fun times in seattle

i had a great time, came home feeling very happy :-)

i picked up my dear friend Misty Mawn and new friend Melanie Komisarski from the airport yesterday afternoon.

First stop on the way to our hotel was the big Daniel Smith Store where we all stocked up on art supplies. I
purchased two moleskin sketchbooks that so many of my friends are raving about, a tube of Quinachronome Gold
oil paint, several black coptic markers and a roll of rice paper....don't know exactly why i needed that.

next stop was the infamous goodwill outlet store...OMG!!! to think i live across the sound from this gold mine
and had never been there. i think it may be a monthly adventure for me now. it was a new experience for both of
them as well and we all came away with a bag of treasures. Mine included this funky chair in the photos here -
just had to have it. i didn't remember till we got out to the car though that we had no extra room...it was stuffed
to the brim with their luggage. Luckily Melanie assured me she didn't mind having a part of the chair lie across her
lap. I also found an old butternut coffee tin, a big rusty broken flashlight, a beautiful dress made in the far east, a heavy
wool sweater i felt for purses, the cutest little jean jacket in the world for my granddaughter violet and more odds and
ends. all for under $15....whooo hoo!!! now you understand why my studio looks like it does - these things call to
me but i can only take on one project at a time.


next stop was Hotel Max...what a fun place - lots of stimulation and inspiration for artists. There are huge photo
prints that cover the doors of each room and original artwork in each room. My room had an interesting acrylic abstract
piece, Misty and Melanie's room had a gorgeous encaustic piece. My room was small and cozy, just right for me.

the bed
was comfortable (i'm picky) and it had 4 plump soft pillows and was covered by a soft, warm comforter...it made the perfect
little nest. Our rooms were on the 7th floor and my window looked out at the space needle about 6 blocks away. lots of traffic
and hub-bub, quite the shift in scenery and energy for this country girl.


We ate a delicious dinner that evening at the Snappy Dragon with Bernie Berlin and friends.

At 7:30 the next morning we were out the door to do some exploring of the city on foot. first stop was Starbucks for a tasty latte.
we then headed over the the pike place market where the produce vendors were setting up. we stopped at a bakery for muffins.we all took
lots of photos - i posted a few of them here. i'll post more later.

Misty surprised me with a wonderful collection of gifts...i loved everything see picture below. The golden box she painted
was filled a variety of teas and a lovely little ceramic tea saucer she made.

i got them back to the airport on time to catch their shuttle to Port Townsend for ArtFest. It's the first time either of them have attended
and they were both so excited - i hope they will have a fun and memorable adventure.

tomorrow i drive up to Port Townsend to help Laurie Mika at her table for vendor's night. i'm excited to have the chance to see art friends for a brief
time even though i didn't attend classes there this year.

Well, that's my update for now... wishing you all a beautiful day!

thursday

this is what sprung into being
while i played with paint last night
she's a soulful bird
she sings the blues...

Spring Equinox

Happy Spring Everyone!
the weather here in the Pacific Northwest is perfect
warm, sunny, and the air smells fresh
this piece is called "Abandoned"
the photo is one i took of the abandoned
chicken house in our field
i altered it in photoshop a bit
then printed it out, collaged, and did some painting

more RR pages

in Deb Trotter's book :-)

2 journal pages

I'm getting a slow start on Deb Trotter's Altered Calendar - life has been crazy this month, crazy and strange, but i persevere. This book is SO much fun; my challenge was to create around Bing Crosby's rendition of "Swinging on A Star" - she even included a music CD with that song and others to listen to so we can get into the spirit of the theme. She also provided me with several elements to collage into the story....see the pigs faces/parcial faces? These are cut from a small picture called 'the three pigs', one of the pieces i was to incorporate...here are pages 1 and 2; you'll have to imagine that they are sitting across from one another instead of up and down as the story on page 1 leads into page 2; if you want to see a close-up, click on the picture.

artist trading cards

I'm working on some artist trading cards for submission. The challenge here was to wet down watercolor paper and then randomly drop colors onto the paper, then do some pen drawing. on the card with the beads in the corners I cut out paper pieces, layered, glued and collaged.

attitude is everything

the sun is shining brightly on the frosty meadow grasses
a sweet smell outside
i finished my breakfast; yogurt with fruit and flax seed oil
time for a brisk walk with the dogs
i hope i see my breath
confirmation that i'm really here
not feeling very solid lately
ephemeral is more accurate

i brought a book at the thriftstore
in braille
1960 book two, learning braille
i feel blind too
i want to collage on these pages
the texture
mingled with fingertip ghosts
who have eyes that don't see the physical world
my eyes do
to a certain extent, a tiny extent
i want to see
i do see my limitations
but there's more
i know that
endless possiblilites
believe, katie...
you're a spirit that thinks you're a body

i saw a friend i hadn't seen in a long time the other day
i told her how much i liked her colorful hat - beautiful
she said you knew i was diagnosed with breast cancer?
no, i didn't
she took off her hat to show me her hair stubble growing back
i asked her how she was
is it really hard to go through?
no, a little nausea...not much in the scheme of things
it's all attitude she said
i think of dana reeves
attitude
it reminds me of my shortcomings
i know it's true

how is it i can hold joy and melancholy from one moment to the next
one flowing into another and back
something wants to label it all
and make it solid
but it's just a flow

this may not make sense to anyone but me
but i needed to say it
to connect with myself and others
words feel so difficult
sometimes i imagine a world where i don't have to talk
i don't need to

the year long color journal RR is almost over

only one more month left. here is my contribution to this months journal:

Attention All Big Hearted Artists and Friends

One of my online friends, Sara Hopp, who owns the quite fabulous online shope 'Manto Fev' has just learned her husband has a brain tumor, The medical expenses for his diagnosis, tests, surgery, etc are big and ongoing right now.

There is a raffle in the planning stages to donate money for these rapidly accrueing medical expenses. If you'd like to donate or for more information, you can read about it here:

wishing you all a beautiful day!
xox
katie

Hey Art Festers

although i'm not attending this year
i'm driving up to port townsend for vendor's night
laurie mika is vending and i'll be there helping her

so i hope you'll all stop by and say 'hi'
i'd love to match up online friends names with faces

the visit

my life has been totally consumed by family the past several days
heather and violet flew back home to san diego yesterday
we had a wonderful laid back visit while they were here
violet learned a new word: dog
she was fascinated by them and daisy and sophie were both on their best behavior
after i got home from driving them to the Seattle airport last night
i felt like i could sleep for a week
it was a satisfied exhastion
i haven't been keeping up with my blogs or anything online so i have some catching up to do
please forgive me if i missed something big and haven't commented
hope you're all doing well :-)
xox
katie

here are a few pictures from our visit.....