The Auction- The Show

"Experiencing Freeport Maine- Showing Our Town Through Art" finally ends with the Auction on Friday night [12/5/2009] at Freeport Square Gallery ,140 Main Street, in Freeport at 7 pm. This has been a fun 'ride" ...my first grant experience and also a learning experience. What did I learn? It is good to stretch and try your wings once in a while.....and that I CAN do bigger paintings in my tiny loft studio.

"Freeport Heroes" casein on canvas 4' x 4'

Our eldest son is a Portland, Maine fireman...so to honor him, and all firemen... I chose to depict Freeport's firemen circa the 1940's. I put their ladder truck in a 1940's parade down Main Street and in front of the old L.L.Bean building. The scene is a figment of my imagination, a compilation of old photos and imaginary people. It was a stretch.
It was fun and hopefully someone can relate to it and imagine it hanging on their wall!!
And it better be a big wall!!!

Hope to see you there!

Into My 'Self "

Our resident hunter was off for a few days of recreation with our sons, hunting the great white-tail. I had my days to myself, to pursue my own entertainment. Of course my day had to be scheduled around the walking of the dogs and caring for the horses...but other than that I was free!!

I have been working on a few paintings for shows that are coming up, but I felt like playing in my paints for a bit...doing something different... and decided to entertain the idea of doing a self-portrait. I hadn't done one in a while and I have always felt that one way to grow and explore as an artist, is to explore and paint one's self.

So I struck this pose in front of our bedroom mirror and Voila' ....a self-portrait arose! It is small, as I don't want to be taken for a self absorbed dilettante,...it is a 6 x 6" casein. Of course to be able to see what I was painting I had to have my posh glasses on! I feel they added to the 'feel' of the painting.

So here it is...'an artist as seen by an artist!' For what it is worth?!!

I Am Not Sure

"Riding With" casein on paper 9 x 12" copyright 2009

On a rainy windy and bleak day like today...I am sitting here and wondering if I posted this art work before...? If I did, please forgive. Yes, some days I wouldn't find my head if it wasn't attached! This is a casein work on paper.

Next week, a small show opens at Gallery B in Lexington, KY and I have several works in this holiday show of "Tiny Treasures" on November 23rd. Everything in that show will be approximately 12 x 12" or smaller.

And then the auction of all the art works that were in in the Freeport Maine's Artists in Maine Communities grant, "Experiencing Freeport-Knowing Our Town Though Art" happens the beginning of December. I will post more about that when I know more! My painting "Freeport Heroes" will be on sale at the auction.

The pups are napping on the couch, listening to jazz and the rain beating on the windows. If I continue that way I am now...I will be joining them soon. It is one of those days! That is the ONE THING that I am sure of on a day like this!

Reference Material Crop

"Headed To The Ring"
casein 12 x 9"
Kathi Peters
copyright 2009













Sometimes it is not what I paint but more what I leave out.
This painting is of a rider and her horse going to the ring for a hunter-jumper class taken in the Kentucky Horse Park last May. I have a wealth of images to work with from that show, but many of the images are crowed with background noise. I am a firm believer in "Less is More".....so I edit a lot,crop images and make sure the design of the painting works.

I hope I have succeeded in the 12 x 9" casein on paper?

Eye On The Prize

This painting is done....done on a birch panel, gessoed and then painted in casein. "The Gray -Holly Bull" is available on my website. I was thinking that maybe I should have titled it "Eye On The Prize"...because that is where this fellow was looking... at the barn where the mares were awaiting his pleasure!

Speaking about "men"....This morning when I went out to do the stalls, I watched as a young white-tail buck followed a doe right through our pasture where our horses were grazing, oblivious to the goings on. Of course I had no camera with me...just two noisy canines who were wrestling at my feet, as they tried to take each other's orange bandanna off. Yes, it is not boring on the farm. Everyday is full of 'happenings"!

Past Recaptured

Sometimes it is the little things in our life that we hold dear....surround ourselves with. Someone else might not understand our relationship with them...May even think us silly to hang onto these things, ...but as for me, I hang on, hold dear and even display them around our cottage.
I have plates hanging on the walls, standing on hutches, in book cases....Some from my life in Italy as a child, some from my mother's childhood....and some even from my great-grandmother on my mother's side of our family. On occasion I even use some....a luncheon with a friend, Thanksgiving with family.....and sometimes just because.
The above is a small watercolor [9 x 11 1/4"] of my Great-grandmother's blue platter, often used by my mother and now displayed on our kitchen hutch. The silver creamer is from my grandmother Richeimer.....and the little silver spoon was mine when I was a baby.The spoon also fed my sons when they were little and is here in our kitchen for use by our grandchildren ...and even great grandchildren!!!
Wanting to do a timely still-life, I threw in some of our Crab apples from the tree that stands outside my studio window. I look at it now, as I write, all covered with red apples which the hungry Bluejays pick off of the branches and the Morning Doves eat below. There are plenty to feed the birds well into the winter.

I have put the watercolor titled "Spoon and Creamer" on my website. It is available and is unframed.
A piece of my life that maybe would touch someone else's life too.

What Color Is Left

Looking out from my studio, the farm is starting to look a bit gray around the edges. The gold and orange of Fall makes way for the more solemn gray of the coming winter. But the one bright spot behind the barn,beside the pond, stands out with the still yellow of the Tamarack trees. I love them in the fall with their burst of yellow and again in spring when they put out their delicate soft Chromium Light Green needles that just whisper of the coming of warmth and growth on the farm.

The other bright spot being my awesome yellow barn doors. What a great statement they make!
Canvas is not the only thing I paint!!

Don't forget the 140 Hours of Fame Art show and Auction that is taking place on Twitter....check it out. A great way to get some great art to brighten up your walls for this winter! It starts tomorrow, Nov.5th! Bid early and bid often!

140 HOURS OF FAME

"Pony Club Pals" casein 9 x 12" signed

I am proud to be part of an exciting new endeavor... a unique online art auction designed to introduce artists to a global marketplace.The auction will begin on 5 November 2009 at 12:01 p.m. EST and lasts 140 hours, through 11 November 2009 closing at 8:01 p.m. EST.

My equine art casein "Pony Club Pals" featured above, is in this online show and auction!...A neat way for collectors of my work to collect, and all from the privacy of their Twitter on phone or computer! ...where ever they are...at home, at work, on the train commuting to work......where ever! WORLD-WIDE!

The 140-hour auction will take place entirely on the World Wide Web. The gallery has designed an auction system allowing TWITTER® users worldwide to enter their bids online.

Gary Brant, the show Director, explained, “With the huge popularity of TWITTER®, we wanted to reach out directly to this group of highly sophisticated users. This event will give our participating artists an opportunity to be seen by art buyers and collectors alerted to the event through the power of social networking.”

The event is free for all artists worldwide. Early reports indicate that the auction will be a popular venue for emerging artists, as well as art collectors and patrons globally.

Collectors/Bidders must register by simply following on 140 Hours, a process that takes five seconds and can be accomplished before or during the auction.

I started "Tweeting" earlier this year.....yes! ...it is a phenomenon that has created a buzz...I am excited about being part of this new social media event! Check it out...see for yourself! As we said back in the 60"s ...COOL!

And you can see my tweets on Twitter at Cob Cottage!! It is not always about art or horses!! Sometimes just life!