Art Is....2011

I'm part of a family, a big art family called ART IS...  It is headed up by Ellen Legare and Sallianne McClelland and I love them and all the attendees.  When you walk into an Art Is Retreat the first thing you think is, I'm with my people!   You can wear what you want, you can behave how you want, you can eat what you want.  no judgement!  In fact, more than likely someone next to you will even join you! It's a place to share ideas, get inspiration, be yourself and be supported.  It is the most wonderful weekend of my year and I look forward to it every year.

This was the 5th year of ART IS...  Loretta presented Sal and Ellen with mixed media canvases celebrating  the anniversary.  They were signed on the back by the attendees.

This year I taught there for the first time and had the BEST students ever!  I am looking forward to teaching again next year.  Thank you for your support, Dawn, Loretta, Linda, Angela and Pat.  You all did wonderfully and am so proud of your first attempts at woodburning!


here are some photos i took,( i usually forget to take pics as i get so involved in what i'm doing.)

I learned coptic stitch binding with Diana Trout.
and now i am hooked on making my own journals.  i use the kind of paper i want and the size paper i want!  thanks Diana for sharing the art of bookmaking with me!

My class space set up and ready to go.

I gave each student a goody bag filled with not only the supplies they needed for class, but also a hand painted, hand bound journal filled with drawing paper.

display of my work in the style of the class i was offering.  the class sample is in the center.  tall poppies.

look who i shared my class space with!  so excited...i love tracy!!

This is Dawn Gold.  She was the first student to sign up for my class and came all the way from England to attend ART IS...  I've known Dawn 'virtually' for years through an online trading site.  It was so wonderful to finally meet her in the flesh!

Linda Willis took my class!  She is a fabulous artist...particularly in fabrics and quilting!

Pat was one of the brave ladies learning a new technique!

and Angela concentrating to hard!  we call her angel hugs!!!

and my dear friend, Loretta.  She did a nice job too!

After woodburning my students blocked in color and added other  mediums.  (you'll have to take a class with me to find out how we do this!)

my students with their finished/semi finished projects!  i'm so proud of them!  you did fabulous ladies!!!!

After I taught my class, I took a class with Tracy Stilwell.  I admire her work so much and love to spend time with her.  so inspirational!  I glammed up my old pair of jeans.  i wear these in my studio a lot and wanted to spruce them up a bit. 

I opened up the leg seam and created this little garden out of fabrics and embroidery stitching.  this was SO much fun to do and reminded me of my high school days!  These were also a big hit with the children at the nursery school I teach in!!!

My friend Dawn and I saying our goodbyes...
until next year...maybe ART IS will go to LONDON!!!

taking time to try new things

As a member of the New Rochelle Art Association, I feel as if I should participate in as many shows as held.  The last show was the Jules Bauer Award Show and featured a prize for watercolor.  I didn't win the Jules Bauer award, but I did win Best of Show for this watercolor, titled Waiting for Racetime.  It is a painting of my daughter, Nicki waiting for her turn at a big invitational meet.  I was trying to convey the pre-race jitters she goes through.  The body language portrays that.

 And I also won 3rd prize in the mixed media category for this painting, Nature of Gemini.  

It was a good show, and a good month.

Now I've signed up for Traci Bunkers 30 day Art Challenge (see badge at right).  You make the rules, you just need to create for 30 days consistently, no excuses!  I'm up for that challenge.  I think a better challenge for me would be to see if I could update my blog for 30 days straight!

The Nature of Gemini

My latest work - 24"x24" on birch plywood

WhenI designed this piece I had difficulty choosing which swan should be the white (good) swan and which should be the black (evil) swan.  I couldn't decide if I was creating this with evil conquering good in mind, or that evil was the protector of all things good. 

Seeing that there is enough evil conquering good in the world, I decided to go with the latter thought; my black swan would be a guardian, and my little white swan was submitting to being protected and allowing for someone else to take care of her.  This is something I struggle with personally, letting someone else care for me, letting go of control, relinquising the reigns if you will. 

From this the title "Nature of Gemini" was born.  Gemini is a dual-natured sign, a mix of ying and yang and represented by twins.  Gemini's easily see both sides of an issue and can be restless, much like my swans and me.

so hard to get into a flow

here in NY we've been hit hard with storm after storm.  we've had 7 storms in as many weeks. the kids have been home, the dogs come in and out of the house and since my studio is in my home, it's been hard to get a flow of work going. 
i did manage to get a submission ready.  the theme is shakespeare's women and i've had so much fun getting these pieces ready.  keep your fingers crossed at least one will get in the show.

viola

queen elizabeth i

cleopatra

shakespeare's women

this week i'm working on some ideas for a submission. the theme of the show is shakespeare's women. i love this theme. so much fun to work with and so hard to pick!  there's cleopatra, juliet, viola, lady macbeth, katherine, ophelia, desdemona...i started off with cleopatra.  i made a study of her and struggled with the skin tones. the colors kept getting muddy and i was getting frustrated, but finally, i got it!

only to be informed by my history buff daughter...cleopatra was NOT egyptian!!!!!  (she was macedonian)
back to the old drawing board!

so my next study is this one. i'm liking her. she needs a few adjustments (smaller eyes, not so doe-eyed, thinner lips, better hair), but like i said this is a study. the final piece will be done in my usual style, woodburned and then painted, stamped, printed, colored etc.

CAN YOU GUESS WHO SHE IS???

i'm published!

Back in june i showed you this tease: http://kathleen-nesi.blogspot.com/2010/06/trade-magazine-submission.html

It was a long journey, but it has happened!  i'm published!  find my piece, 'remembering our military' in the jan/feb 2011 issue of somerset studio.

jan/feb 2011 issue

page 115





true colors of the piece



poppies

another poppy painting.  this one is woodburned on 12"x24" birch plywood and then layered with lots of fun textural goodies...tissue paper, acrylics, printing, stamping, fluid acrylics, stencils, colored pencil and gold flakes and finally beads in the centers of the flowers.  this may be offered as a future class, for now...enjoy!



winter...it's a wonderland

i'm entering another show. the deadline is this week. this is the piece i made.  the theme is winter wonderland. as i sat thinking about what winter meant to me...the feeling, traditions, the magic and beauty...i kept going back to an earlier piece i did in a journal.  i made it a full size work.  i love my snow tree.  it incorporates the feeling of winter to me with graphics.  do you know the feeling of snow as it lays heavy on a tree?  When everything is covered in white. after a really big snow, when everything is still, silent and quiet?  i love that!  it isn't until the sun comes out that the world awakens from a large snowfall...

...this captures the very beginning of that moment!

Apples of Carthage

The ancient Romans called pomegranates "apples of carthage".  My grandmother called them "Chinese apples".  We call them "superfruit".  The pomegranate has long symbolized fertility, Catherine of Aragon had one in her crest hoping to produce an heir to the throne.  I painted them for one reason: I LOVE THE COLOR OF DEEP RED!  enjoy.

woodburning, watercolor pencils, colored pencils, italian text, paper, acrylics, tissue paper



italian text gifted from loretta marvel...love it for leaves!



art auction piece

I just finished my piece for an art auction happening at the Art Is...East Coast Art Retreat in October.  The auction will benefit the Little Baby Face Foundation.   It is titled  Poppy Pods.  It is my signature style, woodburning, bold saturated color and layers upon layers of paint, tissue paper, prints, gold leaf, colored pencil and india ink. 

see ralph swim!

finished another piece today.  i'm so infuriated with the whole BP oil spill, that i just can't help but think of all that wildlife in the vast blue (speckled w/blackish red oily gook) ocean.  i got to thinking of the saltwater tank we used to have (don't ask) and my clown triggerfish named ralph. ralph is another example of the beautiful black/white graphic pattern found in nature...i'm starting to detect a theme here.  once again i used tissue papers, woodburning, acrylics, mica flakes, colored pencils, stamps and stencils on this piece.

fini!

finished another piece today.  i've always been infatuated by pattern, particulary pattern found in nature.  i was speaking w/someone recently about my summers as a child in NH.  i remembered being out with my dad and on the lake was a loon.  he was so excited to show it to me.  i love the patterning on their feathers...so graphic...so black and white!  this memory inspired this piece: