May Is Stroke Awareness Month For Me

May has a new meaning to me....at least it has since July of 2006.....I am again prompted to tell my story, abridged. This following blog post was first 'aired' May 6th in 2008. I am reposting it today to explain.....and maybe it can help someone else deal with whatever life throws at them. Read on.........

May has always been a special month for my family…spring is in full swing; my husband’s birthday falls in May and of course so does Mother’s Day. But this year [2008] [and last year – 2007] May has taking on new meaning for us, as it is designated as Stroke Awareness Month.

And we are very aware about stroke. Now!

On July 29th of 2006, my husband and I, along with my sister who was visiting from California, were all headed from our farm in Morrill, Maine to my eldest brother’s home in New Hampshire to celebrate his 70th birthday. It was a surprise party for him and for the first time in a long time, my siblings and I were going to be together to party and have a good time. We arrived on time and I got out of our car to greet everyone, feeling so happy to see us all together. My sister-in-law, Bev walked up to me and started talking …I could hear her, but I couldn't make out a word that she was saying. I didn’t feel right, but was busy looking around at everybody when I realized I couldn't see my right hand or arm and I couldn’t figure out where they were…and I was still trying to understand Bev. She sounded like a slow broken record and her words were all jumbled to me. I looked around for my husband, Les,  and when I saw him I asked, “Where’s my arm? And he said “By your side? What’s the matter?” Then I guess everyone saw something was wrong with me. I remember them helping me into the shade of a huge tree on the grounds and helping to lay me down on the ground. I looked up at everyone…I didn’t know what was happening. I couldn’t  talk and tell them what I felt as a sea of faces looked down on me. But through it all a strange feeling of calm and peacefulness filled my being and I knew it would be all right. I was suffering a stroke. I missed my brother’s 70^th birthday…….

To make a long story short…I was rushed to a hospital in N.H. and then was transported by ambulance to Portland, Maine, and admitted into Maine Medical Center. This was done in order that I should be closer to my family and doctors.

Tests were started.. The left side of my brain had been ‘attacked’ when the blood flow was interrupted or stopped due to a blood clot. A significant part of my left temporal lobe was affected and this left me with right-sided paralysis and Aphasia. Aphasia is a condition where language problems make it difficult to talk the way I used to ,and it makes writing very difficult for me. Something that was so important to me in my life [I have worked as a newspaper reporter and fashion editor in the past…and always wrote poetry] ....was now something that was so difficult. My understanding and comprehension of speech were unimpaired, but speech itself became hard as my speech related muscles wouldn’t cooperate and my brain could not find the words to say what I wanted to.

But what was more important to me, as I lay on the hospital bed with my family around me…could I draw??? I managed to get the nurse to understand what I wanted…. a pencil and paper. She brought them and everyone looked on as I sketched an eye, a horse head….okay… I could live with the limitations I had a this point. I could draw, and this would mean I could paint. I am professional artist….. Life was good!!!

In the weeks that passed in between hospital tests, MRI’s and blood work, I sketched some, slept a lot, but I knew I needed to get home, to our quiet farm where I would be alone with my husband, see my Corgi and our horses, see and smell our gardens and get down to the business of getting better…. to getting ‘Kathi’ back!

The year and half that passed was difficult, very difficult. Our horses became my therapy, as I brushed them while walking with a cane my hand and arm gained strength. I cleaned stalls using  the muck fork to help me stand up. Throwing hay and lifting shaving bags became my upper body strengthen exercises. I had a speech therapist come and work with me in our home. She helped me start to get over some of the Aphasia problems And an occupational therapist  helped me get my eye and hand coordination back.

And I painted…and drew and I slept. I slept a lot. I still sleep during the day needing naps to replenish my energy.

I started a blog after my therapist suggested that I do it as an exercise to recapture my language skills. Each and every blog entry has my recovery in it. Metaphorically each of my paintings tells of my struggles and my victories...most in the form of equine art, but lately broadening to works depicting Maine and my surroundings.

 

"The Joy Of Life"  Oil on copper panel, 6 x 6"

But through it all I knew that my attitude about what I was going through was more important to me that what had happened to me. My recovery depended on my attitude. I cannot control what happens to me in life..but I can control my attitude. And that is my life’s  mantra now……….’if it’s gonna be….It’s up to me.’

And so I paint………………….

Good Start To A Great Year

Our barn ...a haven for me.

Sometimes I am amazed .....rightly so!! I received the news that I was of several artists 

picked as one of "The Top Artists to Watch in 2013 " !!!  I am honored, and yes, a bit confused on how I was selected to be one of the "Top Artists", but honored nevertheless. Thank you, Annie Strack, for including me in your pick!!!!.......She’s the author of The Artists Guide to Business & Marketing, and since 2005 she’s been a feature writer and contributing editor for ProfessionalArtist Magazine; the premier national business magazine for visual artists. So I am vowing I will live up to her "prediction"......and will paint, paint, paint!!

So since my last post I have finished two paintings.....a casein and an oil....

and yes, both are of horses.

"Warning Signs"  Casein on board     12 x 12"

And when the weather has allowed us, we have been ground driving our new driving pair........It has been a fun winter so far. Yes, there are been cold days when the wind blows and the temps drop below 0 Fahrenhei,t...... Then we have been blessed with great sunny day where the sun warmed the days up to 50 F. So at this point, I am not complaining.....!!!

But most days you can find me in my studio working......trying to be one of those artists one should be watching [and collecting] in 2013!!!! And for sure ...if I am not there.....I am in the barn gathering inspiration!!   So I can be painting ,painting, painting.

OIl Painting of Acadia, Done

"Starting The Drive At Acadia"    Oil on copper panel    12 x 12"    Sold

I don't know where the days have gone! I just realized I haven't blogged in 2 weeks!! I have been busy though......I finished the painted I had started at Equidae Gallery for my demonstration on oil painting on copper...and it has been sold.  And I did a self- portrait study in casein on board. Every so often I do a self-portrait as a sort of landmark of the passing of time and maybe of my growth as an artist. .

I am having trouble downloaded images to my blog....I don't know what THAT is about. So let it suffice for now, I am alive, and kicking.....but frustrated with Blogger problems..... and so I am headed outside to "play" in my gardens and maybe paint a bit!!!!. I will deal with my blog posts later!! 

Saratoga and More More More

I let the demo audience try their hand at oil painting on copper!!

It has been a while since my last post.We have gone to Saratoga  Springs and back....Had a wonderful vacation of sorts. [I think they call it  a bus-man's holiday??} I did a painting demonstration at The Equidae Gallery that represents me in Saratoga Springs in the summer and then in Vermont the rest of the year. I talked about how I got started in oil on copper paintings, [Thanks to artist Renee Lammers !! ] and why I work in that medium on copper and not so much in oil on canvas. I painted in the demo too, starting a new work depicting a four-in-hand in Acadia's Wildwood Stables. The Friday night Champagne Reception was packed and I was pleased to be greeted by the proverbially "red dot" that every artist hopes for when we arrived at the opening!! A good start of the race season!!

Les and I had time to explore the parks and gardens of Saratoga, visit the track, enjoy the carousel in the park and the artists' retreat and wonderful gardens of Yaddo, with its lovely statuary and fountains,rose gardens and woodland walks. We also managed to have some wonderful tasty meals at Saratoga's awesome restaurants. One could say we ate our way through the city!! Indian,Thai,Italian....and of course Mrs. London's pastries extraordinaire! We met friends there and when I wasn't working we just had a great time!!

Visited Spa Gallery with friend Juliet Harrison & we called artist friend Kimberley Santini

 to congratulate her on her work hanging there!!

Saratoga Springs Park

In the gardens of Yaddo

One evening I even sat on the Saratoga Lake-side and plein air painted the wonderful brilliant sunsets our B&B afforded us each night. But Saratoga was hot...and felt much hotter than Maine's hot weather feels. We were happy to be on our way back home, and travelled back taking the "high road" through Vermont and New Hampshire, where we enjoyed the beautiful landscapes of each New England state.

"Saratoga Lake Sunset"   Oil on copper    6 x 6"  plein air

So we are home. Nell is happy to have us home. ...and I am back working in my cool basement studio with Nell by my side....Life goes on.......and wonderfully it seems!!

Pond Lilies and Horses - New Paintings

"In Our Pond"      Oil on Copper        6 x 6"

June has come and gone. The farm gardens are resplendent with color and heady with fragrance. I love it. I want to stay sequestered in the comfort of our cottage and wrapped in the atmosphere of my surroundings. But it seems lately that every summer I am called away to do painting demonstrations and attend show receptions...all away from home. I am busy now getting things done for Saratoga Spring's Equidae Gallery show that opens the end of this month. But I have been able to get a few new paintings done...One ...the small 6 x 6" oil on copper, "In Our Pond",  pictured above. An afternoon was spent painting our pond lilies,,,,,sweet summer grass  perfume filled the air and  bugs buzzed by....a lovely humid summer day past before the thunderstorms came through

Back in the coolness of my basement studio I did a 6 x 8" oil painting of a Saratoga Race Track scene...And "Saratoga Sea Hero"  and the pond lily painting "In Our Pond" are both now on my website.

Today I work in my studio, after a brief reprieve. The farrier came to trim the horses.

The skies darkened and a bit of thunder rumbled,....but no storm.

Now it is back to framing......And before I know it, the day will be here for shipping paintings. Back to work.

"Saratoga Sea Hero"   OIl on copper    6 x 8"

New OIl Of Saratoga Race Track

"Back Fom The Track"   Oil on copper    8 x 6"  

I am getting ready for a new exhibit that opens at the end of July at  the Equidae Gallery in Saratoga Springs,NY.,and hanging during racing season. Here in my studio there are paintings that need framing and a few that still need varnishing, but I am almost done. The weather has cooperated and it has been rainy for the most part , which keeps me in the studio and tending to business. I just finished the small painting above yesterday, and snapped photos of it today.... between raindrops. It will be headed to the Saratoga's gallery. "Back From The Track " is a 8 x 6" oil  showing the backside of the track's stabling area, across from the actually race track. I loved seeing the hustle and bustle of the track's working stables. Pictured here are the outriders who accompany the nervous thoroughbreds to the track and to the gates.....their work is done now.....and they head back to the stables.Life at the races, from the backside.


More news !! ...My watercolor painting "Heading To The Pull" was picked to grace the cover of the July issue of The Equine Marketer , an equine publication the serves the Mid Atlantic area of the USA.  They said that this painting was, " ...is so appropriate for all the county and country fairs that take place, at this time, in the Mid-Atlantic."  Thank you Equine Marketer !!

"Heading To The Pull"    Watercolor on paper on board   9 x 14"  copyright 2006   www,kathipeters.com  

New Oil Painting Of Seal Harbor, Maine And Show Opening



"Seal Harbor Lupine"    Oil on copper    6 x 8"  copyright 2012  www.kathipeters.com



While I waited for the rain to stop I did this small gem of an oil painting of one of my most favourite places in the world! Seal Harbor, Maine hold many sweet memories for me, of years spent with old friends and new friends found while riding and driving our horses on the carriage roads of Acadia, of evenings spent gathered around the campfire at Wildwood Stables. The reference photo for this painting was provided by one of those friends....."Seal Harbor Lupine" brings back sweet memories.


I may be sitting here in Maine, but I am having an art show opening tomorrow evening with Gallery B in Lexington, KY. The show titled "Go Figure" opens with a reception June 7th at 5:30 until 8:00 pm .....good food, good conversation and a wonderful show with figurative images shhowing people at work , rest  and play in a variety of mediums by noted Bluegrass and National artists. I am pleased to be in such good company!! The show will hang until July 14th,2012.  My casein painting "Girl With A Gun"  will be included with more of my work exhibited. I will not be there.....I am busy here at home, painting away in my studio!!

"Girl With A Gun"   Casein on board      12 x 12"    www.galleryblexington.com

June's Song Brings New Oil Paintings

"June's Song"    Oil on copper      6 x 6"              Available

I do know that I should be working on paintings for the upcoming show at Equidae Gallery in Saratoga Springs, NY, for July....and my only excuse for producing the work I am doing  lately is that I needed a change. That is my story and I am sticking with it!  The few wonderful sunny days we have had lately have called me out to paint plein air, and to explore natural light and the vast array of subject matter that sits outside my studio walls. No need to even leave my farm. There are subjects enough for a lifetime of painting here. And so, I have been venturing forth, with Nell by my side,....and I have added two small oil painting gems......from my world here, on Cob Cottage Farm, to my website in the Small Works Collection.



"First Flower - Pond Lily"  Oil on copper      4 x 4"            Available

Yet the past few days have been spent in the studio, while rain pounds down around. The brook is reaching over its banks and my gardens are strewn with wilting flowers. Sad. But I have captured some of June's song in the paintings above. Enjoy! The sun WILL come out tomorrow!

And The Thunder Rolled



At the end of the rain the sky cleared....what a lovely sight!


It has rained and it has thundered and lightening fell all around. Nell does not like thunderstorms and has followed me around like my shadow, always at my feet, wanting to get into my lap, or better still around my neck. We have spent some bonding closeness for sure. And when we go out for walks now, after all the rain and mugginess the mosquitoes have descended about the farm. They are everywhere, and persistent in their pursuit of blood!! I am an easy victim. They feast on my bounty!! But on an happier note...the fireflies are back!! This is good!! I saw them on our walk to the barn last night, between thunderstorms, and they are a welcome sight! They eat mosquitoes....let the feast begin!!

"The Hammock"   Oil on copper     6 x 6"  copyright 2012 www.kathipeters.com

I did get some painting in this week....outside! I packed up my trusty Guerilla thumbox pochade and ventured out into the sunshine and fresh air for some plein air time, and it was just what 'the doctor ordered'....I had started to be feeling a bit stuck in a rut creative wise...and the plein air painting snapped me out of  that rut! And I produced two fun painting to boot. So my advice to all my blog readers who are feeling down or bored with life....plein air paint!! Or as my good friend and plein air mentor always says "Get out and paint"!!!

"View Through The Arbor"  Oil on copper    6 x 6" 

So the new paintings are available on my website......I am glad that I got out and painted.Thanks Renee!!!

 I will  get out and paint more often!!

Distractions

Nellie caught a tiger!!!!

I had started an oil on copper painting, and was well on my way into it, when it seems that life began asking or taking too much of my time. My time in the studio has been way too short and too sporadic to make headway on that painting or even get absorbed in it. I need to be absorbed in my work to feel as if I am connected to it, immersed into it. So I sit here, and I look at what I have painted so far..... and I feel like wiping it all off, only to start again. Nell asks for some playtime. She has a tiger that needs throwing.....she needs my attention,so I oblige.

Some of my Bleeding-Hearts   copyright 2012 www.kathipeters.com

And then my gardens need pruning, preening and enjoying. I have to answer their call.

Cob Cottage Farm    copyright 2012 www.kathipeters.com



And then after days of rain and gray, a bit of blue appears in the skies over the farm...the evening sunlight hits the billowing clouds and.I have to admire God's glory and give thanks for small blessings......like a small Jack Russell who wants my attention.

I can finish the painting tomorrow.....

If At First You Don't Suceed Or I Reworked An Oil Painting

"Lady In White"  Oil on copper   22 x 22"          copyright 2012 www.kathipeters.com

After some thought and consideration...an oil painting that I painted a while ago has been bothering me. Looking at it everyday, as it hung on my studio wall, I began to question some of it...I  just wanted to change it out a bit, And as I am 'the artist' I can do that! There was much that I liked about the painting, but there was something that I wanted to say with this subject. I ahve gone back into it.... I think I have said it now. I am happy with it. It is done. I have re-titled it "Lady in White" and it is back on my website. Now I can forge ahead with a new oil I have been planning for a long while. I can't wait to show it to you!!

This past weekend the annual Art Festival exhibit took place in Belfast,ME. at the Hutchinson Center.I again had work exhibited in it. It is always a fun show and it never ceases to amaze me the amount of artistic talent that abides on the coast, in the villages and in the woods of Mid-Coast Maine. I feel surrounded by great minds!! Love it!!

Spring is bursting at Cob Cottage. My flower gardens are starting to display color and excitement. It makes me laugh to compare my small gardens and garden pond with the wonderful gardens of Monet's Giverny ......but I can dream.of grander floral displays as I enjoy working in my  more manageable gardens. I hope I get some time to get out and paint my flowers... time to smell the roses!! They will be blooming before long.



One More Job Done

"Heading To The Ring"   Oil on copper     12 x 12"      copyright 2012  www.kathipeters.com

I started the day with full intentions of starting a new painting....but was waylaid by the brilliant sunshine and the flowers languishing in their flats in the sun-warmed greenhouse. They begged to be moved into the window-boxes  that adorn our cottage. So  I  carried the flats up to deck, where Nell and I enjoyed the beautiful weather, and I succeeding in crossing one job off my long list of To-Do's that dictates my days each spring at Cob Cottage.

The gardens are starting to bloom with new splashes of  color each day. I can loose so much time just walking around looking for new bursts of bloom that herald each season....and this is the season of new growth and promise.

The front raised garden.....bursting with spring promise.

Even the invasive dandelion sings happy yellow beside some pink and yellow tulips and  blue scilla in the front garden.

One painting is done too....a new oil on copper panel of a young rider on her way to the show ring. "Heading To The Ring" is 12 x 12" and ready to frame.
I am working on more oils on copper and getting work together for Equidae Gallery for this summer's Saratoga season. I am so looking forward to Saratoga .....so I need to paint and fit the gardening jobs around my studio work. I love it!!

Three New Spring Paintings

"Bright And Beautiful"  Oil on board   8 x 10"  copyright 2012 www.kathipeters.com

For days on end, the sun has shone and the weather has been calling me out to the gardens. I have revelled in the spring ritual of pulling weeds and digging up and moving plants.I have also come to the conclusion that I have too many gardens and not enough hours in a day to get all the things done that I want to, or need to. So Nell and I have tried to divide our time between gardening and painting. I am making headway with both!!

I finished an oil painting of a mare and foal...beautiful Hanoverians with coats of many colors. When I saw the photo of these two,a photo shot by friend photographer Vicki Wright of New Jersey...I had to paint it. Vicki has some wonderful photos of mares and foals, and I seem to be on a foal kick....must be a spring thing too!! I took artistic license with the reference photo and gave birth to "Bright and Beautiful". Thank you Vicki!!!

So after working in the studio, I was looking for a change of pace and to take advantage of the beautiful weather, headed out for some plein air painting. I packed up my trusty little thumbox pochade and headed to the orchard with Nell, where I enjoyed painting in sunshine and fresh air. Our plum trees are resplendent this spring, promising plums and jellies this summer. I can't wait!! So in honour of their beauty, I portrayed their blossoms against the blue April skies. I painted in oil, on a copper panel. "Plum Blossoms" is a 6 x 8" oil and will be up on my website in the Small Works Collection.

"Plum Blossoms"    Oil on copper     6 x 8"   copyright 2012  www.kathipeters.com

 

And then I started another oil on copper with my bright yellow daffodils as subjects....Their color just sings against all the green that abounds this time of year. Here they are....also displayed in the Small Works Collection of my website.

 

"Spring Yellow"   Oil on copper    8 x 6" copyright 2012 www.kathipeters.com

Now we are supposed to have a  few days of rain and gray weather,they say. ..I shall not complain.We need the rain. April showers bring May flowers. I can't wait!!!

Spring Comes.... Fast

"The Yellow Door"        Casein   10 x 10"                copyright 2012  www.kathipeters.com

Today the weather is warm,sun-filled and a light breeze blows from the east...a sea breeze we call it. We enjoyed breakfast listening to the spring antics of a flock of turkeys who had decided to feed and display their plumage in our fields.We can often see wildlife from feeding ,playing or crossing our fields,from the comfort of our house or our deck.It is as if we have a view from the tree-tops.The rest of our day has been busy with the start of spring clean,the gardens,the yard,the brush around the field pond.It feels so good to work,with the sun warming one's back,face....to do the dance to spring....with rake and clippers in hand, relishing the day......the weather.

This type of weather is rare for March in Maine. We will take it without complaint. I do feel a bit of guilt for not being in the studio working....but it will pass. Today I will enjoy enjoy enjoy!!

The casein painting of a Cob mare standing against the yellow barn door is done.I am so in love with that red of the bay mare contrasting the yellow of the door.
While working on it though, I came up with another idea…and do want to entertain that with another version of this painting, but done in oil…..but that is another story!  

                                  Now back to the barn....Nell needs to go mousing!!!

Winter In Maine Is Cold

Graphite Self Portrait ....or having fun!      ©2012 kathi peters

It is cold. It is winter and we live in Maine. One would think that we would be used to this....but it always is a bitter reminder that Mother Nature is in charge... and we get what we get and HAVE to cope, as we bundle up in multiple layers, to go down and do barn chores, waddling like Michele men through new snow and ice. THIS is when I wax nostalgic for Italy......sun and warmth. I have been looking through old photographs of my life, ions ago,in another life.....growing up in Italy. A lot of sweet memories there.....and they help warm my winter days in Mid-coast Maine.

But I have also been painting.

I have done a new oil painting, again with a copper panel for the substrate.The subject of the painting is an old bicycle that stands leaning on an old tree....and has been standing there for several years now....summer, winter,spring and fall...in all weather....in snow or rain. I have been wanting to, planning on painting it, for a long time. Each time I drove by the yard where the bike sits, I would say to myself...."Paint that!"  It was time to do it last week....so here it is. I have added it to my website.

"Retired"    Oil      10 x 10"  ©2012 kathi peters

The sun is dipping lower in the sky now. The temperature only rose to a chilly 10º F. today, is starting to fall again. I guess it is time to bundle up, waddle to the barn and close the horses up in their cozy stalls for the night. They will appreciate it. Winter in Maine is cold.

 

Our stand of spruce.    ©2012 kathipeters

American Saddlebred Painting Done

"A Sweet Ride"   casein on paper    9 x 12"            ©2012 kathi peters

The first week of the new year is over and I have two painting chalked up as done. I have had the luxury of long spans of uninterrupted time, where I have been able to start approaching some paintings that I have been meaning to do for a long time. I am starting into them now!  
We are expecting snow tomorrow....I am in the mood for painting with oils, so I am starting a winter scene to get ready to shovel the real thing tomorrow. Today is a sunny day but very cold out.....I am staying cloistered in my studio.

The above casein painting is finished....a fun Saddlebred horse painting.  Now back to the easel.

New Fjord Pair Watercolor In The Works

The New Year celebrations are over.We enjoyed dinner with fellow artists and their spouses.[the unsung heroes!].Artist Susan Renee Lammers and her husband Robert invited us to a lovely dinner highlighted by a delicious seafood chowder that we shared with Gregory Dunham, his wife Pat and their daughter.There was much laughter and talk....a great start to the new year 2012. Now it is time to get back to the studio with new conviction and to create.

"Fjord Pair"  watercolor  ©2012 Kathi peters

I have started a watercolor of a driving pair of Fjords horses.It is almost done at this point. A second painting,a casein on paper sits on my easel, and I work on that while I wait for the watercolor to dry between glazes. I am not one for hurrying up the drying progress of watercolors with the use of a hair blower....I prefer to let nature take it's course and elect in stead, to use that time to change direction,with new eyes and work in another medium.....still a water medium... but in my first love casein!

And I have prepared a copper panel for a new oil....Now I need to get that idea sketched out onto the copper.  A new year...new ideas!

Maine is cold now.This morning the temperature was a bone chilling 3º F. Nellie and I are trying to work up energy to head down to the barn to do barn chores.Just a another cup of coffee and I should be ready to go!!

Cold frozen ground,with clouds rushing by. © 2012 kathi peters

After Christmas

Morning dawns over the farm the day before Christmas ©2011 kathi peters

We had a lovely Christmas with family and friends. Christmas day blessed us with a perfect snowfall....Santa found Cob Cottage and all the four-legged family members received gifts. Now we are all getting back to work....and I am in my studio after what seemed to be a long break. Too long.

A vacant home during the winter months.©2011 kathi peters

  Nell and I are enjoying walks along our woods trails and found this small nest left after the occupants headed south. I think it might be a chickadee nest?? Or maybe Nuthatch's? I will be doing a painting of this nest....I do feel the need to do work other than equine art...!! I think I will try it in oil???

So new work will soon be available....and soon it will be a new year with new goals. I have been "thinking" a lot of late.