..... I added deviled eggs to the menu for the finishing touch (And so I could use my pretty deviled egg plate that my grandma gave me last year for my birthday!) This chicken salad is easily made a day ahead of time and refrigerated.

A happy memory! (And pretty too... spring is my favorite!)

Ballerina Cake

2011-04-30T17:06:00.001-04:00

I haven't been able to get away from baking cakes this spring! Maybe that's why I've also needed to go on a diet. Here is a sweet little cake that I made for a lovely little lady turning 5. A ballerina is what she wanted and a ballerina is what she got! Here are the pictures.

Note the pink ballet slippers and pretty pearl necklace! She holds a flower bloom in her hands.

A daisy cake for my Carla

2011-04-28T15:09:00.001-04:00

Carla's birthday was in early April. She is one of my newest friends, as we met when she interviewed me for an article in the paper a little while back. Carla threw an amazing wine and dessert party in honor of another year and a new beginning. She was the hostess with the mostess. Since nobody should make her own birthday cake, I had the pleasure of baking for my friend who is no stranger to excellent cakes. She owns and operates Magpie Bakery in all of her spare time. Here's how everything turned out. She was happy, so I was happy too!

P.S. The inside was chocolate!

Birthday bliss!

2011-04-27T09:53:00.001-04:00

Today is my birthday! As of 9:53 this morning, I am officially twenty-eight years. I couldn't have asked for a better, sweeter, wilder ride than I've had so far. I am grateful and lucky to be loved by my husband, my family, and so many wonderful friends. Thank you!

Chickadee bon-bons

2011-04-20T16:10:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter! Peep Peep!

I got into the springtime spirit by making some chickadee bon-bons. They're my homemade version of a cake pop, and yes you can google the recipe and the idea from Bakerella. I have browsed and browsed her cake pop book in the stores! I wish I had one for my coffee table-- but then again, that would make me hungrier for cake. With a few exceptions, I've been doing pretty darn well on my little diet so I don't need the temptation. After 20 days, I've lost 4 lbs! Yeah!

To me, Easter and spring are all about the amazing resilience of people, nature and the world as a whole. It seems like the planet is celebrating a new season, a new day, and new life with every little bloom and every little leaf. I'm not sure what that has to do with chocolate-covered cake in the shape of chicks, but I'm pretty sure they'll make the little cousins happy after an egg hunt! Not only do they taste good, but they were fun to make this morning while I procrastinated on my homework project a little bit longer.

On the easel right now!

2011-03-10T08:01:00.000-05:00

So a week ago, my friend asked me what kinds of paintings I was working on. Sorry Melissa, I forgot to tell you in my email! These are the paintings that I'm working on, although neither one is finished. They may change drastically before I decide they can leave my studio.

Notice how the red light and blue cup are placed in this picture. (love that!) Sometimes my influences come from the oddest (subconscious) things. When finished, this one will be a line of trees. (Gustav Klimt influence)

And then I added some light blue sky! This is my favorite part of painting trees.

See how the forms start to take shape when I paint the negative space between the branches?Again, notice the similarity in the painting's sky color and the light blue of the walls in my studio...strange.

Below is a pointillism piece that is a little further along. It's 4 feet by 5 feet in size! That's a lot of dots. And nope, it's still not even close to finished.

Here's what it looks like up close...

Paintings aren't always pretty while they're in progress. In fact, most of them start out with bright colors, even garish colors, and then they go through a "chromatic grey" stage where I use muted tones that resemble baby food or dirt! Painting only looks like magic in the end because most folks don't see the labor-intensive, problem-solving, messy, behind-the-scenes process. That's my favorite part!

Spring Break Table Runner

2011-03-09T16:00:00.000-05:00

I've been on spring break for a week... remember those days? Road trips, tan lines and the smell of coconut sunscreen? Yeah... me neither... We'll leave those fantasies to the men in our lives. Actually, my spring break from grad school rolled around while it was still 50 degrees outside and drizzling rain. But I'm not complaining! Spring break is niiiiice. Instead of catching some rays, I made a table runner and some place mats to cheer up the dining room!

I just finished them and I've been so stinkin' happy about it that I just set up the table-- twice!

When I first got the idea, I went into Sew Heavenly to purchase some fabric and on an impulse I chose this bright happy pink floral and the green polka-dot patterns.

It wasn't until I got home that I realized my china would clash with the pink! Fortunately, I have some pretty white everyday dishes that look spectacular with it, and some pretty butterfly dessert plates. I dug through my fabric scraps and made the reverse side of my runner into a design that fit much better with our wedding china. I also made the back side of the place mats with a neutral nutty-colored canvas. I really love them!

Now I have two looks for the price of one.

Funny story about the wedding china. When Dave and I decided to register for china, we popped in a few stores to check out the patterns. I was leaning toward a pure-white basket-weave pattern that I thought would go with everything. Dave told me that since I was an artist I was going to have to get some colorful china.

I'm so glad we did! It's fun to have such pretty colorful dishes for snazzy dinner parties.

More about Jefferson...(and Charlottesville food)

2011-03-08T07:00:00.001-05:00

Good old Thomas Jefferson, or T. J. for short, was quite a fellow. Not only did he build a spectacular house and university, (and become president) but he also authored the Declaration of Independence and a document that set forth the idea of separation of church and state.

Jefferson believed education was the most important building block of a country. Without education, people can't decipher truth from fiction or make intelligent decisions for themselves and their families. Hooray for T. J.! Dave and I visited Charlottesville this weekend where we learned a lot about T. J. and a lot about the values that shaped our American history. T. J., you make us proud!

First stop on the list was Monticello... well, I take that back. First stop on the list was lunch after our 3 hour drive. Where did we stop? A tourist trap, of course! Dave and I pulled into Michie Tavern, built in 1784. We were herded in by ladies wearing colonial calico dresses and bonnets, and before we knew it we were in line for a southern-cooking style buffet lunch complete with tin-cups and pewter-looking plates! The dining room had a real fire burning in the fireplace and it just smelled like Thanksgiving. We didn't even know what hit us until they told us the price of the meal after we sat down with a heap of food!

Don't do what we did (unless you're a huge Southern-cookin' fan and you don't mind a 16 dollar buffet that doesn't include your beverage-- seriously people). I have to admit that it was good and it was amusing. As much as I love my country, I'd have to give my vote for the French, Spanish and the Italians when it comes to food that expensive. Screw the bonnets... I'll take a beignet any day.

Then we toured Monticello! Here are some pictures.

That evening we walked around "the mall" in downtown C-ville and we ate at the most delicious restaurant in town- ZoCaLo. I highly recommend the salmon and the cheese plate. I've never had Spanish-inspired salmon, but this was to die for! The menu says it includes "green chili and goat cheese couscous, smoked pico and cascabel cream. " YUM. Also, the manchego cheese with spicy quince spread-- delicious beyond belief. I don't even know what a quince is, but I'm hoping I can re-create this for an appetizer at some point. I didn't take any pictures, but you should take my word about the salmon and visit their rockin' website too.

We woke up Sunday morning and had brunch at Petit Pois. We ordered Brioche French toast (pictured above) that rivaled the French toast from our favorite place in the world... Harris bakery in Savannah, GA. My favorite parts of this place (besides the food) were the blue tile on the floor and the pretty white textured dishes. Yay for details and good design! The tavern could surely take some notes from restaurants on C-ville's downtown mall. For a 16 dollar buffet, I want some good design AND some good food!

Here is Henry Moore's seated figure overlooking part of the UVA campus. She waits in front of the art museum to welcome visitors like us even when it's raining cats and dogs.

And here's T. J.'s very famous Rotunda. Although Monticello was very impressive on the inside, the Rotunda was decorated lack-luster. Let me describe it-- white walls and oval rooms with lots of old books and period furniture. There. Done. Save the walk in the rain and come back when the UVA lawn is more sunshiney. Bring a frisbee and a dog while you're at it.

Dave's umbrella got stuck between T. J.'s columns on the UVA front lawn. I guess Jefferson didn't think of everything...nobody's perfect, you know!

Sponge Bob and the Jefferson Pilot Building (a stretch)

2011-03-06T18:50:00.003-05:00

Since I was a little girl, I remember driving along hwy. 220 or along interstate 40 and seeing this building as we approached Greensboro's downtown. I wondered what the history was with this building. It's a dominant feature on the Greensboro skyline much like the Empire state building is a dominant feature in NYC. If Jay-Z wrote a song about Greensboro instead of NYC, it would have been about the "Jefferson" state of mind!

It turns out that this building was the tallest building in N.C. and possibly the tallest building in the entire south when it was completed. It was built by an architect from New York named Charles C. Hartmann. Hartmann also assisted with the ceiling design of NYC's Grand Central Terminal's main lobby before coming to N.C. Later on he designed the Woolworths building that is now the International Civil Right's Museum (site of the first sit-ins in Greensboro).

The Jefferson Standard building was completed in 1923, and you can see the year 1922 carved in the ornate decor above the door. There is also a bust of Thomas Jefferson there. The company that built this building--Jefferson Standard Life Insurance (Jefferson-Pilot) company-- was named for good old T. J., and so they wanted to give him a solid shout-out. Several times I've come across a quote that says Greensboro was as proud of this skyscraper as a child is of his very first tooth!

The building is largely made of terra cotta tiles and granite, and while several styles were combined to form the architecture, the prevailing style is Beaux Arts. (such a beautiful name for a style) There are also Buffalo Nickels carved in stone that appear above each ground-level window. They represent "thrift and economy" according to Wikipedia. The U-shaped floor plan was designed so that even the interior offices could receive fresh cool air in the hot humid southern summers (and light). Hartmann was so clever!

The huge honking part with the grayish-greenish rooftop wasn't completed until 1990. Now you know!

So.. what does this building have to do with Sponge Bob Squarepants? This pictures says it all. This is the cover drawing of a G-Man comic book-- a special 2009 edition, at that. The sequential artist is Chris Giarusso. The artist marked the release of this comic by coming to Greensboro's Acme Comics bookstore along with some other big sequential artists. Gregg Schigiel, one of the artists of Spongebob Squarepants, was there for the release! It's a lame connection, I know-- I originally misunderstood and thought the artist who drew G-man was also the Spongbob squarepants artist, but he's not.. oh well! At least you can see Greensboro in the skyline of G-man comics!

References:

http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000118

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Standard_Building

http://www.digtriad.com/news/local_state/article.aspx?storyid=130359

Old-As-Dirt Architecture in Greensboro

2011-02-28T13:52:00.008-05:00

(This picture is of a real log cabin built near Greensboro around 1788!!- it's now downtown at the Greensboro Historical Museum and you can tour the sucker!)

It's fairly obvious that I have not attended to my blog for a few months. I just haven't had it in me to write and elaborate any more than I'm required to in my online classes. That's right...online classes! I started a master's program in January that will officially certify me to teach in the N.C. school system. Hooray! Lateral entry jobs have not really been out there for the past two years, so I decided to buckle down and make myself official once again. Sometimes I think all life really requires is the ability to jump through hoop after hoop in order to make one's self "official." That's a little on the sarcastic side though so I'll refrain from further elaboration.

Anyway, I have COMPLETELY enjoyed one of my classes this semester (I've also completely resented one class that requires me to spew at least 19 paragraphs of BS each week. You know what I'm talking about education majors!). The class I love is called art history methods and content, and it's supposed to teach me how to impart little minds with knowledge of art history.

(I drag my poor husband along on my local architecture binges. Fortunately he's up for entertaining historical exhibits and it's given me an excuse to visit a number of fascinating places in Greensboro)

That's the easy part. The hard part is the fact that my professor (beloved, quirky, demanding), has made it her personal mission to make sure her students know all the art history people and architecture bits that she deems crucial. She claims that Americans know more about European art and architecture than they do about American art and architecture. It's true! I can tell you a lot more about French Impressionism than I can about the Hudson River School. Surely we can cover 250 years of American art and architecture in 16 weeks... right? Right! In my class, her difficult hour-long quizzes have produced anxiety, tears and strangely-- even joy.

It surely is a doosey, but I've enjoyed having my art history gaps filled and cemented. I didn't know a darn thing about American architecture, but thanks to this professor, I've discovered that it is THRILLING and that it is ALL AROUND US! I've also discovered new art history movements and painters that were just waiting to reach me. Ever heard of Luminism?

Just last Friday I drove out into the country and found a Georgian/Federalist style home (circa early 1800's) that was supposedly built by John McCain's great-great-great grandfather. I guess old-money helps one become a senator in some circumstances. Regardless, it was LOVELY! Here's a picture:

And below is a photo of yet another REAL colonial house in Greensboro. This is the McNairy house that was built between 1762-1781--that's OLD. It used to be located near Battleground and Horse Pen Creek, (roads still there!) but now it is smack-dab in the middle of downtown Greensboro (Historical Museum on Summit Ave.) The house was actually used as a hospital after the revolutionary war battle of Guilford Courthouse- March 15, 1781. That's a mere 230 years ago this month! Can you imagine being carried form the wooded battleground (battleground park) and then landing in this house where some doctor with a knife would have amputated your injured leg? I can't imagine that but it's wild to think about it.

It's so easy to imagine that history was "out there" or that none of these buildings exist anymore. It's just not true! Did you know Greensboro's Elm St. was named that because a former slave planted beautiful Elm trees along the street? Sadly, they were cut down in order to make the town look more urban later on. Sigh... I don't like that trend.

If I wasn't so allergic to dust and afraid of power tools I may have been more into historic preservation. This weekend was a marathon of seeking and finding buildings and homes with fascinating history. For my next blog post I'll tell you what Sponge Bob Squarepants has to do with Beaux Arts architecture in Greensboro...

Eat Your Heart Out

2011-01-24T08:15:00.011-05:00

I am cheesy. There is nothing that I love more than red and pink hearts, glitter, roses and a box of chocolates. I know there are the valentine-haters out there. There are people who think this holiday is stupid-- that instead, we should celebrate those we love with reckless abandon every day-- or any day, for that matter. I agree with the logic. However, it's often the case that I forget items on my to-do list that don't have a specific deadline. So I am thankful for the deadline of Valentine's Day because it forces me to stop, eat a bite of chocolate, and make pretty cards for some of the special folks in my life.

With that said, I got together with two of my newest friends (Carla and Woodie) on Saturday and we made Valentines like crazy.

There were sweet valentines, cheesy valentines, hilarious valentines-- and between the glitter and pretty patterned paper, we took bites of chocolate croissants (another yearly tradition in the Podracky household).

Here are some pictures from our party. It is sure to be an annual event and I hope more people can join in the fun next year.

Evolution of the Red Tree

2011-01-14T14:14:00.006-05:00

It always comes back to the same thing. I realized this week that I've been painting red trees for 7 years now. I LOVE the color red. If everything I wore was red, I'd be happy. If everything I ate was red, I'd be happy (red wine, tomatoes, cherries, Cheerwine, lollipops, steak-- hey, even shrimp are kind of red if you stretch it). I just love the color red.

Here's my latest red tree painting along with all the others that I actually have pictures of. The first one is the one that started it all-- way back at W&L. I enjoyed seeing them all together. My most recent painting is the last one.

Fire Tree, 2004, 30x40 inches, Permanent collection of academic affairs, University of Wyoming

Maple Beauties, 2009, 36 x 48 inches, private collection, VA

November Splendor in Red, 2009, 48 x 60 inches, private collection, NC

November Splendor in Violet, 2009, 48 x 60 inches, private collection, NC

Duke Chapel in the Fall, 2010, available at Studio 91, Chapel Hill

Fire Tree II, 36x48 inches, 2011, available at Studio 91, Chapel Hill

The latest painting just happened out of the blue (or out of the red, rather). I drove home one day and found the sunlight hitting my neighbor's Japanese maple tree just right. I rushed to take some photos and I finally returned to those images in the past few weeks. My favorite parts of these paintings are where the blue sky comes in against the red leaves. There is lots of impasto paint there-- It feels a little abstract and has so much energy! That's when I just lose myself in the thrill of painting colors.

I'll be at Studio 91 tonight from 6-9 p.m. and I'm going to paint on site! I have no idea what I'm painting yet, so this could go either way. I hope you'll stop by and see me for a bit.

January Struggle vs. White Christmas

2011-01-04T09:29:00.005-05:00

I'm struggling at going back to real life today. Dave went back to work this morning and I've been trying to get my act together ever since. It was so nice to have a week to recover from 2010. Not that it was a bad year at all-- it was a glorious year! It's just that after all that cooking, cleaning, entertaining, working at the chocolate shop, wrapping, painting, exhibiting, house buying, moving stuff, we were wiped out. So much happens in a year... I'm sure next year I'll be at a completely different point than this year, but for now, I'm happy to stay put in a warm house with a fireplace. Maybe I could drag my easel up close to it and then I'd be more productive in the first week of January. So instead of new paintings, here are some fun pictures from our very first White Christmas in N.C. Hopefully there will be many more to follow.

Christmas Day in Greensboro-- It began to snow around 2:30 p.m.
By 9:00 p.m., this is what our street looked like!
We went for an obligatory walk in the neighborhood to see the globe lights. Apparently, this is something that Greensboro goes gaga for! Next year we will be in on the action too.
And my favorite photo of the evening.... our neighbor's tree draped in sparkly lights and dusted with glittery snow. Now how about that cuppa hot chocolate and a cozy book by the fire?

Terrariums, Fairys and Gnomes

2010-12-20T17:23:00.000-05:00

Last year I received a beautiful bell-shaped glass cover as a wedding gift from my Aunt Joyce. I've already found so many uses for it! It's covered cookies, pies, cheese & crackers, and now it will cover my latest creation... a terrarium display!

To make your own, gather a tiny potted plant (like a fern) and a few things from around the house and yard. Then stick a glass cover on it and you're done! Here you see my collection without the glass cover.

My dear friend, Brynn, brought me the little birds nest earlier this fall. I think it looks sweet with a tiny star ornament nestled inside. Toss in some pine cones and moss and voila! You'll have a delightful display! If you have children, call it a fairy home instead and have them place a miniature chair or seat in there for the fairy.

This little set-up reminds me of a special gnome tree on a path at W&L. Someone had carved a tiny wooden door, complete with a handle and secured it with little hinges to a hole in the tree trunk. I found it one day with my little buddy, who was in elementary school at the time. We opened the door and found a stash of notes and wishes that had been written to the mythical inhabitant. When we put all the little notes back in, we even added a few wishes of our own for Mr. Gnome. I wonder if he still lives there...

Four Peaks: Colorado Mountains

2010-12-15T15:17:00.000-05:00

"Four Peaks" is a painting for a couple that I met over 5 years ago in Wyoming. When I lived in Laramie, they saw my senior thesis work at a coffee shop and commissioned me to create a painting to celebrate their 10-year wedding anniversary. Naturally, I was thrilled when they found me again to help them celebrate 15 years together! What a compliment!

In the last 5 years, they've adopted two sweet girls. The four peaks in this painting represent the four members of their family-- The big overlapping peaks represent years of strength and love in their marriage and the two smaller peaks represent their sweet girls. In addition, the mountains in the painting are Colorado mountains-- close to the family's current home.

This painting is a beautiful way to celebrate their special occasion and I am honored to help Eric and Julie mark their milestones together! Thank you Eric and Julie and here's wishing you endless years of happiness together!

The Yellow House: a photo journal

2010-12-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

Art After Dark, aka Lasagna and a painting!

2010-12-07T15:04:00.000-05:00

November 5th was a very special night at the studio! Good folks from all around town came to my home for a delicious dinner and step-by-step painting instructions. We wined and dined on baguette, fig spread and brie, homemade lasagna, salad, and apple pie a la mode before we headed upstairs to paint. It's a wonder we could lift our paintbrushes with such delightfully happy bellies, but somehow we managed!

Here are a few pictures of us in our paint shirts with finished paintings. Each person created his or her own bird painting and went home with a framed masterpiece! I am so proud of each of my students!

Additional classes will be offered in 2011. E-mail me at katie.elane.wall@gmail.com if you'd like to know about them! Space is limited to 5 students each night and the cost is $100.00 per person with wine, dinner, supplies and framing included.

Goodbye, my love!

2010-11-23T20:22:00.005-05:00

Every now and then I still find it hard to let go of one of my paintings. "The Red Tree," as it's known around my house, found a new home tonight. Dave and I took it to the residence of a wonderful family who wanted to see it in their own space. As soon as we walked into the house, I knew it was meant to be. Their rooms were decorated with luxurious drapes and cozy red and green fabrics and paints. "The Red Tree"--- my red tree--- was the perfect finishing touch.

I was thrilled when they loved it too-- so much so that I grinned from ear to ear with pride. I felt like jumping up and down with joy! I am forever honored when people love my work enough to purchase it and hang it in their homes. No matter how many times it happens, it's still a tremendous thrill.

The green paint on their dining room walls was the perfect shade to bring out the brilliant red of the tree. What made it even better is the fact that the couple had Laura Redd's help in decorating! Laura is one of my good friends and I am constantly amazed at her work! Learning that was just the icing on the cake... tonight was meant to be!

When we came home to our empty kitchen wall I felt a little pang of sadness. That glorious painting was the one that I saw each morning as I downed my honey-nut cheerios and sipped my coffee. That glorious painting was the backdrop for our perfect Thanksgiving buffet planned for Thursday...That glorious painting was one of my favorites that I've ever painted. I will miss it.

This is the cycle-- I paint things that I love-- that I want to hang in my home-- and they find other homes! This is the wonderful life of being an artist. Because that painting found a great home, my mind will start pondering the next project to fill the void. Are you excited yet? I sure am...

Holiday Classes for Kids!

2010-11-15T16:33:00.008-05:00

(image courtesy of todaysmotherhood.com)

Does the holiday rush make your head spin? Do you need an hour or two of quiet so that you can run errands and check a few things off your to-do-list?

I hear you!

On December 7th and 14th, I'm offering a buy one get one free set of holiday art classes for kids age 6-10. For just $25.00 each, your little ones can paint and sculpt to their heart's content in a professional artist's studio while you get some time to take care of yourself. Purchase the first holiday class on December 7th, and get the second class free on December 14th.

Space is limited and spots must be reserved in advance. To hold a spot for your child, call Katie at 912.704.3637.

Holiday Sculptures: Tuesday, Dec. 7th 4:30-5:45 p.m., at the studio, 3022 Lake Forest Dr., Greensboro, all supplies included.

Holiday Paintings: Tuesday, Dec. 14th, 4:30-5:45 p.m., at the studio, 3022 Lake Forest Dr., Greensboro, all supplies included.

Do you know what's even better than time to yourself?... Seeing how proud your children are of their finished projects when you put them on display! Take that, Mr. holiday-to-do-list!

A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck!

2010-11-11T09:47:00.000-05:00

Beautiful red apples washed and ready for peeling... Don't you see why cooking and painting go together so well? These are about to go into my annual tradition of apple blackberry pies.

The ingredients looked so pretty on my countertop, complete with the recipe from last year's Martha Stewart Living. I'm a huge fan...

Diced cold butter for the crusts. I put it in a food processor with the flour, cornstarch, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and sugar. Pulse until crumbly and then add your cold water until it just comes together.

Peeling 15 lbs of apples is easier said than done. If you're making this recipe, you may as well make several pies and save yourself the trouble of repeat batches later in the year. I made 5 pies and froze them all for the holidays. The apple slices get mixed with more sugar, spice and a few handfuls of frozen blackberries.

This crust is beautiful. I used little leaf, apple and acorn cut-outs to make it lovely. I even put a little turkey cut-out at the center of my Thanksgiving pies.

Dotted with sweet cream butter and ready for the oven or freezer: Sweet success! (and one less thing on my to-do list for Thanksgiving)

Here's the recipe: Martha Stewarts Pate Brisee Apple Blackberry Pie

Apples to Apples, Dusk to Dusk

2010-11-05T06:39:00.000-04:00

Traditions are priceless, aren't they? Here are pictures from our latest family tradition. It all began last year with the search for the perfect red tree. Dave and I drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway to seek the fall colors and snapshots. We found so much more along the way-- including an apple orchard called The Orchard at Altapass.

On a gorgeous hillside off the parkway there are rows and rows of apple trees with the brightest red apples and a perfect barn. The barn, now a store, offers hot apple cider, apple butter, apples by the peck or bushel, and entertainment galore if you time it just right. Last year we discovered the cider. This year we discovered the entertainment!

A typical Carolina bluegrass band was playing country mountain-man music and the mountain folk were coming out of the woodwork to dance and sing and be jolly by golly. The dancing was filled with plaid shirts, bushy beards, toothy grins, jerky Caucasian movements and plenty of whoop & ye-haw. What more could you ask for, I say... what more could you ask for...?

The only thing missing was a ride in the Yosimite Sam Truck... maybe next year.

Reaching

2010-11-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

These trees look like they're reaching toward each other, don't they? I couldn't resist the sunlight coming through fog, silhouetting these three shadowy forms. Why are they reaching? I'm not exactly sure of the answers but I like to think about the possibilities.

My style is more impressionistic in this piece. I feel a freshness and an energy in the painting that I always try to capture. It eludes me more often than I like, but in this piece I caught it by the tail!

The top painting is the final version and the bottom piece is a palette knife study that helped me prepare.

The Velveteen Pumpkins

2010-10-25T18:43:00.007-04:00

In September, my stepmom told me that she saw velvet pumpkins on a facebook page for one of our favorite stores. I was so excited because I'd seen some in a magazine last year and never found the time to make them before the holidays arrived. I shoved the idea somewhere in the back of my brain-file and hadn't thought another thing about it until that mention.

I stopped by the favorite store... S. Burke, and gleefully asked about the velveteen pumpkins when the clerk offered to help me. Much to my dismay, she looked confused as the dickens...

"Velvet pumpkins? Hmmm, sweetie... I don't think that's us...."

Sigh. I'd gotten my hopes up for a Thanksgiving tablescape to rival the queen's and now the clerk had let me down. Was I doomed to another pumpkin-patch-less year? No!

Being 100% stubborn, I decided to take the velvet pumpkin issue to the next level. I dug out instructions from the magazine I'd saved for this exact moment. I spent hours and hours making a pumpkin patch one Saturday (ok--- maybe 2 Saturdays and the following Sunday night). At last, my table has a lovely little pumpkin patch that makes me smile.

Alas, sometimes I still falter. I showed this velveteen pumpkin picture to my friend, Dana and the first thing out of her mouth was ... Hmm...The stem looks a little phallic doesn't it?

We'll see what my extended family thinks on Turkey Day... at least I made myself happy!

Here's how to make your own pumpkin patch: Martha Stewart Velvet Pumpkins

Sarah P. Duke Gardens

2010-10-21T18:20:00.006-04:00

This place did things to me... it rinsed my soul with sunlight and made time stand still for a few hours. I spent Saturday here on a quiet little bench sharing baguette, brie and fig-spread with my great friend, Junghyun. We've known each other since 3rd grade, and we caught up on 6 month's of stories. She's been sea-kayaking, running half-marathons and getting excited about the birth of a twin niece and nephew that came this week!

Monday afternoon I came back to her bench and I painted the view. This piece is a very traditional piece for me. The palette is decidedly fall in nature and it captures that warm autumn glow that is so very North Carolina. I could paint in Duke Gardens again and again.

A glimpse from the easel

2010-10-15T06:00:00.002-04:00

In August, Dave and I celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary by taking a weekend trip to the beach! On Saturday morning, we devoured some challah bread and homemade blueberry jam from our sweet neighbor, Scotty, and then we headed over to Fort Fisher to see the trees.

The light was perfect-- it filtered through the gnarled and twisted branches in patches of sun and shade. I added my signature painterly colors and voila!... Fort Fisher Dance.

Lex Vegas

2010-10-03T06:00:00.002-04:00

I finished "Evening in Lexington" last week. It began in February as a cold winter scene, and morphed into a warm summer evening as I worked on it through mid September.

Washington and Lee is still one of my favorite places in the world. Last December I traveled to Lexington to deliver some artwork and to work on a print project with Lee Chapel. It turned cold and snowy late one evening and Dave and I took some fun night pictures in the flurries before we met some friends for coffee and dessert. The final painting reminds me of the heady summers I spent in Lexington on a quiet brick campus with beautiful southern charm. I can almost hear the crickets and see the lightning bugs again.

Since my initial Savannah night painting called "La Boheme," I've been fascinated with the colors created by lights at night. In this piece, I began using a palette knife in addition to my brushes. It's got a painterly quality that I'm thrilled with! I enjoyed breaking away from my typical style for this piece. Shine on Lex-Vegas, shine on...

Franklin Street this Weekend

2010-09-29T15:21:00.003-04:00

This one's for all my Carolina-fan friends and family. Go Tarheels! I used to cheer for anyone but Carolina, but I've had way too many friends and family members attend this school and fall in love with it to do that anymore.

This Sunday I'll be on Franklin Street once again for Festifall, Chapel Hill's annual downtown art festival. Come see my latest paintings along with this sweet little gem. I'll be there from 1-6 p.m. Sunday afternoon, rain or shine.

Loco for Coco

2010-09-24T14:17:00.004-04:00

Ta da! Here's the latest painting from my studio-- at least the latest one that has had time to dry! I have been painting like a mad woman lately. I have lots of wet canvases in the studio and more paintings to post as soon as they're dry.

This piece is for the shop window at Loco for Coco gourmet chocolates in Greensboro! I've started working there on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I love it! Not only have I gotten to sample some mighty-fine chocolate confections, but I've also met lots of happy people coming in to choose their chocolate treats! It's a hard life, I tell ya...

Loco for Coco is celebrating their third birthday soon, so mark your calendars for Thursday, October 7 from 5-7 p.m. and come in to see my latest painting and to sample a chocolate martini! Yumm...

Today's inspiration: Robin Purcell

2010-09-09T07:51:00.000-04:00

Meet Robin Purcell's Twisting Mountain 14 x 21... my inspiration today as I set out to paint from our Yellowstone trip. I love Robin's entire series of Mount Diablo. Would you believe this is a watercolor painting? She's re-created this in every season and every light. I hope she never tires of it because I love the way her mind works. Just look at all that clear beautiful color!

The Monkey Quilt

2010-09-01T11:31:00.009-04:00

(Above: D is super cute even when preggo! Below: She really liked her quilt!)
In April, we learned that our great friends, Diana and Kevin, are having a baby boy! He's due to arrive in October and we are still eagerly awaiting the birth announcement and the great news. For a while, I've wanted to try my hand at a quilt. Melissa Wheeler (yep you Melissa!) inspired me with her quilt way back in Savannah, and so I have been churning little ideas around in my head for nearly 2 years! In addition, my friend, Diana, is a pro when it comes to knitting sweaters and gifts. She's made me some of the most beautiful things that I have in my closet, so I wanted to make her something super special too!

This summer, I had my chance to put my sewing machine where my mouth was! Diana and Kevin decorated their nursery with a jungle theme, and they've been referring to their little boy as their little monkey.... hence the little monkey quilt. I poked around online and found a few cute monkey quilts and fabrics. I ordered some Moda sock-monkey fabric from fabric.com, and then added in other patterns and colors as needed. For the back of the quilt I used a soft light green minky fabric. The best part was piecing together a happy little monkey on the front. I used remnants from my fabric tote and came up with a silly but super-cute monkey with his arms raised. Unfortunately, I didn't take a close-up picture of the monkey--- but you can still see it in the pictures.

The quilt took me FOREVER, but it was a joy to make and it was so fun to complete. I didn't know how to bind a quilt, so I stitched the front and back together like a pillow, turned them inside out and then top-stitched around the border. It's not a perfect quilt, but it's a quilt made with love and made to be loved! Enjoy!

Goodbye Summer!

2010-08-30T17:34:00.007-04:00

Where did it go? It's so cliche that I don't even want to say it, but it's true... time flies.

This summer I've watched two friends marry and another two get pregnant, taught an art camp and many art lessons, made my first quilt, baked a mean blueberry galette, applied for and been rejected by 4 teaching jobs, hiked in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, bought a dream house with Dave, moved for the 8th time in 4 years, and applied to grad school (3rd time's the charm). Where did it go?--- all that sweet summertime?

I find myself landing in September slightly baffled at how this seems to happen every single year. Shall I say it? Maybe this is NORMAL?

Life is always such a mix of joy, speed, sweat, hard work, love and even disappointment. Stir it all together in one big 90 degree pot of June, July & August and we'll call it a great summer.

I have not painted nearly enough-- or blogged for that matter. But I'm getting back into it. I started a fun still life of truffles for Loco for Coco. It's nearly finished. I'm also working on a giant painting of Lee Chapel and Lexington at night. I'll probably re-do the entire thing and make it pointillism. There's also a pile of images from Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons that I need to sort through and paint. Onward and upward-- to the next challenge we go

Painting with the POPS

2010-07-10T09:38:00.001-04:00

Every Tuesday morning, a magical thing happens around the triad. A group of about 10 lovely painters meets up at various spots to practice painting en plein air. I have had the pleasure of joining these artists several times this summer, and in the process I have found some AMAZING spots and met some AMAZING people. The first spot was a vineyard near Winston Salem. It made me feel like I was in Italy again! The second spot was a daylilly farm-- complete with an old farmhouse built in 1860. This week we're going to some gardens closer to Greensboro and I can't wait.

Here are some images from the past group paints. At the daylilly farmhouse, I ended up giving my painting to one of the property owners. He just loved the painting and I felt like a total champ.

Fireworks

2010-07-05T09:23:00.006-04:00

What is it about fireworks? They never fail to make my heart race and put a grin on my face. The painting above was done by Cullen Justice in my art class a few days before the fourth. He painted his favorite family memory complete with his dad grilling hot-dogs on the girl.

Here are some of my own favorite memories from past independence days.

2009 at Uncle David's beach house-- watching fireworks from top-deck and seeing them all up and down the coastline for miles and miles.

2007 Driving over the Talmadge bridge in Savannah and timing it just perfectly so that we could see the fireworks over River St.

2004 Working at the A-Bar-A- Ranch in Wyoming. The kids counselors put up flags and banners around the pool side and then put barbecue sauce on what seems liked 100 pounds of ribs and chicken wings. We worked hard all day long, but at 9 p.m., when the fireworks started, we all laid back on our blankets outside of the ranch and watched a spectacular fireworks show right overhead. That same summer, my girlfriends and I snuck out of our cabins at midnight with thermoses of spiked hot-chocolate and watched a meteor shower as we sang the entire soundtrack to Dirty Dancing.

My favorite fourth of July memory ever...2006: Dave and I had just started dating and we returned home from our first road-trip together. Over the weekend, we saw a space shuttle launch at the cape, and then ate ridiculously large cheeseburgers in Daytona beach, Fla. We arrived back in Savannah just around 8:45 p.m.-- 15 minutes before the fireworks started on the river front. Racing over cobblestones and bricks in our flip-flops, we high-tailed it down Bull St. and made it just in time to watch the grand finale. It was hot, sweaty, and wonderful.

Strawberry Gelato

2010-06-10T07:19:00.003-04:00

With strawberries in season, I couldn't help but try this quick and easy recipe for strawberry gelato. It was the perfect sensation of tangy and sweet and delightfully smooth and cold! Here goes:

1 lb. fresh strawberries
1.5 cups granulated sugar
1.5 cups cold whipping cream
1.5 cups cold water
dash of lemon juice

Clean and cut washed berries into quarters. Put berries, sugar and water into blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add a dash of lemon juice. Add the cold whipping cream and blend until recipe thickens slightly (consistency of buttermilk). Put the mix in an ice cream maker and freeze for 25-30 minutes or until perfect!

The recipe suggested adding 2Tbs. vodka to keep the ice-cream from freezing too hard after you put it in your freezer. I tried it and it worked like a charm! If you're not planning to eat your gelato right away, I'd suggest doing this to keep it soft enough to scoop later on.

This recipe is great by itself, but even more delicious when used as an ice-cream cake filling.

Tilapia Salad that satisfies like a T-bone

2010-06-04T18:06:00.004-04:00

You'll never believe me until you try it yourself. This salad may be the best meal that I've ever made. I stumbled on it by accident, but I know for sure that it's going to be a staple in my recipe book for the rest of my life. The picture may not look great but I promise it's delish! You say you don't really like fish? Neither does my husband... but he LOVES this! Try it!

The best salad I've ever made

2 Tilapia fillets

1 large lemon juiced and zested

1 medium shallot (diced finely)

1 can mandarin orange wedges

1/2 clove garlic minced

salt & pepper to taste

romaine lettuce, torn into salad pieces

1/4 cup slivered almonds (toast on stove top with a tsp. of butter and sugar)

dried cranberries

breadcrumbs

mayo

olive oil (or blood orange infused olive oil if you want extra credit)

Step 1: Partially assemble dressing: Mix lemon juice (2-3 Tbs), zest, shallot, salt, pepper, and about 6 orange wedges. Whisk together, crushing oranges and releasing juice. Pour half the mixture over the fish fillets and keep the other half for the dressing.

Step 2: Add additional salt/pepper to fillets if needed. Add the 1/2 clove garlic and set aside to marinate 20-30 minutes.

Step 3: Finish dressing: Add 1 tablespoon mayo to the dressing mixture, whisk until creamy. Then drizzle in olive oil while you whisk until dressing reaches desired consistency-- should be similar to creamy ranch dressing.

Step 4: Assemble salad: Prepare salad plates with romaine lettuce, toasted almonds, cranberries and the rest of the mandarin orange wedges. Set aside until fish is ready.

Step 5: Finish fish: Remove fillets from marinade and set marinade juice aside for later. Rub fillets with a small amount of mayo (1/2 tsp each) and then dredge them in the breadcrumbs until coated. Heat olive oil in pan on medium to medium-high and then sear fish 2-3 minutes per side until cooked. After you've started searing the second side of the fish, toss in the leftover marinade and cover-- it will add some steam and a nice flavor.

When the fish is ready, place one fillet on top of each salad, give it a squeeze of lemon juice and then drizzle your finished dressing on top. Delicious!

This is a Katie original!

The Vivid Fog

2010-05-24T15:08:00.012-04:00

Oh it's been a while! April flew by and now we're rounding the corner into June...

My big weekend was only a week ago, but it feels like months. The Vivid Fog opened in Asheboro with a wonderful crowd. Somehow all the paintings were hung beautifully, the paint was dry, cookies were baked, and we even managed to have some real fog via dry ice! I was so happy with everything! I saw lots of people from my Asheboro days and some more new friends from Greensboro too. Four paintings sold at the opening, and since then I've heard that two more have found new homes too!

Emma, aka the greatest helper in the world, came to the show early and helped arrange the "poetry-ee's" with Hollis.

Here I am with my friend Carla. She and her husband, Toaster, took some of these awesome pictures.

And here I am again with my friend, Hollis. She helped me SO much with this show and I am grateful to her! She took the rest of these awesome pictures.

After the opening, Dave and I scarfed down some pizza with my parents at The Flying Pig, a new establishment in A-town. I was impressed! Even better than that part-- I ran into about 4 people that I graduated with (nearly 10 years ago!). They all looked the same, which is fabulous because it means we haven't aged a bit since we were 18!

After pizza at "the pig," we hopped in the car and drove to Raleigh for the night. Artsplosure festival was the next day, and even more paintings and giclee prints sold there! I was completely impressed with the festival. The artists there had really beautiful things and the show ran like butter! I'll most certainly be back. Speaking of butter, I'm off to bake a cake for Dave's birthday-- which is tomorrow!

Bright and early at Artsplosure 2010!

Plein Air Birthday...

2010-05-04T16:40:00.006-04:00

The week of my birthday, I gleefully hopped in my car and buzzed down to Faytteville for a plein air workshop with artist Diane Johnson. It was a birthday gift to myself--and a swift kick in the pants as far as motivation goes. The ride down was full of heavy traffic (because Fayetteville is nasty like that), but once I arrived at Cape Fear Studios, I just fell in love with painting all over again.

On Friday night, we had a brief meet and greet, and then I stayed up half the night reading my latest Jodi Piccoult novel and eating jelly beans. In spite of my midnight novel rendezvous, I woke up early Saturday morning and met all the painter ladies to travel to a breathtaking farm outside of the city.

I immediately settled on the subject of a beautiful tree-line and a perfect reflection in the still lake behind the farmhouse. It was a gray day, but that worked in our favor because it shielded us from the glaring sun. I was so excited to find this composition-- mainly because I've been looking at a series that Monet did of a similar subject. If I lived on that farm, I would paint this scene on a daily basis-- or realistically--at least several times a year!

When I was about 75% finished with this painting, it started to rain. It wasn't a horrible ran though, so I was able to finish it before packing it in for lunch.

After lunch, I watched Diane give a demo and I was completely inspired for my next painting-- another view of the lake and the trees. This one was harder because the light kept shifting. Sun would come out and then hide again, and the wind started picking up and disturbing the reflections in the lake. I'm still happy with the result in spite of the difficulties.

We packed everything up on Saturday and gorged ourselves on local strawberries and other delicious food. I had to stop on my trip back home to purchase a whole box of the fresh strawberries. There is NOTHING like a vine-ripe strawberry warmed in the sunshine-- nothing. Once Dave and I move into a house again, I want to learn how to make strawberry jam. It may be a next summer project, but I can hardly stop thinking about it even now.

Sunday was more of a challenge. I woke up to ominous cloudy skies and a whipping wind. At the studios, we reluctantly decided not to make our pilgrimage to the botanical gardens for another painting day. All the ladies were smart enough to stay inside and learn about color mixing except for me--- I ventured out into the 20 mph gusts with my brush. I'm just like that-- stubborn.

I was out there long enough to pick a composition and being a blustery painting-- but then my palette started to blow away-- trailing paint all over everything. I cleaned up what I could and then shoved all of it in the trunk of my car. Oh well. Later in the week, I returned to finish it up and it's currently one of my favorite little paintings! There is definitely movement in the work, but I made it look much more sunny and bright than it actually was.

When the workshop ended, I came home to a wonderful home-cooked meal from Dave-- It was part of my birthday surprise. At 27, I have this to say-- I am lucky, I am happy, I am blessed, I am content, and I am grateful.

2010-05-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I was driving around with the sun-roof down and the Dixie Chicks cranked up when I caught myself doing something my mother always did. I was tapping my hand on my knee… over and over and over again-- just like Mom used to in the minivan. For some reason, that drove me completely crazy in middle school. I thought everything she did was embarrassing and I’m sure I told her in no uncertain terms. Yet there I was… doing that crazy “un-cool” hand jive.

In honor of my wonderful mother and her subconscious hand-jive, I wanted to focus on Mother’s Day. It’ll be here before you can shake a stick at it—May 9th. Fortunately, you still have time to thank Mom for all her little eccentricities and for putting up with lord-knows-what from you.

My favorite Mother’s Day gift idea is from Suzi Cook and her one-of-a-kind jewelry creations. A Greensboro artist and mother of one, Suzi’s Mama Medals celebrate mothers everywhere and give credit to their daily heroic efforts. “Motherhood was more than I ever expected as far as how hard it was and the weight of responsibility it carried,” said Suzi. She created her first Mama Medal from a stray domino years ago to celebrate the milestone of her son’s second birthday. “Those two years were a difficult transition and I was proud to make it through!,” she said.” The Mama Medal recognizes achievements of motherhood with fun and funky style!

As her son grew and began to draw, Suzi developed a technique to capture his art in metal. She creates custom bracelets, pendants and brooches from children’s line drawings for mothers around the country. This offers cool mom’s everywhere a way to proudly display their child’s creativity. Starting at $68, these can be custom ordered from Suzi’s Etsy site (http://www.suzicook.etsy.com).

For the mother who has everything, check out Suzi’s hand-embroidered necklaces combining the delicacy of embroidered thread with chunkier chains and beads. These one-of-a-kind babies are featured at Art and Artifacts Gallery (http://www.artandartifactsbr.com/) in Blowing Rock, N.C. “They are fun, whimsical and different… not something you see everyday!” said the artist.

To see more jewelry by the talented Suzi Cook, visit her blog, Frills and Whimsy (http://frillsandwhimsy.blogspot.com/).

Shin-diggity-dog!

2010-04-30T06:00:00.004-04:00

What, pray tell, is a shindig you ask? In essence it’s a dance, a celebration, a party full of merrymaking and exuberance! The best part of all is that this one is free! On Sunday, May 2nd in Downtown Greensboro at the 300 block of South Elm St., local artists, musicians, dancers and delicious restaurants will converge to offer you the best that Greensboro has to offer.

Over 80 artists, crafters and vintage sellers are joining together to display and sell their latest creations. Many of the artists are part of a new Greensboro movement called Handmade Triad. If you’re tired of mass-produced-made-in-China products cluttering our lives and our landfills come check out what these local artists have to offer. They’re real people using their hearts and minds to create beautiful art that will withstand the test of time. For a sneak preview of the goods, view the Handmade Triad website (http://www.handmadetriad.com/).

Eight bands will liven up the afternoon featuring music by Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Filthybird, Decoration Ghost and more. Their sounds range from blue-grassy and soulful to straight up rock and roll. Food from Zaytoons, Iron Hen (my new favorite restaurant), Fincastles, and Thai Pan will keep you fat and sassy and handcrafted local beer from Natty Greene’s will quench your thirst in the sweet sunshine.

The Shindig is an event associated with Art Beat Greensboro, the third annual celebration of local art that features over 60 events in 10 days. Theater, music and visual art events pack the calendar from April 30-May 9 thanks to professional arts organizations that call our city home. To see other Art Beat events in town, visit www.artbeatgreensboro.org and for more information on The Shindig, visit the blog of Mischief Makers816 (http://mischiefmakers816.blogspot.com/).

Art appreciation & Art communication

2010-04-19T11:18:00.006-04:00

This painting excites me. It takes me right back to 7th grade when I was discovering that I could make a beautiful thing out of a few basic materials (markers, paper, tape, gule). Art lets you communicate without saying a word. That's what I've always loved about it. Even if you have a horrid fear of public speaking or there's something you can't say in person, you can still make a painting that tells your story for you-- while you stand back with a shy smile.

Art is such a fascinating way to communicate. For the longest time, art was so personal to me-- so ingrained in my very nature and self-identity, that I had a difficult time talking about it. The funny thing is-- everyone wants to ask you about your art! That's perfectly normal... it's just that talking about one's art is sometimes like airing dirty laundry or owning up to your secret hopes, dreams and fears to the lady at the DMV counter. It's not always an easy task.

I find a lot of artists composing complicated and lofty artist statements that seem to do nothing but lead their viewers down convoluted paths of confusion. I don't like that approach. If an artist statement contains the words "blur the boundaries between art and life" I'm no longer interested. Anyone can speak art-speak. It takes a lot more courage to speak from the heart.

To me, art is simple-- I don't paint for shock-value or to push the boundaries. I paint because I love to paint. I choose imagery that compels me to preserve it on canvas. I exaggerate colors, light, lines and moods that speak to me personally with the high hopes that others might appreciate those same things too.

Appreciating a painting is like appreciating a meaty little poem or a well-written work of fiction. When I find something impressive, I think- wow! I know exactly what she's talking about... I know what she's trying to say and she's said it beautifully and elegantly...That's all there is to it.

Cake Wrecks and Cup-cakes

2010-04-16T16:04:00.010-04:00

One of the funniest sites I've run across this year is cake wrecks (http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/). I get a huge kick out of messed-up-cakes as long as they're not mine. Yesterday I had an order to bake cupcakes for a birthday party. I did what smart bakers NEVER do-- I tried a new recipe the day of my order. What resulted was a cupcake-spread that resembled more of a sheet-cake than perky little cupcakes.

I sulked for a bit, ate a few of the ruined edges (delicious!) and then ran out to the grocery store so that I could try again. Apparently I did something wrong in the mixing process and overfilled my cupcake pan. There's a chance the heat in my oven is off too-- but it's not THAT off, mind you.

The second recipe I used was an old-faithful cupcake-recipe from Smitten Kitchen's blog (http://smittenkitchen.com/). Her work never fails and the cupcakes came out beautifully! They were perky, fluffy, sweet and warm--everything homemade cupcakes should be.

I decorated them with gerber daisy icing flowers and then added these happy-go-lucky bumble bees that have goofy smiles. You can't look at them without smiling... I dare you...

I always learn by example-- failure failure failure and then ta-da, something clicks. Note to self-- give yourself enough time to mess up so that you can figure out how to make things right!

Emily's Bridal Bouquet

2010-04-05T06:00:00.001-04:00

Who doesn't love weddings? I know I do. I love seeing every last detail that the bride picked out, especially her dress and her flower bouquet. Last year I began painting bridal bouquets for brides and for very special wedding gifts. This is an example of a recent commission for a bouquet painting. The goal is not to capture every last detail, but instead to capture the moment-- the joy-- a symbol to help you remember your special day.

The colors play a crucial part. Usually a bride or a couple will choose some of their favorite colors for their wedding flowers and decorations. These are always meant to be an expression of the couple getting married. Capturing those colors in a painting for the couple's home is a great way to ensure that they can use their wedding colors in a sentimental accent piece.

I usually work from a wedding photograph or an engagement photograph. Above is an example of the framed piece along with the photograph inspiration and a handmade card. When opened, the card includes a pop-up flower that is the same type of flower found in the bride's bouquet. I am so honored to be part of these special wedding gifts and I want every last detail to be extra special.

Plein Air Painting

2010-04-03T13:11:00.008-04:00

There is an undeniable urgency when painting outdoors – nature's so grand, the canvas so small. It takes the human mind with all its grand abilities and complexities to sort through the overwhelming visual feast set before it and re-create on canvas the essential components of such beauty and wonder. (Jan Blencowe)

To look, to see, to understand, to capture – however imperfectly – is to be part of the land in a way like no other. (Jan Blencowe)

This Jan Blencowe is a smart cookie! These quotes sum it up perfectly...this is exactly how it feels to paint en plein air! My friend Hollis and I ventured out to Battleground park recently for an afternoon painting session. This is a picture from the middle of the process. I stopped in the middle of my painting due to a beautiful yet painful glaring sun, but we will have to go back. Next time I will bring my hat... just like Hollis!

Painting en plein air is all about losing yourself in the moment. You have to look with all of your heart.. and quickly too! The light shifts, highlighting different bands of color at different times. It takes an urgency and a tenacity to commit the outdoors to canvas... but it is rewarding... and so fun!

Blue Tree-line Waiting for Spring

2010-04-01T12:42:00.005-04:00

Dab, dab, dab, dab-- more dabbing and voila! The dabs have been calling my name since my last painting, Impression Fog. This time, they led me to a blue tree line. After struggling on a piece with soft brush strokes, I returned to dabbing again. What is it about Monet? Somehow he figured out that thick rough dabs of paint can create a softer effect than smooth gentle brush strokes. I like his agressive approach. Painting dabs is something you can do with reckless abandon-- and I like to "reckless abandon" away in my studio on a regular basis.

This impressionist/post-impressionist technique takes me back to 7th grade... At North Asheboro Middle School, Ms. Vicki Essick was my art teacher and she lead the class through a pointillism still-life project. That project taught me more about working with color than anything else I can remember. To me, it was as if she'd spilled the beans on a giant magic trick. Ms. Essick revealed the power of complimentary colors, analagous colors and different tints and shades. She also taught us about mark-making's density and how that could help render an object in 3D form. I'm going to have to dig out that old pointillism project. I'm willing to bet that I'll still be proud as a pig that my name is on it. Thanks Ms. Essick!

After I finished this piece, I ordered the postcards for my May show, The Vivid Fog. I can't wait! They're going to be beautiful. There's something about seeing a glossy printed postcard that just makes everything official. It makes the deadline real-- and with that, I'm off to paint again. I have a long way to go until May.

Plein Air Springtime

2010-03-24T13:32:00.004-04:00

Oh to paint outside in the springtime! This is what the days were made for... slow afternoons full of sunshine, color and a soft breeze. When I put on my painting shirt and whip out my brushes and French fold-up easel I'm perfectly content with the world.

Last week I visited a friend's neighborhood and set up near a sidewalk and a pretty willow tree. Painting in plein air has always been thrilling. The experience carries the same kind of urgency that figure-drawing class carries. You have to capture what's in front of you quickly! Catch it before the light shifts, or you may never catch it at all. Beware of fire-ants, mosquitoes and sunburns. They'll sneak up on you when you're absorbed in a composition.

While I liked this little painting on the easel, I haven't been satisfied with it since I returned to the studio. I may re-work it, or I may paint over it completely depending on my mood and current inspiration. Today I'm off for more. This afternoon it's Battlefield park.

Tinkerbell Cake and Princess Cake

2010-03-20T06:00:00.002-04:00

Ta-da! Here are a Tinkerbell cake and a Princess cake for a sweet girl who just turned 4. I used a combination of gum-paste sugar, melted chocolate and butter cream icing for all these decorations. I wish I'd gotten a better picture of the Tinkerbell cake, but I'd worked on it so long that all I wanted to do was go to bed...so I did!

Impression Fog: Uninhibited Joy

2010-03-18T13:00:00.001-04:00

Remember the Impressionists...the painters who stormed out of the French academy and took their brushes and easels into the sunlight to capture fleeting impressions of color and atmosphere? I love those guys. Some days I think I was born a century too late.

While working on my fog series with restrained and uber-soft brushstrokes, I got a little antsy. For weeks this painting was as gentle and smooth as its pastel palette. Then all of a sudden I got the urge to dab.. and dab, and dab, and dab and dab... there you go.

I love the result! Yes, I'm going back to smooth fog painting, but this one is a fun break-away and it achieves the same misty-morning goal. I showed this piece to some friends today and one person told me he saw an uninhibited joy in this piece. I love it! This painting and all of my fog paintings will be on display for the very first time at Circa Gallery in Asheboro, May 14- early June. The opening reception is May 14 from 5-8 p.m. and promises uninhibited joy to all in attendance. You can't beat that!

Molting

2010-03-18T06:00:00.003-04:00

A dear friend of mine is going through a difficult time right now. To call it a break-up is like calling the Haiti earthquake a tremble. We're talking about a life-altering, ego-crushing, painful situation that nobody should ever have to face. Although there were no vows involved, it's more akin to divorce than anything else.

I found two poems in my sketchbook from senior year. At that time I was getting over a high-school summer crush and my frustration came out in this way. My situation was just silly looking back and I can't even remember which boy this was about. The poems still ring-true to me regarding the emotional notes that I felt at the time. So these are for you my friend-- or anyone else who has faced and survived a painful relationship end.

The Beginning

Leaden worries weigh on weary shoulders of want.

Beauty invades heartache, uninvited.

Wind blown needles of ice stab holes in a protective sweater shell,

Forcing lowered eyes to meet a fresh beginning.

It stems from an end I prayed would never come.

(KEW October 2000)

Molting

As I walked outside today,

The pieces of you melted away.

And ruddy memories, like my foes,

I felt them squish between my toes!

A pebble or root that lay beneath,

Could not injure the moment, sweet.

Even your limp which swelled my knees,

Caressed away by a novel breeze.

The chill that passed upon my spine,

Invigorated my soul's heightened climb.

In flesh I descended unto these slats,

And rested there, true rest at last.

Underneath the boughs of pine,

Simplicity laced all through my mind.

Subtly a moon face warmed,

the tension that my face had worn.

Slowly, surely, and with resolve,

My skin of you began to dissolve.

(KEW February 2001)

Cutest Slumber Party Cake Ever

2010-03-17T16:23:00.006-04:00

My dear friend Melissa's little girl turned 6 last month and to celebrate, I made this sweet cake for her. It features a slumber party girl along with a teddy bear, popcorn bowl, stars and slippers all made out of gum-paste sugar. The sleeping bag and pillow were made of marshmallow fondant and the white stars and hearts are chocolate. This was so much fun!

Do you remember those sleep-overs where we stayed up all night watching movies and revealing our secret crushes? Those must have been so much work for the parents-- only now do I realize what was involved. I don't remember much about the details, but I do remember the occassional toothpaste-in-hair incident and other mean-girl stuff from the parties.

Cat Food Smile

2010-03-12T08:38:00.003-05:00

This is odd, but I'm in an odd mood lately. I went to clean up the cat's food this morning and I found a SMILE on the plate. I know it's a sign-- a sign of something-- but I can't for the life of me figure out what I'm supposed to make of it. It's not everyday that your pets leave you a smiley face in their leftovers.

Here it is in all of it's grossness... the cat food smile. And with that, I'm off to finish a new foggy morning scene at the easel. Happy Friday to all and to all a great weekend (especially my cat)!

Grateful

2010-03-03T09:21:00.006-05:00

Grateful: warmly or deeply appreciative

William H. Channing: Symphony

"To live content with small means; To seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; To be worthy , not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; To study hard, think quietly, Talk gently, Act frankly; To listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; To bear all cheerfully, Do all bravely, Await occasions, Hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common.
This is to be my symphony.

I'm not sure what it is about this morning, but when I looked outside and saw a beautiful blanket of snow AGAIN, I just couldn't resist a little pang of excitement. I know it's cold and yucky and messes up everyone's schedule, but regardless-- the snow is beautiful. It's been such a rare experience for me over the years that every time I see snow, I automatically get excited at the wonder and the beauty of the scenery. Like the fog, it covers all the little imperfections of the landscape and makes even the ugliest old shack seem romantic and peaceful.

I haven't posted in a while because I've been in a funk. I haven't sold many paintings recently, and somehow that ties in with my self confidence more than I would like for it to. I'm gearing up for a solo show and THE art festival of N.C., Artsplosure-- all in the same weekend in May. It's probably a good idea to hoard paintings right now so that I'm ready for my big spring!

Here is the latest fog painting-- finished a couple weeks ago. I am grateful to be a painter-- to see the way I see-- to feel emotions the way I feel them-- this is who I am, regardless of where I am and what I do for a living.

The verse above is something that my good friend, Vicki sent to me over a year ago. I tacked it to my fridge for months until we moved, and now I have the e-mail pasted into my journal. Recently I saw it in Oprah Magazine again and was reminded of how much I like it. I don't pretend to subscribe to the poem every day-- I wish I could live like that daily. It's more like I read it every once in a while and say-- oh yeah! I need to be more like that ... and I do need to... I think we all do. Life is just a succession of moments-- enjoy them, study them, ponder them, or ignore them and they'll fly by before we realize what we've lost.

Cake Class #3

2010-02-22T10:03:00.005-05:00

For last week's cake decorating class, I made a yellow cake with chocolate icing. It had a strawberry filling like the previous cakes, and that gave it a pretty look when sliced. I used a simple swag border with a round writing tip, and then added a shell border to the base and a dot or ball border to the top. A few more flourishes and it was done! This was a pretty cake that tasted great. The lessons this week were basic. We just practiced with our borders and learned how to make perfect polka-dots. Again, Dave and I enjoyed several slices and then we sent it to the office to save our waistlines from the dangers of cake-decorating class. I could eat a slice every day if I left these cakes in my fridge.

I love this picture of our apartment in February. For the past 3 Valentine's, I've hung a homemade paper heart banner. Creativity has always been my stress-reliever. I made this 3 years ago and have carted it through many moves already. My example for kids-art class is a stained-glass paper project that hangs below the banner. We colored a transparent paper with markers and then embellished it with brads and other cut-outs.

The vase of flowers here was a special gift-- a silk-flower re-creation of my wedding bouquet, thanks to my dear friend Brynn and her talented mom. All the colors in this room are just so happy and warm-- a perfect contrast to the dingy snow that lingers in the cold shade outside.

The Color of Fog

2010-02-10T17:12:00.004-05:00

Sometimes inspiration hits you at the strangest moments. Last week I was shivering my butt off, waiting for my heater to kick on in the Mazda, when I realized how beautiful the morning fog looked on an otherwise miserably cold and messy day. After a meeting and some errands, I came home and mixed up this color palette for my latest fog painting (coming soon). It's a challenge to get the right pale shade of color for the sky and even more of a challenge to get the subtle color variations of the trees. My favorite part of this picture is the way the sunshine glows from behind the foggy mist. Even on such a cold yucky day, it's warmth and happy-yellow are obvious.

As an artist, my job is to capture this feeling on canvas and paint it in a way so that others can feel it too. I exaggerate the color while staying in a soft foggy palette. Yesterday I finished a grant proposal called "The Vivid Fog." I am so proud!

Strawberry Valentine Cake... SO SMOOTH

2010-02-08T15:00:00.005-05:00

How to get a perfectly smooth frosted cake

Even though cake class was cancelled due to snow, I decided to complete my cake layers and practice piping buttercream frosting. After all, I had the ingredients in my fridge, and it was too cold to do anything but warm up the oven. I added a firm buttercream dam in white icing on my first cake layer, and then placed strawberry glaze and fresh strawberries in a layer between the two cakes. Pretty!

Next, I sandwiched the strawberries and added a crumb-coat, of buttercream on the whole cake. This seals in all the cake crumbs and makes it easier to get a smooth finish on the final cake. A brief stint in the fridge later, and I was ready to decorate!

The hardest part of cake-decorating so far is getting a smooth base coat of icing. To do this, you add a relatively thick layer (1/4 inch) of icing all over, briefly refrigerate, and then use a hot spatula to smooth out the imperfections. Keep your spatula hot in a pot of boiling water and dry it off each time you touch it to the icing. In class, we also learned that you can use a Viva paper towel to smooth crusting buttercreams. Once the frosting forms a bit of a crust, gently lay the paper towel over it and lightly rub the icing bumps out with your fingers. This technique yielded a pretty smooth cake-- a perfect canvas!

I practiced piping with some new icing tips and managed a rough basket weave heart along with lots of borders and a little writing. My icing got too warm near the end, but I kept going because this cake was just for practice. Again, I sent it to work with Dave for the engineers to devour.

The yellow butter cake recipe and the Swiss-buttercream frosting recipes were both taken from Smitten Kitchen. The recipes are here: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/07/project-wedding-cake-the-cake-is-baked/ and here: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/07/project-wedding-cake-swiss-buttercream/ I used both recipes for my own wedding cake last August and it got rave reviews. The layers held up well and so did the icing. The icing is also not too sweet, but has a nice buttery taste to it. The glaze and strawberries were my own addition to this cake. You can find strawberry glaze in the grocery store or make your own by heating sugar, water and juice. Enjoy!

Snow Walk and Purple Soup

2010-02-01T16:13:00.004-05:00

Sometimes you just have to concede to failure. Not every dish can be delicious, and sometimes you have to admit when something isn't even good -- at all. I had one of those frustrating moments where nothing came together on Sunday night. After a beautiful walk in our 6-inches of snow, I felt a growing need for some warm soup. After raiding my fridge and freezer, I thought I could whip out a sausage-veggie soup concoction that would be perfect for a cold evening.

I was wrong. Apparently purple potatoes, red wine, balsamic vinegar and sausage don't really go together very well-- at all. Yuck! I couldn't even eat my bowl of soup at dinner, much less serve the leftovers. You win some, you lose some...So here are some pretty snow pictures instead of a soup recipe. These holly trees were growing on the golf course site off of Horsepen Creek Rd and the boats were lodged deep in the snow near the lake. In just a few months, they'll see sunshine and tans instead of this cold layered icy concoction. For now it's just so peaceful and pristine.

Take That Martha Stewart!

2010-01-30T13:39:00.004-05:00

Last weekend I saw the movie, It's Complicated, with Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin. I loved it so much that I vowed to conquer the chocolate croissant this weekend. Starting last Monday, I made the dough and then followed very specific patterns of rolling and folding to create lots of luscious croissant layers. This morning, we woke up to a blanket of snow outside our window and I knew the time had come to bake!

I rolled out the dough packet and sliced it into triangles using a pizza cutter. Next, I placed little pieces of chocolate on each triangle and rolled those up into the famous crescent shape. Letting the dough rise for an entire hour was hard-- but worth it. I baked those suckers 20 minutes at 400 degrees and it was heaven. The whole house smelled like butter. Chocolate croissants taste even better served on wedding china with a fresh cappuccino. We didn't even need lunch. These were even better than I expected. If you're bored during a snow day and want to whip up your own batch of these delights, visit: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/croissants

Pretty Fog

2010-01-28T09:59:00.002-05:00

Today I am excited! I'm writing a proposal for an emerging artist grant and my project just keeps getting better and better. Since my style is usually uber-vivid, I'm painting a fog series that will challenge me to tone down my color-play. I may have just one or two color pops instead of having the entire canvas filled with exuberance. I'll create patterns of light and dark- -based on tree forms, and then impose color schemes that I find in other artist's work or even in interior-decorating magazines. I'm playing with color-- subtle color shifts, how colors look different depending on their proximity to other colors-- that sort of thing. It's very Albers, but not nearly as abstract.

The foggy landscape intrinsically carries more emotion. Think of all the fog connotations and words that come to mind when you see a foggy scene. Heavy, dense, blanket, lifting, softened, airy, hopeful, muddled. The words are full of contradiction, but they can all be associated with fog. Thanks to my good friend, Hollis, I have a new idea of how to incorporate text into upcoming exhibitions. There may even be a little fog-poetry happening.

This January I've felt a little foggy in the head-- and no, it's not from too much champagne at New Year's! As an artist, you're so open to new ideas and moving in any direction that it's often hard to pick a direction to move toward. Now I've found it-- and it's FOGGY...

Fog

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

--Carl Sandburg

Buttercream dreams

2010-01-26T12:29:00.004-05:00

Last night I attended my very first cake decorating class. All weekend I could hardly contain myself. I set out all my tools in my tote-bag and baked my first layers to take with me. At GTCC, I sat grinning at our instructor along with 10 other ladies and 1 very nice gentleman all too eager to learn.

During our first lesson, we learned how to pipe shell borders, rosettes, frills and stars with a number 21 Wilton icing tip. Wild and crazy! We also learned about leveling a cake, piping a dam for special fillings and now my homework is to create an iced buttercream cake that is "hot-knife" silky smooth in all of it's frosted glory.

The cake in the picture is a simple vanilla butter cake with a crumb coat and a few piped practice borders. I would share the recipe, but I actually thought the icing was too sweet. I know you're thinking, how could that ever Ever EVER happen... but it did, I assure you. I couldn't even eat more than a slice and a half. True story. I sent the rest of the cake to the office with Dave so that it could be devoured by lots of hungry engineers. There may be an afternoon sugar-slump, so I wouldn't expect much productivity out of Dilbert today...

For my homework cake, I'm going to use a Martha Stewart recipe. I'm sure she's done her homework and will offer up a delightful buttercream-- perfect in every way. To be continued...

Seeing Birds

2010-01-20T13:08:00.004-05:00

Like everyone else in 2010, I am slightly obsessed with birds. This trend has grown so much in recent years that I see birds everywhere! Here are a few bird paintings from last year, along with a Christmas present I received from a dear friend. It's a birds-nest necklace designed by Yankee Girl Designs. If you want one too, visit www.lindseyandray.com/ygd. I love mine!

Feeling Foggy

2010-01-19T10:50:00.003-05:00

Last fall I suddenly become fascinated with all things subtle-- subtle color variations, subtle mark-making, even subtle flavors. It's odd, considering that my usual artistic style is vivid-- bright-- anything but subtle! It all started one morning while driving in the fog. I noticed how soft the trees looked behind their blanket of mist, and how the fog changed from a cool-blue tone over the trees to a warm peachy-yellow as it blanketed the sunshine. Bliss! I want to draw that in graphite to explore the subtle tonal changes instead of the subtle color shifts.

Valerie Demianchuk is an inspiration. Her work consists of highly-detailed pencil drawings of everyday objects on stark white paper. Her art's power lies in its simplicity. To see what I'm talking about, click here: http://www.georgeadamsgallery.com/artists/painting.php3?picture=1630&exhib=33

Sweet Potato Cannelloni

2010-01-15T12:43:00.003-05:00

I've been working on the healthy-o-meter lately (minus the banana ice cream), and so I attempted a Sweet Potato Cannelloni recipe that I tore out of Martha Stewart Living Magazine ages ago. Essentially, you use a mandoline to slice the potato really thin and then you roll the slices around a delicious mix of cottage cheese, potato and apple. A sprinkle of Parmesan and walnuts on top makes it perfect.

I had high hopes for this recipe and I was a little disappointed with the presentation. It was hard to make-- basically because the potato slices wanted to break when I tried to roll them up. It did taste good though, and I may make it again to take to a pot-luck kind of thing. It was pretty and yummy even if it wasn't perfect like the magazine picture.

This would make a great Lasagna dish if you just layered the filling and the potato slices several times and topped with Parmesan and walnuts.

Beware of the mandoline to anyone attempting this recipe. I got one as a gift nearly a year ago and the first time I used it, I sliced off the tip of my finger-- GROSS and painful. My psyche has just recovered enough so that I'm starting to attempt mandoline recipes again.

Here's the recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/sweet-potato-cannelloni

Nanner!

2010-01-14T11:11:00.006-05:00

This recipe tastes so delicious that it should come with a warning label-- avoid at all costs if you are depressed, pregnant or otherwise have no self-control. I'm not even a big banana fan, but this stuff is killer. Outside the Trevi Fountain in Rome, there is a gelato shop where we tasted banana gelato this September. The memory has lingered long enough for me to attempt my own version. Recently, I saw a recipe for something similar in a book that I flipped through at Williams Sonoma. It used less cream, more milk and brown sugar instead of vanilla. This version is adapted from a basic ice-cream recipe that came with my Cuisinart ice-cream maker and I threw in my own ideas (and bananas). Instead of plain vanilla extract, I also used a special vanilla-paste-gel sort of product that I found at The Fresh Market in the extract section. I never knew how delicious the smell of roasting bananas was-- but WOW! Enjoy all of this nanner-goodness...

Roasted Banana Ice Cream with Honey and Vanilla

3 cups roasted bananas (3 large bananas)

1 teaspoon butter

4 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon honey

1.5 cups whole milk

2 & 3/4 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Melt 1 tablespoon honey with 1 teaspoon butter in microwave. Stir and toss with peeled sliced bananas. Roast at 400 degrees F approximately 20-30 minutes, until soft and caramelized. Chill banana mixture and then process in food processor along with the lemon juice and pinch of salt.

In a small bowl, mix the rest of the honey and the whole milk and dissolve. You may need to nuke it 20 seconds to speed the process. Add heavy cream, vanilla extract, and whisk in chilled banana puree.

Place mixture in electric ice-cream maker for approximately 20-25 minutes. When ice-cream is churned and the texture of soft-serve, put it in containers and freeze until desired texture is attained. Yum yum!

Florentine Bathroom Stalls

2010-01-13T16:10:00.002-05:00

They say that Florence is the city of art, but what they don't tell you is that even the bathroom stall graffiti is poetic. On our honeymoon this September, Dave and I had the joy of visiting the city. Once we strolled around the Duomo and fought our way through the throngs of tourists, we moseyed on over to the Pitti Palace, the long-ago country home of the Medici family.

After making our way through the gardens and museums, we stopped briefly to take advantage of the museum's upscale WC before continuing on our way.

This is what I read on the back of the door in traditional black sharpie graffiti:

And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.

And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.

I recognized the poem as "Late Fragment" by Raymond Carver, one of my favorite poets. I wonder if every American tourist feels this way when they set foot in the WC of the Pitti Palace. Florence...what a dream...what a feeling...

The Bohemian, Savannah Ga.

2010-01-12T08:47:00.006-05:00

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways--Chardonnay in one hand--strawberries in the other--body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming--WOO HOO! What a ride!"

Yesterday I ran across this quote on my good friend's face book page and just laughed. YES! To live every day like you're squeezing the last drop out of it-- that is a worthy goal indeed. It reminded me of the drama of New Year's Eve-- reconnecting with our Savannah friends and sneaking into the newest, swankiest Savannah hotel for the last few minutes before the ball dropped.

While we couldn't see the fireworks thanks to a looming air-conditioner on the Hyatt rooftop, we enjoyed a spectacular view of the Talmadge bridge in all of its sparkling glory. Smoke from the paper-factory added the perpetual nastiness-factor, a trademark of Savannah-- The Savannah that we know and love, no matter what. I had my first kiss with my future husband on River Street, followed by the most romantic marriage proposal two and a half years later.

My husband, Dave, took some magnificent photos of the bridge at night, and as soon as we returned home to Greensboro, I began a painting that culminated in this piece yesterday afternoon.

Enjoy and welcome to my blog--East Coast Artist. Here, you'll find my musings, paintings, memories, recipes and a host of other randomness sure to entertain.