A good start...

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

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

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.

Battleground Impression

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!

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

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

Evolution of the Red Tree

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.

Goodbye, my love!

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...

Reaching

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.